FMBX News

Coca Cola launches Future Flames at Westfield

Coca‑Cola yesterday joined forces with Dizzee Rascal, Eliza Doolittle, You Me At Six and a number of London 2012 hopefuls to launch a nationwide search for inspirational young people ‑ our Future Flames ‑ to carry the Olympic Flame during the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay next summer.

To recognise and reward the positive contributions made by young people every day in the UK,

Coca‑Cola, a Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, launched its nominations campaign to find Future Flames at a special event at Waesfield London.  Coca‑Cola will be calling on everyone across the UK to nominate the Future Flames they know: young people who use their passion in areas like sport and physical activity, music and dance, and community and the environment; to spread happiness in their local communities.

The event included appearances and performances by music artists, athletes and inspiring young people ‑ Future Flames Ambassadors ‑ who embody the types of people the Future Flames campaign aims to celebrate.  The event will be followed by a national 'Torch Tour' as Coca‑Cola travels around the UK this summer to encourage everyone to nominate the Future Flames from their area.

The search to find the UK's Future Flames comes as a survey by Populus reveals that while 89% of 16‑24 year olds undertake activities that contribute to their local community, such as volunteering and fundraising, less than half (47%) of older people recognise this contribution to society.  In addition, only one in ten (10%) respondents agreed that people think teenagers are kind, and just 9% agreed that people think they are considerate. However, 79% of adults do recognise that society's perception of teenagers is negative and 72% feel that more needs to be done to improve this.

Simon Baldry, managing director at Coca‑Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE), comments: "Coca‑Cola Enterprises is proud to be a local business operating across the length and breadth of Great Britain, working closely with our local communities. Coca‑Cola's London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Future Flames nomination campaign will bring the excitement of the Olympic Games right into the heart of those very communities and CCE is working closely with our customers across GB to ensure that this once in a lifetime opportunity will be fully activated in‑store."

The music artists, athletes and Future Flames Ambassadors that are backing Coca‑Cola's Future Flames nominations campaign commented:

Dizzee Rascal commented:

"It's time to recognise young people in this country and Coke's Future Flames campaign does just that.  See the person, not the age.  I see young people judged all the time and there's negativity about them.  But people should look at reality ‑ many young people are making a positive difference but no one hears about it.  We can change that by nominating the Future Flames we know."

Eliza Doolittle stated:

"It's great that Coke is giving young people the chance to be involved in something as amazing as the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay. The youth of the UK get such bad press which I really don't think they deserve.  We all need to recognise the huge amount of positive things teens are doing and what they give back to the community ‑ everyone needs to nominate the Future Flames they know."

Judo Commonwealth Championship gold medallist Tom Davis, 28, London added:

"I know what it's like to be passionate about something and to try to use that passion to improve other people's lives.  The fact that so many young people are doing that but not getting any recognition for it ‑ the opposite, in fact ‑ is really worrying and something we have to sort out.  We have to encourage young people to be the best that they can be, and celebrating their achievements by nominating the Future Flames we all know is a good way to reward them."

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