IOI
Founder Tafi and Coca-Cola have partnered to launch real-world avatar wearables that will run on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which will include a ‘wearable’ jacket in the Decentraland metaverse. Coca-Cola celebrated International Friendship Day with its first NFT collection. Special Olympics received proceeds from the auction.
Originally, the NFT was a vending machine modeled after Coca-Cola’s Friendship Box. Among the three unique NFTs included in the box are a branded bubble jacket, a virtual sound visualizer (such as the sound of a bottle opening or ice melting), and a friendship card modeled on the Coca-Cola trading cards of the 1940’s. There are additional prizes in the boxes that are revealed when they are opened.
NFT features the ability to wear digital assets within Decentraland, one of the most popular virtual worlds. In commemoration of the launch, Coca-Cola hosted a “Rooftop Party” on the platform.
“Coca-Cola is one of the most collectible brands in the world, sharing its rich heritage with consumers through simple moments of joy for decades,” said Selman Careaga, President, Global Coca-Cola Trademark. “We are excited to share our first NFTs with the metaverse where new friendships are being forged in new ways in new worlds, in celebration of International Friendship Day and in support of our longstanding friend and partner, Special Olympics.”
The Tafi platform allows for the creation of avatars and is partnered with brands to develop clothing and accessories. Samsung has partnered with the company for AR Emoji’s clothing, VRChat has partnered with the company for in-chat avatars, and Champion clothing brands have partnered with the company for NFTs.
Co-developed by Virtue and Coca-Cola, the NFTs has been auctioned on OpenSea marketplace for 92 hours on July 30, from 9 a.m.
It is the first time that Coca-Cola has used blockchain in a virtual world to improve engagement and brand awareness. A company that is independent of Coca-Cola but handles its bottling, Coca One North America (CONA), has formerly utilized the technology for logistics purposes, such as managing the bottling supply chain. Several months ago, CONA announced that it would be testing public Ethereum blockchain technology Baseline Protocol and investing in digital asset payments platform Centrapay.
