My last and final blog! ((tear))

This article is about the war between Coca-Cola and their rival, PepsiCo. There has been a major conflict between the two beverage companies sports drinks. Apparently, PepsiCo is claiming that Coke has been promoting its Powerade drink by making false statements against PepsiCo’s Gatorade. Coke’s advertisements have been stating that their beverage, Powerade ION4, is superior to Gatorades composition. “Coke's tagline says that Gatorade is "incomplete" compared to this Powerade concoction. PepsiCo thinks this is so egregiously deceptive that it has filed a lawsuit to protect the equity of Gatorade's name and reputation.”

The writer of this source goes on to talk about what he thinks saying how, even though he may be biased towards Coke since he owns shares in it, he does not think that PepsiCo has a case. He thinks this because he believes Coke has the right to their own opinion so they should be able to say whatever they like about their product compared to a competitor’s.

The writer informs the reader of other information pertaining to the sales of both Gatorade and Powerade. He states that “Gatorade is without a doubt the big name in the arena of sports beverages. It owns 77% of that market, while Coke's Powerade has 22%. Coke wants Powerade to grow; PepsiCo wants to make sure it doesn't.”

I can’t agree against him. If I had to choose a sports drink, I have more favorites when it comes to Gatorade. Powerade is good, don’t get me wrong, but they both just have different tastes so its all based on one’s preference. However, I will say, now that I know Coke owns Powerade I am even more prone to purchasing Gatorade over Powerade.

This article will help my argument against Coke because they obviously know that PepsiCo has the better product and that is the only reason they would react to their product the way they did.

Cokes water bomb

This article talks about Coke's big and embarrassing mistake in the UK. In March of 2004, after only being on the market for 5 weeks, Coke's Disani water was taken away because of some embarrassing facts that were found out and then written about in one of UK's magazines.

Coke's Disani water had been a fraud. Unlike most of the other bottled water companys in Europe, Disani's water did not come from mountain water or from glaciers. It was actually taken from UK's own tap and than went through a purification process and than had minerals added to it. Anyone could basically make their own Disani water by just buying any kind of water filter.

An article came out in The Grocer magazine but the author thought no one would really pay any attention to it. But when the day came when Disani's secret reached another reporter, the tabloids and news was filled with talk of Coke's lie. Headlines reading "The Real Sting" and "Coke Sells tap water for 95p" did not help Coke out in any way. Adding to the papers and magazines, an online video was made making Coke the butt of the joke once again and playing with them even more.

Adding to the embarrassment of their secret getting out, a factory malfunction was the last straw for Coke. Something went wrong in Coke's bottling plant when "a bad batch of minerals had contaminated the water production with a potentially carcinogenic bromate."

Needless to say, Coke soon pulled Disani from the UK market.

Coke definitely payed the price for their mistake. They lost millions and have continued to lose popularity. In my opinion Coke deserved everything that happened to them. I am glad to hear that they were caught and faced with their mistake and they were punished for it. Now if only all of their mistakes were shown to the world. This site will definitely help with my argument against Coke.

Coca-Cola, Others Charged With Greenwash at Protest

In San Francisco on December 2nd and 3rd, protests occurred against The Coca-Cola Company along with Pepsi Co. and Nestle. These companies were challenged by a large amount of groups charging the companies with green washing and abusing water resources. These water companies were attending a conference titled "Corporate Water Footprinting: Towards a Sustainable Water Strategy" in San Francisco when the public felt that their voices needed to be heard. Information is given throughout this article that informs the public of what Coke, along with the other companies, are really doing.

"More than a billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and climate change is further depleting freshwater resources," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. "Given the absence of perspectives from those without access to water, the corporate conference appears aimed more at polishing the images of some of the world's biggest water abusers rather than addressing the very real global water crisis."
The public needs to know and realize what is going on and that their beloved Coke is a bad and unethical company. Until more people start realizing this nothing will be done to stop them. Coke is the kind of company who will continue to do these awful acts until they are caught red handed and are punished for their actions.

The Coca-Cola Company has even had the nerve to formally state that they will soon be a water neutral company. The crazy part is, they have also stated to the public that they know that it is impossible to really becoming 100% water neutral yet they are still planning on going through with their statement and still plan on using it for advertisement.
This is a flat out lie that Coke has even admitted to yet they are still going to broadcast it? I will never be able to understand what goes through the minds of the people in charge at Coca-Cola.
I will definitely be able to use this article to prove my argument against Coke.

Coke drinks India dry

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/mar/19/business.india1

I used this article for my last paper and I thought it was very interesting. It helped my argument so much and made it very easy to make Coke look bad. Well it really isn't that hard to make them look bad, but when an article like this is out there, I can't understand why it would not be clear to everyone.

Coke has been blamed for draining India dry of all of their scarce water. In a town called Rajasthan, researchers have seen a tremendous loss of water and it is to the point where when the farmers try to irrigate their farms, nothing is there to give them water. Even two years ago, The Coca-Cola Company was forced to shut down one of their plants in India because they had been causing water pollution. Now they are not only polluting the water but taking it from the locals in all of the towns.

"Coca-Cola is the largest beverage company in the world, and used 283 billion litres of water in 2004. For every 2.7 litres of water it takes, it produces one litre of product. Its profits last year were just under $15bn and it has a market capitalisation of over $100bn."

Coke has also received some embarrassing PR after one of their bottled waters had to be taken off the market because people found out that it was really only processed tap water. I was so glad to read that students just like me will be able to vote on whether they think Coke vending machines should be banned from student unions. Coke has created many environment problems and the company needs to know that students and so many other people mean business. This would be an amazing movement if and when it really happens.

This article definitely helped my argument and it was a good addition to my paper.

The Coca-Cola Killings

http://www.counterpunch.org/coke0906.html

This article is old but has a lot of important information that people need to know about.
There have been numerous Coca-Cola killings in Colombian bottling plants. In 2002, a union activist named Adolfo de Jesus Munera was murdered right after a lawsuit that he filed against Coca-Cola had been accepted by the Colombia's Constitutional Court."Adolfo de Jesus Munera was a regional leader of the Sinaltrainal food industry workers' union and a former employee of the Coca-Cola plant Embotelladora Roman in the town of Barranquilla." Munera was not the first Colombian union leader to have been murdered though. Seven others came before him and many others have been abducted and tortured. These attacks happen to the people who have been connected with threats to Coca-Cola employees to quit their union.
Five years before Munera's murder, in April 1997, Emilio Hernandez, the plant chief, accused Munera of beign a rebel sympithizer and so Hernandez secretly ordered the Colombian authorities to take care of him. After his home had been raided, Munera fled out of town. The Coca-Cola Company than sent him a letter telling thim he was dismissed because he had not shown up for work that day. Because he was supported by his union, Munera filed a law suit against the company demanding that he be given his job back. He won the first time but during the second level, he was not supported by the judge. On August 22, after he had appealed, he recieved a letter from the Colombian Constitutional Court informing him that his case had been accepted once again. A little over a week later, Munera was shot and killed outside his mothers home by unknown gunmen waiting outside from him.
I do not understand how things like this can happen to people like Munera. How can Coca-Cola get away with this? How can they be such a powerful company? They sell beverages, but instead they are acting like their own government. This article will without a doubt help with my argument against Coke. How can articles like this come out and people read about them and do nothing to stop this company?

History of Coca-Cola and Their Advertising Campaign

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/56875/history_of_cocacola_and_their_advertising_pg3.html?cat=22

This is just an article about the history of Coca-Cola's ad campaigns but I think it is important to see where they have come from to be able to talk about their present day campaigns. It starts out with the history of who first invented Coke and than who it was passed on to since than. Basically it was first created by a man nmed John Styth Pemberton and than passed on to Asa Candler who made its popularity into what it is today. Candler used short little blips to get the audience to think about Coke. He used "Coke is it" and "Always" to remind the consumers that Coke is the original. The famous logo that is known all around the world was actually designed by Pemberton's book keeper, Frank Robinson.

The next man in charge of Coke was Robert Woodruff. His time of control over the company, WWII, wasn't the happiest time but his dedication to making it available to soldiers made it loved by everyone in the end. Coke advertisements have been known to always remind people about peace and how the world would be a better place if everyone loved one another. The 1971 commercial "I'd like to buy the world a coke" was a big hit. It showed young people of different races coming together and enjoying a coke together. This commercial came out when the Cold War and the Vietnam war was at its height but it was used to promote world peace and also promoted the company as an international one.

The most popular games in the whole world, The Olympics, have always been supported by Coke and this just makes the company even more well known and adored. The colors of the company have always been red and white and will continue to use these two prominent colors because it reminds the viewer that it is the original coca-cola that they are watching and what they will want. More commercials that have been used by the company have the original coke bottle either in the middle of the frame or at the top so that it is always the central focus of the whole commercial.

The article goes on to state more facts about how the colors are used and how some models are seen in everyday settings and others are seen glamorous. Either way, people are going to want to be like the people on these commercials and there for think they need a coke to be like them.

This article doesn't necessarily help my argument but again, I can take things away from what this article teaches me about Coke and use my own spin on it. It's not that hard to make Coke look bad when they have done so many things wrong.

Buy the world a Coke or a glass of water?

http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/buy-the-world-a.php

This article is about Coke bottling plants in India draining the country's water. This source will help me with my argument against Coke and give me good details to prove that Coke is doing bad things.

The article goes on to talk about how when any company's image gets tarnished because of bad economic times or a new fad in people's diets, the company's usual next step is to make them seem like they are changing. When it became more well known that The Coca-Cola Company was taking more water out of India's scare wells than they were giving back, the company started "reinventing themselves and addressing the very issue that caused them the bad press". The manager for economic affairs for Coke has said “water is to Coca-Cola as clean energy is to BP”. The only thing that is different between Coke and BP is that BP actually changed from an oil company into an energy company while Coke is attempting to address their water complaint issues by releasing an environmental report which discusses and explains their new global water strategy.

I think this article is important for people to read so that they know the truth about Coke's wrong doings. I know i say that all the time but this article shows a comparison between Coke and BP that makes it more clear that coke is all talk and no action. The BP company actually addressed their problems and changed 100% from a harmful oil company to a helpful energy company. If coke were to try to change, they would probably end up doing something else even worse causing more harm than they have done already. I dont see how Coke can turn a new leaf unless they start admitting their faults and doing something about them. How many more articles need to written? How many more lawsuits need to be filed? How many more droughts need to occur before Coke gets the picture and changes?!

UMass students boycott Coca-Cola

http://www.dailycollegian.com/news/umass-students-boycott-coca-cola-1.1743313

This article is about college students who have decided to stand up against Coca-Cola and try to make their university cancel it's contract with the Coca-Cola Company. This article can be used to go along with my argument against Coke. I will use the facts that are given to show people the truth about Coke and why they need to take responsibility.

Students at the University of Massachusetts have started a campaign to stop killer coke. They have decided to boycott against all coke products and are trying to make their school end their contract with this company. This group of students plan on contacting and talking with University Administrators about the University’s “exclusive pouring rights” contract with Coca-Cola. Contract Administrator says "“We are aware that the University receives a significant amount of money from a company that is associated with torture, kidnapping, murder, union busting, draining of public groundwater in vulnerable communities and so on". How can the university feel okay about taking money from such a bad company? Yah, they receive a good amount of money from them that goes towards good things, but the money is coming from all of the bad things that Coke does. This is not okay and needs to stop. More University campus's around the country need to stop and take a look at this huge company's background and on-going mischief.

The article goes on to talk about just a handful of wrong doings that have been connected to The Coca-Cola Company. Everything from assassinations to causing droughts, none of their wrong doings are small, innocent things. They all affect people in more ways than one and need to end now. The worst of it all is that the company not only denies these occurrences, but they lie about them and blame them on someone else. This is definitely an ethically challenged company that needs to step back and take a good look at themselves and what they have become. These students have the right idea. More campus's need to start taking a stand and make things right. We can't let Coke get away with anything else.

Campaign Reveals Just a Little Bit of Coke’s Secret Formula

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/business/media/07adco.html?_r=1

This article is about Coke going public about some of its "secret ingredients". Obviously they are not giving anything too important away but just for kicks, and possibly to make more people like them, they are now divulging the fact that Coke has no added preservatives or artificial flavors. This obviously isn't the top news of the day. Coke is just saying what they do not have in their formula, not what they do have. But still, I don't think its that big of a deal that they have no added preservative or artificial flavors. Lots of drinks today in the media are saying that they don't have any in their drinks. For all we know, all of these companies could be lying to us! How would we know other wise??

The article goes on to talk about the campaign called "Pemberton" which is fact-based, affirming for consumers that Coca-Cola never has had, and never will have, added preservatives or artificial flavor. Since health craves have become so popular, teas and waters have become the beverage of choice and what Coke is now competing with.

Even Tim Ambler, a senior fellow on the marketing faculty of the London Business School, has said that it is strange for Coke to be advertising this claim. This new campaign is so very different from other Coke campaigns because they usually try to link its brand to vibrant, young people having fun with one another.

I think i will be able to use this article for my argument. Even though this article states some good facts about Coca-Cola, there are some comments spaced throughout the article that question the company and those are the ones i plan to use against them. For instance, the only reason Coke is now telling people they don't have any added preservatives or artificial flavors is because of the health scare that has gone around. Of course Coke is going to saying something to make them look better than the other company in this time.

Coke hoping new campaign will lift consumers spirits, and its sales

http://presscentre.coca-cola.co.uk/viewnews/video_game_advert_launch

I'm not sure if this site will help my argument or not. Though it says good things about Coca-Cola and their ad's, i can still counter the comments made here by saying that they are just words and that until they become actions the Coca-Cola Company can talk all they want.

This article tells the reader about Coke's newest ad campaign and what the company hopes to get out of it. What the company wants people to take from their new ad is "Be happy. Have a positive attitude. Live life to the fullest". Something new the company is trying to set in motion is making room for Coca-Cola for European technology junkies. In bus stops in numerous Spanish cities, interactive advertising panels with digital cameras will be set up so passersby can take a picture of them in their unique time of happiness. A couple will then be chosen and used as advertisements on the panel.

"Online activity will be centered around a new Web site,www.destapalafelicidad.es, where users will be able to leave optimistic messages for newborn babies and hear from older people about their experiences." I find this kind of weird. It's definitely new and never been done before but i don't see how it is Coca-Cola's place to do this. They are a beverage company. I just don't get it. They are also trying to make it so that in a hospital in Spain, messages can be left for newborn babies from older people to tell them what they have to look forward to and about their experiences.

"Coca-Cola has always been there to share happiness, but at a time when the world is experiencing such difficulty, it is a particularly important message to convey," said Marcos de Quinto, division president of Coca-Cola Iberia. "Coca-Cola has been communicating a positive and refreshing view of life for over 120 years." My opinion about this is that yes, we are in a time of difficulty so we do need to remember the good things in life and what is really important. I don't know about you, but my first thought doesn't go straight to Coca-Cola drinks.

The article goes on to state the same things over again and just what they are trying to fix.

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/aug2008/id20080825_105720_page_2.htm

This is yet another article that does not in fact help my argument but was just too interesting to pass up! It is about the new "design" of Coke. I say "design" because the actually designer doesn't like to use this word. Instead of using the word design for talking about the graphics on the bottle, he uses the word to describe the new material of the bottle and the way it feels. This sounds weird i know but it makes sense.

As you can see, the literal design of the bottle is being changed into something more modern and eye-catching. But the real beauty behind it all is the material the new bottles will be made out of. From the original glass contour bottle, the new and improved aluminum contour bottle was formed. When looked at from a branding point of view it is the "sexy update of the classic glass bottle that feels more modern but is less expensive to produce. From a customers point of view, it is colder than glass and is also more usable because, opposite of glass, it has a re-sealable cap. and finally from the environmentalist point of view is is more efficient because it is recyclable and it is itself made from recycled materials! It is a triple threat! "Similarly, a new family of sleek, sculptural coolers gives the brand a bold presence, but also boasts a more ergonomic door handle, LED lighting, and other technologies that reduce energy usage by 30% to 40%."

So obviously this article goes against my entire argument but i thought it was very impressive and needed to be shared. Just like my last blog that went against my argument, this shows that the Coca-Cola Company, while they still have their bad side and do some sketchy things, also has a good side that really does care and wants to make a difference. This side needs to come out more and over rule the bad side.

Coca-Cola using biofeul in local trucks

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090409-BIZ-904090433

Finally!!! Something good i can write about Coca-Cola! Even though this does not help my argument i thought it was interesting that Coca-Cola is, in fact, actually trying to save the ecosystem and not just lying to the world again.

So The Coca-Cola Company in Seacoast has just this month joined up with Simply Green Biofeuls to work together to help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions. Seacoast is one of the areas largest and well-known trucking fleets so this is great news! "Each truck that runs from Coke's Seabrook fleet will now be powered by Simply Green's biodiesel, reducing each truck's carbon dioxide emissions by 3.92 percent." The Coca-Cola Company in Seacoast is doing so much more than just now using biofeuls though. Just over a year ago they began doing things around the warehouse a lot more efficiently. They started picking up their own recyclable materials from its customers and also installed motion light detectors. both of these minor changes made such a big change to the work place and to the environment. Electricity bills went down by more than 30% in the first month alone after the motion light detectors were put into place. And by helping out and picking up people recyclables, this means less gas being used from all the people who would have drove to recycle sights and it even helps if peopel weren't going to recycle in the first place! All around, Seacoast Coca-Cola is doing good things. This is great to hear and report on after all the horrible facts i have come across with Coca-Cola. It is nice to see that they are doing something good. Now if only they can just fix everything and than i will love them again! Like i said before, this article doesn't help my argument at all but i thought it was interesting to see how much one Coca-Cola plant has done to make a difference!

Coca-Cola theives

http://www.NaturalNews.com/022092.html

This source reports about three coca-cola employee's trying to steal and than sell Coca-Cola's trade secrets to their rival beverage co mpany, Pepsi. I'm goin to go ahead and say this article helps my argument against Coke. Obviously they do not have very loyal employees or they wouldn't be trying to sell their own company's secrets. This shows the values and morals of the company. The article goes on to state that these three coke employees had been trying to make a deal with Pepsi. "Dimson allegedly gave FBI agents 14 pages worth of secret Coca-Cola documents, which had been prominently marked as "classified" in exchange for $5,000 and an agreement that PepsiCo would purchase a confidential sample of an upcoming Coke product for another $75,000" (Gutierrez) The Pepsi company soon after alerted the FBI of these events and the FBI went into action. The FBI set up spies in the Pepsi company for when the coca-cola employees would contact them again. Aparently the unfaithful coke employees expected to obtain $1.5 million. Before being arrested by the FBI, they did however recieve $35,000. Ibrahim Dimson, 31, and Joya Williams, 42 were both sentenced from 5-8 years in prison while the third employee, Edmund Duhaney, 43, still waits to see what the final verdict for his outcome will be. All three of these employees should definitely be charged and punished for their crime. I thought this source to be interesting because this isn't necesarilly about something the Coka-Cola Company has done wrong or bad. It is about their employees, which obviously aren't the most loyal to their employer. However, this still ends up reflecting badly on Coke because they are not able to keep their employees' mouths shut. What does this say about the company? A company's employees are the base of the company. When the base falls, the company will fall. Coca-Cola is bound to fall sooner or later if they are still employing people like these three theives.

College students end Coke contract

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651473_1651472_1651479,00.html

This interesting source is related to my argument because of the fact that it is about college students coming together and learning the truth about The Coca-Cola Company and doing something about it on their own campus. After the college of Smith's Students for Social Justice and Institutional Change caught wind that there had been "allegations that Coca-Cola was complicit in human rights violations at a bottling plant in Colombia and had contributed to environmental degradation in India", Smith college students decided to do something about it. What did they decide to do? Well since Coca-Cola's "actions would be in violation of Smith's Vendor Code of Conduct", the students forced their college to cancel the contract that they have with the Coca-Cola Company. Coke, of course, denies all of the accusations made against them.
Apparently, "The Smith students' campaign has made an impression on Coca-Cola, which sent spokespeople to meet with concerned students and faculty at the schools that have considered bans". Because of Coke's fear that more universities will start terminating their contracts too, they created a website (cokefacts.com) specifically to inform people about "their efforts to ensure fair labor and environmental practices in India, Colombia and other countries."
In my opinion, the Coca-Cola Company can make as many websites as they like telling millions of people what their efforts are, but until things actually start to change, thats when I will really believe them.
This source supports my argument against Coke by showing other students actions against the Coca-Cola Company. Because of this one university, many others are following in their foot steps and ending their contracts with Coke. Not only will this make Coke hopefully stop all of it's wrongdoings, but this gives local beverage companies the chance to gain enormous profit in their community. It gives the little guy their time to shine and that is what America really needs at this time.
The only part of this source that would complicate my argument is the website cokefacts.com. But frankly I dont think i would believe anything they put on their anyways so i'm not too worried.
I thought this source was very interesting because of the students genuine drive to make things right. They dont want to keep Coke products on their campus becasue they like the taste. They only want to represent companies that deserve to be represented. And Coke is obviously not one of them.

MyCokeRewards Tackles Complaints

http://promomagazine.com/incentives/mycokerewards_complaints_071906/

I am very interested and intrigued by the MyCokeRewards contest. This source tells of the complaints that have come up by loyal Coke drinkers. Even these people are seeing the bad side of this crazy contest. This source is very much related to my overall topic because it just shows examples of how The Coca-Cola Company is failing as an ethical business. This source supports my argument so much. It helps my research tremendously because it shows real peoples problems and frustrations with the contest. Coke can tell the public a million times how easy it is to enter, play, and win the contest, but by getting an actual contestants point of view you see a whole other side to it.

In this source, it is discussed how message/chat boards have been popping up everywhere talking about all of the problems everyone is having with MyCokeRewards. People are now referring to the contest as the MyCokeRewards Scam because of their false point values, wish lists disappearing in short time periods, and prizes even missing. One coke loyalist was interviewed on this source and it goes on to say "the MyCokeRewards.com Web site is easy to use and registration was simple, but he became disappointed when he discovered that all of the prizes he had posted on his wish list had sold out quickly, way before an above-average Coke drinker could build enough points." Coca-Cola's spokesperson, Scott Williamson, makes comments throughout the article backing up Coke's complaints. He states "Some of its more than 2 million members have contacted Coca-Cola, and the company has taken action as part of a continuous evaluation of the program". The action he is referring to is Coke reducing the prizes point values so they are more attainable. But Coke still has a long way to go before they can right all of the wrongs they have done. By simply canceling the whole contest, Coke would go up a few notches in my book. But of course they won't even discuss it because of all of the media and money they receive from it. This is a great source that i was lucky to read. It will definitely help me in the long run when arguing against the Coca-Cola Company.