Amid accusations that its Global Energy Balance Network was little more than a Coca-Cola-funded shill using real doctors to downplay the role of sugary drinks in the current obesity epidemic, the University of Colorado School of Medicine recently returned a $1 million donation to the beverage biggie. But newly revealed e-mails show the direct influence that Coke bought with this supposed anti-obesity organization. [More]
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University Med School Returns $1M Gift To Coca-Cola
By 11.9.15
Last year, Coca-Cola donated $1 million to the University of Colorado School of Medicine, with the money intended to fund a pro-soda advocacy group called the Global Energy Balance Network. After being criticized for accepting this money to push Coca-Cola’s business agenda, the university has now decided to return the funds. [More]
McDonald’s Testing Sales Of Monster Energy Drinks In Five States
By 10.21.15
Need a little pick-me-up after a greasy burger and fry value meal? McDonald’s thinks it has the answer: sell energy drinks. [More]
Four Major Sponsors Call For FIFA President To Resign Immediately, He Refuses
By 10.2.15
Sure, sure, the president of global soccer association FIFA is under criminal investigation in Switzerland, but that doesn’t mean that he should make any rash decisions, like resigning in advance of the emergency presidential election in February. Now some of FIFA’s deep-pocketed sponsors are calling for Blatter to resign immediately, and he… refuses. [More]
Surge Is Back On Retail Store Shelves (In Some States)
By 9.8.15
Almost a year ago, the dreams of many fans of caffeine and carbos came true when Coca-Cola brought back the green soft drink called “Surge,” which had been discontinued in 2003. Coke made the stuff available only on Amazon, and only for a limited time, but maybe they got the hint when the initial batch sold out within a few hours.
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From Apple To Walmart, Over A Dozen Of The Biggest Businesses In The U.S. Sign On To White House Climate Pledge
By 7.27.15
A huge number of the world’s nations are coming together in Paris this December to negotiate an agreement to stem emissions and forestall further climate change. Ahead of this winter’s United Nations talks, however, some well-known names here at home are pledging their own contributions to the cause. [More]
Health Group Remakes Iconic Coke Ad With People Suffering From Soda-Related Diseases
By 6.23.15
From fast food restaurants removing sugary drinks from kid’s menus to city governments considering taxes on soda, the soft drink industry has been the target of a crusade to end – or at the very least reduce – consumers’ love affair with fizzy, sugar-laden drinks and raise awareness of the negative impact such calorie-filled beverages have on one’s health. Today that mission continued with the release of a video that aims to curtail the incidence of soda-related disease by turning the most iconic soft drink commercial on its head. [More]
Coca-Cola Debuts Bottle Made Entirely Of Plant Materials
By 6.4.15
If you thought that Coke was sweet before, then Coca-Cola’s newest bottles will give you a sugar rush. That’s because the company has developed a beverage container made solely from plant materials, including sugarcane. [More]
John Oliver Pledges To Eat McDonald’s, Drink Budweiser If They Use Sponsorship Power To Change FIFA
By 6.1.15
Last week, the soccer world was rocked when numerous current and former FIFA officials were arrested and charged with accepting illegal kickbacks and bribes. Only days later, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, under whose oversight these alleged crimes have occurred for nearly two decades, was reelected. That’s why John Oliver has called on FIFA’s high-profile sponsors to use their financial leverage to effect some change in the most powerful soccer organization in the world. [More]
Visa Sends A Warning That It Could Pull Its FIFA Sponsorship
By 5.28.15
What a difference a week makes: Although last week it seemed Visa, Coca-Cola and other big name sponsors would stick with their sponsorships of the 2022 soccer World Cup amidst rumors of human rights abuses in host country Qatar, after multiple officials of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and several allied businesses were arrested yesterday, it seems some companies are getting cold feet. [More]
Visa, Coca-Cola Respond To Human Rights Concerns About Qatar World Cup; Not Pulling Out As Sponsors
By 5.20.15
Since the mysterious cabal that is FIFA announced that the 2022 soccer World Cup would be played in Qatar, there have been rumors of graft, concerns about the exceedingly high temperatures, and most importantly multiple reports of human rights abuses at worksites for the new stadiums and other facilities being erected around the country. As more people call on the event’s largest sponsors to pull their support, some are responding, though none are giving any indication that they won’t slap their name on the wildly popular tournament. [More]
Coca-Cola Says It Didn’t Pay For Placement In Mad Men Finale
By 5.18.15
If you haven’t watched the series finale of Mad Men, then you really shouldn’t be reading a story about the series finale of Mad Men. And if you continue reading this story about the series finale of Mad Men, don’t get angry at us for giving away what happens in the final moments of the series finale of Mad Men. [More]
PepsiCo Woos NBA Sponsorship Away From Coca-Cola After 29-Year Run
By 4.13.15
After staying married to Coca-Cola for almost 30 years, the National Basketball Association has decided to end the company’s official sponsorship of the league, and is running away with its rival PepsiCo instead. [More]
Coca-Cola Tripling Number Of Names For Next “Share A Coke” Campaign
By 4.10.15
Last summer, Coca-Cola briefly reversed a decade of sagging sales by slapping a bunch of peoples’ first names on Coke bottles and telling folks to share on social media. And because all follow-ups to successful campaigns must be bigger than the original, the beverage giant is tripling the number of names that will be slapped on bottles when the sequel arrives this summer. [More]
Coca-Cola Makes Splash At Final Four With “Drinkable” Coke Zero Billboard
By 4.3.15
The whole point of food advertising is to make you crave the product and buy as much of it as you can right then and there. But for this weekend’s Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, Coca-Cola is showing off a billboard that actually satisfies that craving by dispensing the beverage on the spot. [More]
Americans Losing Taste For Artificial Sweeteners, Pepsi Retakes #2 Sales Spot
By 3.26.15
Recently released data about the beverage industry tells us some interesting things. Plain old high fructose corn syrup-laden Coke is the top-selling soda in the United States, but its calorie-free cousin has to give up its silver medal: Regular Pepsi is now the #2 seller out of all fizzy non-alcoholic drinks, following an overall trend against diet sodas. [More]
The Impossible Quest For A Low-Calorie Soda That Tastes Good, Seems Natural
By 3.19.15
Teams of scientists all over the world are working to harness compounds from a South American plant to solve one of the greatest challenges of the modern world. No, they’re not working to cure cancer or invent a car that runs on maple syrup. Scientists all over the world are trying to create a sweetener that’s calorie-free and considered “natural,” but is also palatable. [More]
Coca-Cola Pulls Fanta Ad Suggesting Nazi Germany Was “Good Old Times”
By 3.3.15
In a recent video recounting the birth of Fanta soft drinks, Coca-Cola explains that its German operation had trouble getting cola-making ingredients to the country’s bottling plants 75 years ago, leading the bottlers to dream up a beverage they could make without Coca-Cola syrup. Perhaps Coke was hoping people wouldn’t do the math and realize that the reason for the syrup scarcity had a little something to do with the Nazis. [More]
