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Coca-Cola is switching the colour of its can from red to white for the first time in its 125 year history in support of the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) conservation efforts in the Arctic.

Up to 1.4 billion Coke white cans distributed in North America will carry a special design featuring a polar bear alongside two cubs while white bottle caps will feature on all of the brand's bottles, which also include Sprite, Nestea, Minute Maid and Coke Zero.

Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive of Coca-Cola, said: 'We want to help the polar bear, a beloved Coca-Cola icon since 1922, by helping conserve its Arctic habitat. And by partnering with WWF, we can truly make a positive difference for these majestic animals.'

Carter Roberts, president and chief executive of WWF, said: 'Polar bears inspire the imagination. They're massive, powerful, beautiful and they live nowhere else except the Arctic. Their lives are intimately bound up with sea ice, which is now melting at an alarming rate.'

The campaign is designed to raise awareness of the plight of the polar bear. Coca-Cola has pledged to donate over £2 million to the WWF's polar bear conservation efforts.

Coca-Cola is encouraging consumers to text a special code on each can via their mobile handsets, and donate $1 (60p) each to raise further funds for the WWF. The brand has said that it will match the donations up to a limit of $1 million (£620,000).

The cans will make their debut on 1 November, and the design will continue to be featured until February 2012.

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