Coke, Detractors Continue to Fight Using Shame

An op-ed in Forbes discusses why that’s a losing strategy for both sides.

October 01, 2015

ATLANTA – Late last month, the Coca-Cola Company shared with the world a list of nutritionists, scientists and others to whom the company has given money via a new website. That disclosure came after an August New York Times article alleged that the soft drink maker had started and supported financially the Global Energy Balance Network, a group of scientists who called on Americans to exercise rather than watch their food and beverage intake.

“Anti-Big Food activists are no doubt scanning the list of Coke’s handouts with outrage and satisfaction. But in the fight against obesity these new disclosures, while laudable, won’t matter much. Both Coke and its detractors must dramatically change their attitudes and how they engage with each other for real progress to continue in reducing obesity,” wrote Hank Cardello, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Stuffed: An Insider’s Look at Who’s (Really) Making America Fat, in a Forbes op-ed piece.

Cardello pointed out that the move by Coke—and the public shaming likely to follow—won’t make a dint in America’s waistline because both Coke and public health activists are ignoring the biggest problems: “Coke is still protecting its flagship product, at the expense of stockholders, not just obese customers, and detractors continue to urge tax-and-ban strategies that won’t work, and they disregard companies’ need to earn money.”

Holding Coke back is the company’s treatment of Classic Coke as something to be protected at all costs. “However, the time has come to acknowledge that its lower-calorie and better-for-you progeny deserve more of the spotlight and may eventually supplant the parent,” wrote Cardello.

With products like smaller bottles and cans of Coke, water, sports drinks and lower-calorie sodas in its portfolio, “Coke should be shifting more marketing dollars and resources to promote these beverages, with the same marketing genius that has shaped consumer desires for its products over the last 100 years. If any organization has the marketing prowess to fuel demand for healthier new products it is Coca-Cola.”

Read the full op-ed at Forbes.

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