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.