How to create bad PR - get a marketing boss who knows nothing about the web and have him surf it.
The fan-site http://colapriser.dk/ used to be called cocacolapriser.dk (Coca-cola prices.dk) before Coca Cola made them change their URL. André Lund who owns the site obliged. Now their name (colapriser.dk) is akin to saying "sodaprices.dk". Still this didn't seem to be enough for Coke, who sent an email stating:

..one more thing remains. If you are to be allowed to link to a coca cola website (cocacola.dk) you have to send in a written application to us. I can not see that you have made such an application, and there is no agreement with you about this. So I have to ask you to remove the link to www.cocacola.dk.

(emphasis mine)
André Lund though that was going just a wee bit too far, and he refused, prepared to go to court with it if he had to. "They can't decide if I am allowed to link to their homepage." he said, well versed in common sense and the law as it stands today.
After Metro paper shone a light on the story, Coke's tone changed quite dramatically. Politiken writes that they have sent apologies:

We're sorry if this was interpreted as a threat. That was not our intention.

wrote Kenth Kærhøg on Coke's own homepage, but it looks like this has been removed since. Whomever sent that email about he link, identifying themselves as someone who "works with our brands", should probably find a more suitable career.
Hat tip to Mikker.

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