Thermo colour shock
Ink technology for cans has come a long way, giving customers the opportunity to be more adventurous with their designs, and in turn appealing to different consumer groups. This week, we heard from Ardagh about how its thermochromic effect has been used on energy drink cans aimed at the gaming community.
Czech beverage company Big Shock! is the first company to use Ardagh Metal Packaging’s colour-to-colour thermochromic ink technology on its cans. The energy drink producer is using the effect on a limited edition 500ml can aimed at fans of gaming. Set against a black background with red and yellow graphics, a “game-loading”-style thermochromic panel gradually transforms from yellow, in ambient conditions, to vibrant green as the contents chill to the ideal drinking temperature.
Ardagh has utilised the colour-to-colour effect in partnership with CTI, a thermochromic ink manufacturer. Building on the success of Ardagh’s existing clear-to-colour Thermo Impact finish, in which hidden messages or designs are revealed at a pre-defined temperature, the new colour-to-colour option uses special coloured inks to indicate temperature change while offering the chance to enhance graphic design in a number of ways. For the Big Shock! limited gaming edition, the aesthetic features only black, red and yellow until the can is chilled – when the “green for go” appears – suggesting traffic lights and the excitement of racing games.
Jan Kopriva, Big Shock! marketing manager, said: “In the energy drink sector we embrace the adventurous and the edgy, so the colour-to-colour thermo effect is the exactly the kind of dynamic twist we want for our cans. Plus, our gaming community will love seeing at a quick glance that their Big Shock! is perfectly chilled and ready to drink.”
Dirk Schwung, sales director at Ardagh Metal Packaging – Europe, said: “We have many years’ experience in supplying beverage markets in which consumption temperature is critical, and are proud to be one of the pioneers in delivering these exciting thermochromic can finishes. The Big Shock! can looks fantastic, and we’d love to see other adventurous customers take the dive into incorporating a little thermo colour into their designs.”
In addition to yellow-to-green, other options available for the colour-to-colour Thermo Impact finish are yellow-to-orange, and pink-to-purple.
Filled by Starzinger in Austria, the Big Shock! limited edition gaming can is available on the Czech and Slovak markets now.
- Jill Sayles, CanTech International editor.
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