Coca-cola and boycotting

Ok so do any of you buy coke or drink coke products?


Earlier this week I saw Dispatches: The Coca-Cola Company and I watched it knowing it was going to put me off contributing to the Coke Company. And sure enough, it did.

So I started looking into what else Coca-Cola is responsible for and found out that loads of stuff I have always liked is made by them. Schweppes products, Fanta, Nestea (though dont' think you have that over here), Relentless, even Minute Maid juices.


I've only ever boycotted one company in my lifetime and that is and always will be Wal-mart/Asda. I have not shopped there (except for 2x now where i only bought something under a pound) in well over 9-10 years. I refuse to.

But I really want to not buy Coke products now, which is hard as I really have liked Coke quite a bit.

Hubby doesn't hold to my boycot, which makes the temptation harder. But well I'm going to try hard to not drink Coke products. I've gone off fizzy drinks anyway and only buy them for convienence when out or on rare occasions. But well I wanted to know what you all think. Is it pointless boycotting big groups like Wal-mart/Asda and Coke. I know Wal-mart has still grown leaps and bounds despite my never shopping with them.

Hubby thinks the whole thing is pointless, but well, if I were to have a Coke all I'd think about is the union guys being killed in Columbia making it, the Indians that are drinking pesticides, and the children that are chopping down the sugar cane to go towards the drink I buy for 90p.

I know there are people out there that boycot tons of stuff, but does it ever really make an impact?

What do you boycot? Do you think boycotting does any good?
Or do you manage to know about what the big corporations evils and just still buy from them guilt free somehow?

I don't want everyone to start judging each other, just really curious what you all think.

 

I haven't drunk coke or pepsi or anything similar for decades so it would be no hardship for me to boycott them. I'd say that if you think a company's activities are immoral and harmful, it makes perfect sense not to buy their products - even if your individual choices won't have much immediate impact. Consumer boycotts can be effective, particularly if they're taken up by organised groups like student unions and churches.

 

It is far, far from pointless. Funding things you dont agree with, especially when it comes to corruption as bad as the Coca Cola company, is just like handing over the profit pennies directly to the hands responsible for these injustices. Thats where theyll end up. Its like saying "Sure, we love the idea of starving people being exploited, go right ahead, let us help out!" Some of what people unknowingly pay for every day is just so frightening its hard to believe. Racism, child labour, slavery, deforestation etc. If i were to list all ive had to boycott id be sitting here well into the night

As it is ill list the first that come to mind

-Macdonalds and all major fast food chains
-Procter and gamble products. These include Always, Tampax, Fairy washing up liquid, Febreeze and a ton of different cosmetics, toothpastes, cleaning products...basically all the big names. Colgate and stuff. A huge percentage of whats on the shelves is actually from exactly the same company and is just packaged differently with the odd new product chucked in
-Same goes for Unilever products, SC Johnson...uhm, i forget the rest. I have a checklist somewhere
-Nestle
-Tesco
-Asda

Seriously the list goes on and on for pages. It seems like about 90% of products in most major stores i have to walk straight by

As for Coca Cola, that was boycotted a long time ago and i truly feel its worth it. Not to mention the fact that there are like 7 tablespoons of white sugar in a single can or some crazy figure like that! Along with the colourings...its diabetes in a bottle

I realy think good on you for wanting to do this. Its totally worth it to do all we can

 

hmmm im boycotting the chippie near the school cos they're rude. REALLY rude.

 

Also, people look at me and my fiancés lifestyle and think "no Cola, no Macchickenburgers!? God, theyre so strict and restrictive!"

Actually theyd be very surprised if they were to see us live day to day. Were rolling in good food (not literally...although thatd be nice), the house is clean, were still functioning just as well as otherwise! Infact, id say we have far more variety. As i said, most mainstream products are the same thing in different packages. Most food available has very little nutrient value. The toothpastes actually harm our teeth and the shampoos are the only reason our hair gets greasy in the first place! It takes a certain conscience shift to note these things i think...Once something like a documentary shows us the gravity of the situation and exactly what these people are doing with their ongoing power given by the public, it becomes pretty obvious that a lipstick or a fizzy drink just doesnt really matter that much, and itd actually be better for everyone including ourselves not to buy

As you said too, its about conscience too for me. I couldnt sit their consuming these things without thinking of the corruption. Thats because weve found out the truth, and the truth is the two are directly linked. So maybe one persons boycott wont stop it all together, but its a damn good start and all we can do

 

This seems reasonable too

 

Yes, Coca-cola have been on my list for a long time, and that includes Fanta and Mars and loads of others I can't remember:tongue: Boycotting may seem pointless, and individually it's such a teeny tiny difference that nobody'd notice, but the more people you tell about it and the more people who think about it the better. Individually it's nice to know that you're not funding a company whose actions you disagree with, as I think Maxi already eloquently said

What's bad about Asda/Walmart?

I think I stopped buying CocaCola after seeing something Mark Thomas did about them, didn't he present that Dispatches too? *trundles off to uknova*

 

and i have a link all ready as i was just discussing this with my mom as she was saying that there was nothing bad about Walmart (she had said she'd get me a gift certificate for there for Xmas if we had one but i reminded her that I hadn't shopped at one since around 1995ish).

Walmart Watch

For those that will never click on that link:

Discrimination: As America’s largest company, Wal-Mart has a duty to treat all employees and suppliers with respect. However, this is not always the case. Wal-Mart is currently facing the largest workplace-bias lawsuit in U.S. history for widespread discrimination against women employees; a class action lawsuit filed by African-American truck drivers; and numerous other cases involving discrimination against workers with disabilities.

Healthcare (remember in the States it's not free): Lagging behind industry averages, Wal-Mart’s employees are subjected to unnecessary charges and fees; wait longer for coverage eligibility, and are forced to seek out public health programs to fulfill their health care needs. Over half of their employees aren't covered by health insurance.

Environment: In the past, Wal-Mart has been guilty of air pollution, storm water violations, and improper storage of hazardous materials. With millions in fines resulting from these violations.

Labor: They've gone against the Family Medical Leave Act, again resulting in lawsuits. Forced people to work 'off the clock'. And have teenagers working in unsafe environments. Amongst other things.

Politics: They discovered they could be a huge lobbying group and actually get US Federal Tax revenues paid to them. In 2004 they received more than $1 Billion in public subsidies. Then in 2005, a federal highway bill signed by President Bush included $35 million to widen Eighth Street in Bentonville -- the road to Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters.

Community: Whether it is accepting unnecessary subsidies, driving local stores out of business, pressuring local town officials or encouraging workers to join state health care rolls, Wal-Mart has a negative impact on local communities. When local communities stand up Wal-Mart’s expansion plans, local activists and officials are often met with threats and false promises. The growth of supercenters around the country has also meant more traffic, the destruction of prime farmland, and increased criminal activity.

Corporate Culture: Wal-mart refuses to release it's median wage, opposes release of health insurance statistics, has lied to the FDIC when they wanted to start banks in their stores, has misled legislators about pushing thier employees to applying for public assistance, they've lobbied against port security, and collect enormous amounts of data on their customers.

Suppliers: Though they say they only buy American: Wal-Mart influence on its suppliers can be felt in the cheap products it sells and the jobs it drives overseas. To keep prices low, Wal-Mart must source goods from areas of the world where employment standards are severely lacking. In fact, over 80% of Wal-Mart’s suppliers are from China.




Now I don't know if all this also holds true for Asda; but as Asda is part of the Wal-mart Family. I won't shop at their stores either.

I know some of the data on that site is a few years old, but honestly I started first hearing inklings of how horrible Walmart was back in the early 90's and not much has changed since then.

 

Worst thing I ever heard about Walmart was that they gave money to the Bush Administration. A lot of the points raised there seems just like regular old business going-ons. Driving others out of business, getting the cheapest suppliers and whatnot.

And if you ask me a lot of the laws about Labour and Healthcare are a bit 'nanny'. It wasn't all that long ago we were sending folk into pits with little or no safety instructions so I reckon most of what you'll find in a supermarket is okay.

But then, I do work for Asda, and I think it's pretty cushy! So I may be slightly biased. All kinds of folk work there, good wage, well taught on all machines you have to use.

Feels quite out of character apparently defending a large corporation!

I do have some boycotts, to get back on subject

McDonalds, Burger King, most fast-food outlets.
Nestle. Proctor and Gamble. Johnsons, a lot of pharma/cleansing companies.
Lots of clothing companies too, if the label carries a 'Made in China' or Pakistan or something, I tend to steer clear.

 

I used to work for Asda, but that was before they were bought by Walmart. I really hated the way we were forced to call everyone "colleague" as if to suggest everyone was equal, despite the horrendously classist corporate culture and a huge gulf between management and shopfloor both in terms of pay and general treatment and demeanour. It made me redefine the word "colleague" so now I can't imagine saying it without doffing my cap to a wealthy gentleman as he stomps me into the mud... Yes m'colleague, right away m'colleague!

 

Haha, the word 'colleague' is a bit of joke in the warehouse. I for one have started using it when greeting people doing the same job. In an, 'we're all in this together' sort of way. Everyone using their first name is supposed to imply equality somehow aswell. Kinda daft really, I suppose. Nice to see some effort being made though.

We have a 'Colleague Suggestion' box too, but I haven't heard back about them changing the radio over yet

 

It's not too different from how ppl in the Soviet bloc used to call each other "comrade" all the time ... in fact you could say that these monolithic multi-national companies are the last survival of Soviet-style command economies.

On a positive note, let's not forget a resoundingly successful example of consumer resistance - GM food. No supermarket will stock GM produce these days since it became clear that no-one would buy it.

BTW I've not so much as set foot in McD's for about 20 years now.

 

I can't believe it's taken people this long to realise what was going on. There's been reports, books written on it, internet websites, protests etc going on for quite a few years now.

 

Nah, it's just that there was something on Channel 4 about it last week... those in the know have known for ages, this may be its first mainstream coverage though, if you can call "Dispatches" mainstream.

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/dispatches/mark+thomas+on+cocacola/1068847

 

I don't boycott any one company in particular really... The sad fact of living in a western capitalist society is that you're going to deal with evil scumbags whether you like it or not, 'tis the nature of the beast. I find instead of not buying one particular brand/product/company it's best to hold them all at arm's length wherever possible and try and avoid any dealings with the buggers. As I mention above, this is never going to happen- they've created this society so you have no choice and will eventually (directly or indirectly) fund them in some way. I try my hardest but eventually you're financing evil somewhere along the line.

I don't do supermarkets and high streets, fizzy drinks, credit cards, cable tv and cars but I do have a computer (most probably containing chips from arms multinationals), I do have to use electricity and gas, I have a bank account, a mobile phone, I take flights, I smoke tobacco (some of the worst corps), I'm partial to a line of cocaine, I take pharmaceuticals if I become unwell etc

Not everyone feels the same but I believe we should try to live in a way where we shouldn't have to rely on any of these companies as much. Not just one or two that are a bit naughty, it's all capitalism at the end of the day- they're all a bit naughty. It's impossible to avoid every last thing, short of becoming completely self sufficient on top of a mountain, but it never hurt to try, eh?

I heard you have to sing a song about the merits of Asda or pledge allegiance to Asda or summat? Not completely sure but remember years ago someone I know who worked there told me that....

 

Yes, once a week there's a colleague meeting where you have to sing the company hymn (I forget the words) and then a picture of the MD of Tesco is flashed up on a telescreen and you all jeer and boo for two minutes...

 

it is pointless boycotting one of the most tastiest drinks of all time. Coca Cola is a marvelous invention. It is much better than pepsi and much much better than Tesco Value cola. Although the 36 pence bottle contains 43 calories and the diet alternative contains 1 calorie per 100 ml of Tesco Cola. Coca Cola contains more than 300 calories, but it sure as hell makes a brilliant drink. i say support the Coca Cola company. i even thought about camping outside the headquarters in Uxbridge, hoping they would throw me down a cola.

My only anger at the company is, The fact that they have not considered Caramel cola and Blueberry cola. Blueberry cola would come in a purple bottle and the caramel cola would come in a Gold bottle. What happened to Vanilla cola?

 

Calories and whatever aside, regular cola will contain around 7 tablespoons of white sugar per can, which causes obesity, heart problems, diabetes (which you dont want to get, trust me, no matter how good it tastes) poor digestion and acidification, depression, the list goes on. The diet version is even worse im afraid, containing artificial sweeteners which have given thousands of lab animals cancer, and indeed many consumers, yet they still happily market

Even if youre not concerned about the treatment of others, surely all of this is worth leaving the stuff well alone for? I mean its a sugary drink. Why not drink a few fruit smoothies as replacement, or orange juice, lemon juice, anything. Add in ONE spoon of sugar, or even better a natural less processed sweetener, and try for a few days. You get used to it. Sure youll have withdrawal symptoms, thats because sugar and caffeine are highly addictive. Dont buy in i say, on all fronts its terrible. Sugar and chemicals. Rot your teeth and rot your mind. And surely no-one with a heart can say in all seriousness the taste alone is worth funding and supporting peoples suffering

Everyones personal choice of course, which i fully respect. I just dont really think asking people to support this has much grounding

 

I have been meaning to cut down. I love smoothies. Strawberrys and kiwi mixed in my blender. I bought a blender, but have rarely used it. WHen I have used it, I have enjoyed the drinks.

I never knew diet drinks contained more calories. I heard about diabetes. not sure what diabetes is to be honest?

 

Thank youu!
And exactly, the word spreads. We know quite a few people now who wont buy the same products we wont buy, just becase we told them, or they heard somewhere else. I dont understand why many people are so eager to fund these people even after they hear. Its plain theres a direct connection as in the public will make or break their business. More should make a stand and use their power wisely, me says