In 2020, the alumni engagement team at Lethbridge College in Alberta, Canada, launched the Kodiak Coke Cake Holiday Bake-Off. The competition encouraged alumni, students, and college employees to decorate cakes with either Coca-Cola or Kodiak Bear themes in a nod to the institution’s partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and its mascot.

The Bake-Off was born out of the pandemic as the alumni team searched for ways to engage their community while in-person events were postponed. They enlisted students and instructors from the college’s culinary school to create a cake mix that was then included in kits that were available for drive-by pickup on campus. The free kits also included a can of Coke, icing sugar, and a recipe card, all in a branded bag. Participants just needed to purchase the perishable ingredients in the recipe to complete the cake.