The Cola guys are in the quagmire again...It is not novel for them to land in trouble, get dirty faced ,wriggle out of and jump into another basket of shit.... throughout the world, for some reason or the other people disliked Colas and this inherent dislike has cascaded into virtual hatred to whatever they do and however decent their intentions are...
Sunita Narayan of CSE ( the centre for science and environment,,,, for the uninitiated) has 'revealed' for the second time in three years that the level of pesticides in cola drinks is "Many" times greater than the limit allowed by the government. The furore has begun...States have sprung into action.... banning cola in schools and colleges...the state of Kerala is about to ban it in the whole state...and the Left is "guiding" ( read Arm twisting) the Weak government at New Delhi to ban it in everywhere in India.
"The Coca-Cola company exists to benefit and refresh everyone it touches,” says the home page of the world’s largest soft drink company’s website. But in many parts of the world it is the other way aroundit touches ..yes...but the other part of the claim is not believed to be true by many....
See what the media reports about the Cola majors....
In Dankuni in West bengal, Plachimada in Kerala and Panama for polluting...
For rigging marketing tests in the USA and using slush funds to boost equipment sales...
For reportedly hiring Right-wing death squads to eliminate trade union organisers in Columbia and Guatemala...
For neglecting health problems of its employees in Africa....
Villagers of Palakkad’s Plachimada village in Kerala had been agitating against Coke’s bottling plant for several months but their plight drew global attention only recently after BBC Radio 4’s Face The Facts expose. Presenter John Waite visited Coke’s Plachimada plant after villagers complained of falling groundwater level in the area after Coke had started drawing it in huge quantities. Waite carried the samples of water and wastes sold by Coke as soil conditioner (but used by local farmers as fertiliser) back to the UK, where laboratory tests showed that they contained dangerous levels of cadmium. Tests at University of Exeter too showed the material was useless as a fertiliser and contained a number of toxic metals, including lead. But the company has been denying any wrongdoing.....
In Uttar Pradesh, sustained protests against Coke have prompted the Central Pollution Control Board to initiate a probe into the pollution being caused allegedly by Bharat Coca-Cola Bottling North East Private Ltd – a bottling arm of Coke – in Mehdiganj, 20 km from Varanasi......
In Maharashtra, villagers of Kudus in Thane district now have to travel long distances in search of water because it has dried up, thanks to Coke. Villagers have began questioning the subsidised water, land and tax breaks that Coke gets from the state, only to leave them more thirsty......
In Tamil Nadu, more than 7,000 people gathered in Sivaganga recently to protest against a proposed Coke plant.Protests are also building up against the sale of major Cauvery tributary Bhavani by Tamil Nadu government to Poonam Beverages for bottling Coke’s packaged water, Kinley. Despite the state facing drought conditions, the government effected the sale. .......
In Rajasthan, villagers of Kala Dera near Jaipur have been protesting against the fall in the groundwater level after a Coke plant started drawing water. After the firm set up a bottling plant, the area’s wells and ponds dried up......
I guess that would be enough.....
Now what is this story of "intended trouble making" doing here in this Advertising blog?
I am perplexed about the role of Advertising in Brand building....Is Image and Reputation managament a part of brand building.... If yes ,can advertising really save the situation, now that it has reached the streets where the vested interests and the genuinly concerned are all up in arms....
Now that this country where pollution is as routine as the air we breathe... the most polluted rivers, backwaters, air and atmosphere, where thecorrupt government turns a blind eye to all such issues, where the Pollution control board in more polluted than the effluents that they are supposedely monitoring,where the Minister in charge always takes refuge in evasive answers like" the matter isbeing examined" when confronted with stark realities...It is surprising that so many people are there in the field with their daggers and those they have rented out,drawn out......
But they are there and how are this Cola majors going to react? If Todays Pepsi ad ,Issued in Major news papers is any indication to go by ...alas this time again, they are going to do the same mistake that they did last time.... Ads really cant save you, God Damn it.... It is an Image management issue and It would be the efforts like PR and such stuff that can do some face saving....
when will you guys realise this...
First time you get a chance you are intellegent and they are foolish.....second time you get a chance they are intellegent and you are foolish....Third time....
There may not be a third time... and you simply cannot get away by proclaiming from the roof tops.....Piyo Sar Udakee....
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