Coca-Cola pulls German Fanta ad over Nazi controversy

Coca-Cola have pulled an advert in Germany celebrating 75 years of Fanta after critics claimed that it's title – 'Good Old Times' - overlooked the role of the Nazi regime in its creation.

The advert, which has a German voiceover, says that the Coca-Cola company wants to bring back "the feeling of the Good Old Times" the Express reports.

Although the 58 second video clip made no mention of World War II, it did refer to the company's inability to acquire the products needed to make Coca-Cola in Germany at the time, with the voiceover explaining: "resources for our beloved Coke were scarce".

Fanta was invented in 1941 during the Second World War when trade embargoes on Nazi Germany meant that manufacturers were unable to access the syrups needed to create the famous soft drink, Coca-Cola, Fortune reported.

The head of Coca-Cola Deutschland at the time, Max Keith, came to the decision that the German plant should produce a new soft drink with the ingredients and products that were available to them, including apple fibre and whey products, according to Modern Notion.

After the war when Coca-Cola headquarters regained control of the German branch, it took on the new product and there are now more than 90 Fanta flavours worldwide.

The advert was aiming to promote the new Fanta Classic, a new type of Fanta inspired by the original recipe that was created in 1940s Germany. It will be available in bottles that echo the original style as well.

Many online viewers were left stunned by the company's questionable new video with one commenter posting: "speechless", the Express reported.

A representative from Coca-Cola told the Daily Express that the video was meant to "evoke positive childhood memories".

The spokeswoman added: "Fanta was invented in Germany during the Second World War but the 75-year-old brand had no association with Hitler or the Nazi Party."

Coca-Cola faced further embarrassment earlier this year when it was forced to pull a Twitter advertising campaign in February when a counter-campaign by Gawker tricked the Coke Twitter account into tweeting sections of Hitler's Mein Kampf, the Guardian reported.

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