When chapman billies leave the street, and drouthy neebors, neebors meet � it might be time for a Diet Coke break. Scotland�s Immortal Bard has been immortalised yet again with an unexpected new partnership between the Scottish Government and Coca Cola.

When chapman billies leave the street, and drouthy neebors, neebors meet it might be time for a Diet Coke break.

Scotland's Immortal Bard has been immortalised yet again with an unexpected new partnership between the Scottish Government and Coca Cola.

In what could be seen as either an historic marketing coup or a tragic cultural sell out, the face of Robert Burns will now grace the side of one million Coke bottles as part of Scotland's Homecoming celebrations.

Promotional e-mails will also be sent to all 70,000 employees in Coca Cola's global empire, and ministers hope the campaign will help attract thousands of visitors to experience Scotland's cultural and tourist attractions.

First Minister Alex Salmond yesterday met the first delivery of bottles at the Gleneagles Hotel, one of several chains - including Radisson, Barcelo and MacDonald - that will stock the commemorative labels for the rest of this year.

Announcing the new advertising deal, he said: "This year, as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to remind our friends and family of everything that makes Scotland unique.

"This unique design for 2009 captures the spirit of that celebration, and is a fantastic way of translating our heritage and identity into the language of popular culture."

He added: "Andy Warhol described Coca Cola's contour bottle as the design icon of the decade', but now that it is decorated with my Man of the Millennium' I think its visual identity is even more significant."

Burns now has the honour of being the first person to feature on the side of a coke bottle, and this is the only occasion to date where Coca Cola have designated a design to one nation.

Commemorative bottles are rarely produced, and in recent years only major world events such as the Fifa World Cup and the Olympic Games have made it onto Coke's distinctive labels.

Burns enthusiasts can take heart from the fact that it was only 250 years after the poet's birth that he achieved true fame on the side of a soft drink container. The Bard's main rival as the face of Coca Cola, Santa Claus, did not appear on an advertising campaign until the 1930s - nearly 1700 years after the birth of his real-life inspiration, Saint Nicholas of Myra.

It is in large part through the Coke campaign that the modern image of a red-suited Santa has stuck in the world's mindset, and tourism leaders will hope that the Burns-Coke partnership can achieve a similar coup for Scotland.

Coca Cola is already a major sponsor of many world events, having taken on the Olympics in 1928, and its advertising campaigns have included some of the most iconic in recent history - as well as some of the most unashamedly ambitious.

Recent campaigns have included one launched at this year's Brit Awards and featuring Welsh singer Duffy drinking Diet Coke before taking off on a bike ride through a supermarket.

Others, however, have placed the soft drink in a far more serious context. An ongoing campaign aimed at Hispanic Americans associates Coke with education and aspiration, showing a man drinking a bottle as he imagines his young daughter as a surgeon. Others show a woman drinking Coke while she pictures her young son in a future career as a university lecturer.

The firm's UK managing director, Simon Baldry, said he believed the unusual Burns marketing campaign could help create a buzz about Scotland's Homecoming celebrations.

He said: "This unique bottle and design creates opportunity for new marketing, promotions and display in stores to ensure that increased consumer awareness and excitement is created for this campaign."

The design of the bottle aims to combine "the tradition and heritage of a cultural icon" with "the contemporary nature of a modern brand", Coca Cola added.