Feel-good factor meanz Heinz is the best-known brand

Coca-Cola may still be the world's best-known brand but in Britain it is being driven into obscurity by the humble baked bean.

Polls over the past 12 months show that Heinz is Britain's most recognised brand, buoyed by nostalgic television advertisements linked to the "Beanz Meanz Heinz" slogan. Coca-Cola slipped from the fifth most-recognised brand in September last year to ninth in May this year in polls by the market research company Martin Hamblin GfK, which asked respondents to name five brands.

In two other polls, taken in November 2002 and January this year, the Coke brand failed to make the top 10. Pepsi failed to make the top 20 in any of the five months.

Gordon MacMillan, the editor of Brand Republic, said the drinks had suffered from the demand for bottled water. He said: "People used to buy a couple of cans of Coke a day but now they're buying a bottle of Evian instead, almost as an accessory."

An international survey by Interbrand earlier this year showed that Coca-Cola was the most-recognised name around the globe.

Mr MacMillan said Heinz had been trying to encourage public debate over whether the "Beanz Meanz Heinz" catchphrase should be kept.

"There's a lot of nostalgia and goodwill with people looking back at those ads," he said. "It has all been really positive, feel-good stuff."

Other brands to figure prominently in the British polls were Kellogg's and Persil. The highest-ranking British brand was Tesco.