When people talk about the ingredients in Coca-Cola that are cause for concern, they’re usually talking about things like high fructose corn syrup and caffeine — not human waste. [More]
coca cola
Coca-Cola, Pepsi Will Pull 2-Liters From Philadelphia Over Soda Tax
By 3.22.17
The recently enacted sugary drink tax in Philadelphia has not been without controversy, including a soda industry lawsuit, unhappy consumers, and push back from lawmakers. The two biggest names in soda are now making drastic changes to the products they offer — and the people they employ — and blaming it on the tax. [More]
Could AB InBev Try To Buy Coca-Cola To Create Beer & Soda Voltron?
By 9.12.16
After you’ve spent more than $100 billion to acquire your biggest competitor, what’s left? Sure, you can buy up that smaller business here and sell off this subsidiary there, but how does a company regain the adrenaline rush of pulling off a transaction so big people need to stop and count the zeros? [More]
Florida Walmart’s 9/11 Tribute Features Twin Towers Made Out Of Coke Products
By 9.8.16
Just as surely as Sept. 11 comes around once a year, we can also be sure that someone is going to exploit the anniversary of the attacks that happened that day with an ill-advised marketing gimmick. An early entrant to the marketing hall of shame this year is a Florida Walmart and its 9/11 “We Will Never Forget” American flag tribute — complete with the World Trade Center towers — made entirely out of Coca-Cola products. [More]
17 Commercial Failures From Brands With Spectacularly Bad Ideas
By 6.30.16
While Keurig is surely hoping there will come a day when its failed KOLD soda-making machine is but a misty, sparkling memory, it’s not the first company to reach for the stars, to fly too close to the sun, to try to capture lightning in a bottle… and fail utterly and completely, thereby forever securing a spot in the brand failure hall of fame, never to be forgotten. [More]
Coca-Cola Will Pull Some Products From Shelves In Vermont Instead Of Adding GMO Labels
By 6.29.16
The date when food items that contain ingredients from genetically engineered plants or animals must be labeled to be sold in Vermont is almost here, and lawmakers haven’t managed to strike down the law yet, so food companies will have to print or add the information to items shipped to Vermont. Or they could do what Coca-Cola plans, and not ship the items for a while. [More]
Here’s Some Fuzzy Pricing Math That Isn’t At Target
By 6.16.16
We began calling certain types of fuzzy pricing schemes “Target math” some years ago, since they turned up most often at Target stores. When this happens, unit pricing goes awry, and it costs more per unit to buy a larger quantity of the same thing. For example, when a two-pack of lotion costs almost a dollar more than two individual bottles. [More]
Court Won’t Stop San Francisco’s Mandatory Warnings On Soda Ads
By 5.17.16
In 2015, San Francisco enacted a new city ordinance requiring warnings on ads for soda and other sugary drinks. With the new rules set to go into effect later this summer, a number of trade groups are suing the city to overturn the law. The plaintiffs had hoped to get an injunction preventing San Francisco from enforcing the warning label requirement, but today a federal court said the city can go ahead with the ordinance for now. [More]
Hi-C Ecto Cooler Will Return To Store Shelves On May 30
By 4.25.16
A few months ago, news and early samples of a new and exciting beverage hit Twitter and eBay. Hi-C’s Ecto Cooler was a green citrus-flavored beverage and a tie-in for the Ghostbusters franchise. The beverage was so popular that it outlasted the TV cartoon series it was originally meant to promote by ten years. With a new live-action Ghostbusters movie due out this summer and levels of ’90s nostalgia peaking, Ecto Cooler is returning to store shelves. [More]
Coca-Cola Giving Its Bottles & Cans A Makeover With New “One-Brand” Design
By 4.19.16
The next time you go for a can of Diet Coke, you might need to look twice to make sure you aren’t grabbing the full-calorie version instead: Coca-Cola is giving all four of its Coke products a makeover it’s calling “One-Brand” packaging that brings to mind the packaging of original Coca-Cola products. [More]
Coca-Cola Plans ‘Share A Coke’ Bottles With Song Lyrics Instead Of Names
By 3.31.16
The “Share a Coke” campaign was a huge success for Coca-Cola, boosting sales as people scooped up bottles with their own or family members’ names. Other than bringing names back for a third year in the United States, how could the beverage giant replicate the success? Instead of names, now they’re switching to song lyrics, which are less personalized but can sometimes be even more personal. [More]
Georgia Governor Vetoes Controversial “Religious Liberty” Bill
By 3.28.16
Amid pressure from civil rights groups and private industry, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has vetoed a controversial piece of legislation that would have allowed religious groups and individuals to deny services to same-sex couples and for faith-based employers to not hire someone based on their sexual orientation. [More]
Coke Says It Paid $132.5M To Fund Scientific Research Over A Five-Year Period
By 3.24.16
After facing backlash and fallout from its funding of the now-defunct Global Energy Balance Network — an anti-obesity organization with a decidedly pro-soda bent — Coca-Cola began disclosing all of its spending in the U.S. on scientific research and health partnerships. Now, nearly six months after first disclosing it had spent $118.5 million in a five-year period, the company has come back with an updated figure of $132.8 million. [More]
Walmart, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestlé Offer 176 Truckloads Of Clean Water To Flint Schoolkids
By 1.26.16
You’ve no doubt heard about the concerns over lead-tainted water in the Michigan city of Flint. While the city and state have declared it a public-health emergency, some big businesses are stepping up with the promise of delivering millions of bottles of clean water to Flint schoolchildren through the rest of 2016. [More]
Coca-Cola, Pepsi Once Again Fund Study Claiming Diet Soda Is Better For You Than Water
By 1.18.16
Back in 2014, the soft drink industry funded a study that, coincidentally, concluded that diet soda is better for weight loss than water. These same companies are at it again, not only providing the backing for another study extolling the virtues of diet drinks, but also — according to new reports — directly paying money to the researchers involved. [More]
Coca-Cola Paid $550K Directly To Head Of Pro-Soda, Anti-Obesity Group
By 12.28.15 — Updated: 10.2.17
In addition to the funding that Coca-Cola provided to the now-defunct Global Energy Balance Network — an anti-obesity organization with a decidedly pro-soda bent — the cola giant also paid $550,000 directly to the GEBN president. [More]
FIFA Chief Sepp Blatter Banned Over $2M Payment To Fellow Soccer Exec
By 12.21.15
More than six months after he announced he would eventually be ending his nearly two-decade reign atop the world’s largest soccer organization, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been banned from the sport for eight years. [More]
Coke-Funded Anti-Obesity Group Goes The Way Of Crystal Pepsi
By 12.1.15
The Global Energy Balance Network, a supposed anti-obesity organization that was heavily criticized for not only receiving more than $1 million from Coca-Cola but for attempting to downplay the role of sugary drinks in the current obesity epidemic, has vanished from the Earth like a failed new soda product. [More]
