Holidays are coming: Coca-Cola Christmas truck tour set to return to Scotland for 2022

Coca-Cola’s iconic “Holidays are coming” truck is returning over the festive season as the drinks giant confirmed it was aiming to “bring the magic of Christmas to people nationwide”.

For years, the Real Magic Christmas Truck has brought cans of the fizzy juice to fans across the country as part of its winter tour.

The first sighting of the lorry has become a bit of a tradition ever since it first appeared in Coca‑Cola’s famous Holidays Are Coming advert.

For many, the TV commercial remains an iconic signal the festive season has arrived and Coca-Cola has confirmed the ad will return later this month to “truly mark the start of Christmas”.

The Real Magic Christmas Truck tour was cancelled due to strict Covid restrictions in 2020 but made a return last year with Glasgow announced as its first stop in November.

Celebrating, the Christmas truck set out to visit as many cities around the UK as possible. This year it will be accompanied by a “winter market” setting.

Coca-Cola confirmed the Real Magic Christmas Truck tour will return to Scotland in 2022, arriving at Greene King Paisley on Tuesday, November 29.

Visitors will be able to purchase Coca‑Cola drinks and have them personalised with their names or a short phrase.

Every visit to the Coca‑Cola Christmas Truck will count towards the company’s efforts to support those experiencing food poverty.

It is currently unknown if the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck will visit any other Scottish towns or cities this year, with fizzy drinks fans urged to keep an eye on the Coca-Cola website for more information.

This year, Coca‑Cola Great Britain will donate the equivalent of up to 100,000 meals to those in need throughout the festive season.

The UK’s national network of charitable food redistributors, FareShare, has already donated the equivalent of 100,000 meals with the ambition of funding the total equivalent of 200,000 meals.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the support from Coca‑Cola,” Lindsay Boswell, CEO at FareShare, said.

“Their donation will help us get more good-to-eat surplus food to people across the UK most impacted by the cost of living crisis. We hope as many people visit the Coca‑Cola Truck Tour this Christmas so that we can get more food to people who need it during what are challenging times for many.”

Laura Moon, Coca‑Cola GB’s senior brand manager, said, this year, “the magic of Christmas is needed more than ever”.

“We are excited to bring back our famous truck tour to fans nationwide,” she said.

“We’re also extremely pleased to continue our relationship with FareShare and for every person that visits the Truck Tour, we’ll donate the equivalent of a meal on their behalf, supporting those most in need this festive season.”

For the first time ever, Coca‑Cola is collaborating with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and NaviLens on a pilot project to make its packaging accessible for blind and partially sighted people.

This Christmas, promotional multipacks of the drink will feature technology which allows a smartphone to easily detect a unique on-pack code and playback labelling information to shoppers, enabling people with sight loss to access the key information they need to shop independently and with confidence.

“It’s great to see that one of the world’s biggest brands, is championing the inclusion of accessibility as part of the conversation around how we can make the customer experience better for blind and partially sighted people,” said RNIB’s accessibility innovation lead Marc Powell.

“This pilot with Coca‑Cola, the first beverage company to launch NaviLens on packs, highlights how big brands can put accessibility at the forefront of design and packaging decisions, and be a real catalyst for change.”