Laal Paar Sarees: Coca-Cola wove recycled bottles into Durga Puja tradition

During Durga Puja 2025, Coca-Cola turned Bengal’s familiar white-and-red Laal Paar saree into a piece of brand design. Master weavers in Phulia made the fabric with cotton and recycled PET yarn, while block-print artisans near Kolkata added traditional motifs and the Coca-Cola contour bottle. WPP Open X, led by Ogilvy India, created Laal Paar Sarees around a simple connection. Bengal and Coca-Cola already shared the same two colours.

Two Icons in Red and White

The Laal Paar saree is recognised by its white body and red border. During Durga Puja, it carries a meaning that goes far beyond colour. It belongs to the rituals, gatherings and photographs that define the festival across Bengal.

Coca-Cola’s identity also rests on red and white. Ogilvy used that overlap without turning the saree into a piece of branded merchandise. The logo did not cover the fabric. Instead, the Coca-Cola contour bottle joined a set of motifs drawn from Bengal itself.

Shiuli flowers appeared in the design, marking the season when Durga Puja arrives. Fish represented prosperity. Meanwhile, the bottle shape sat alongside them as another red form people could recognise immediately.

The brand entered the saree through its visual language, not through a large printed name.

How the Sarees Were Made

The work began in Phulia, a weaving centre in West Bengal’s Nadia district. Master weavers produced the sarees with a blend of cotton and recycled PET yarn made from used Coca-Cola bottles.

After that, block-print artisans from the outskirts of Kolkata added the motifs by hand. The process kept the uneven touch and small variations that give block printing its character. Each impression carried the hand of the person who made it.

That choice mattered because the campaign was speaking about heritage through an object people would actually wear. A factory-made imitation could have borrowed the colours. It could not have carried the same connection to the people who have kept the craft alive across generations.

The recycled yarn added a second story to the material. Waste from a modern drinks brand entered a traditional textile process and returned as part of a festival garment.

Wearing the Campaign Into the Puja

The sarees were unveiled at Ballygunge Cultural Sharbojonin in Kolkata. Members of the Puja committee wore them during the celebrations, placing the work inside the event it had been made for.

That setting gave the campaign its strongest images. The sarees did not sit behind glass or appear only in a studio film. They moved through the pandal, the rituals and the crowds as clothing.

Selected sarees were also presented to members of the West Bengal Ministry of Culture. Meanwhile, photographs and films carried the work onto social media, where the bottle motif became easier to spot after viewers understood the material behind it.

The rollout stayed close to Bengal. Phulia supplied the weaving. Kolkata supplied the printing and the Puja setting. The festival supplied the reason for the work to exist.

What Made It Different

Coca-Cola found a place inside Durga Puja by making something the festival could use.

The red-and-white connection made the first step feel natural. However, the craft kept the idea from stopping at a colour match. The saree needed local weavers, block printers, familiar motifs and a real place inside the celebration.

The contour bottle was present, but it did not ask the artisans to work around it. It became one more shape inside a design that still belonged unmistakably to Bengal.

Laal Paar Sarees showed how a global identity can enter a local tradition without flattening it. Coca-Cola supplied recycled material and one recognisable silhouette. Bengal supplied everything that gave the object meaning.

Credits

Laal Paar Sarees (2025). Coca-Cola India, West Bengal. Agency: WPP Open X, led by Ogilvy India. Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy North: Sujoy Roy. Craft: master weavers from Phulia, Nadia district, and block-print artisans from the Kolkata region. Production: The Unicorn Films. Music: Coke Studio Bangla. Unveiled at Ballygunge Cultural Sharbojonin during Durga Puja 2025.