These include chewing the leaves to mitigate the rigours of Bolivia's bleak Altiplano, 4, 000 metres (13, 100 feet) above sea level, as well as the coca tea given to tourists on arrival in La Paz.

ECONOMIST: Bolivia

The coca leaf is still chewed in some rural communities, and coca leaf tea is stocked for tourists, but suggesting that Colombia hasn't moved on from its inglorious past is considered ignorant and rude.

CNN: 10 things to know before visiting Colombia

Bolivia is the world's third-largest producer of coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine, but Morales says coca has also been used for chewing, making tea and in rituals here for centuries and he wants to remove the restraints on cultivation.

NPR: Bolivian President Elect Makes Bold Claims on Coca

When Coca-Cola wanted to experiment with a supposedly healthy green-tea-flavoured drink, it targeted young Japanese women first.

ECONOMIST: The fad for functional foods

Or consider how Honest Tea, the organic tea company that is an independently run wholly owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola, combined web video technology and a thought-provoking purchase experiment to cut through the clutter in the over-crowded beverage market.

FORBES: Can You Hear Me Now? Web-Enabled Brand Experiences That Cut Through The Clutter