How Coke's Passover recipe sparked an antisemitic conspiracy theory
The conspiracy theory started, ironically, when an Orthodox rabbi stood in front of a display of Coca-Cola bottles and held up one with a yellow cap to explain Jewish life to roughly 1 million followers on TikTok and Instagram. The demonstration was intended to illustrate a quirk of the Passover season: a version of Coke that’s made without high fructose corn syrup.
Instead, the soda is sweetened with cane sugar — a switch made to comply with religious dietary rules that prohibit certain grains and legumes during the eight-day Jewish holiday. The video, posted on Tuesday, framed the drink as slightly healthier, perhaps tastier, and available for a limited time.
But within 48 hours, the message was distorted into something else entirely. The video has racked up more than 6 million views after being re-shared by several far-right influencers on X. It has become fuel for an antisemitic conspiracy theory: that Coca-Cola is making a superior version of its product for Jews only. A chosen beverage of the chosen people.
The idea that “the Jews” are hoarding something — knowledge, money, vaccines, in this case soda — is hardly new. But the way this specific idea propagated, and the speed with which it did, is deeply contemporary. In the age of TikTok and X, every niche cultural product — even Passover Coke — can become a political totem. A bottle of soda becomes a flashpoint in a culture war.
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