5 Shocking Coca-Cola Facts You Probably Don’t Know

 

 

 

 

 1. Coca-Cola Once Ran A Campaign Against Tap Water

In early 2000, Coca-Cola was exposed for running the “H2NO campaign,” an attempt to dissuade diners from ordering tap water drinks at restaurants and instead go for more profitable beverages like bottled water, non-carbonated beverages, and of course, soft drinks. The U.S. campaign involved teaching waiters to use suggestive selling techniques to offer numerous alternative beverages when customers asked for water. For obvious reasons, Coca-Cola had meant to keep the campaign a secret from the public, but a graphic designer in Sacramento discovered an article entitled “The Olive Garden Targets Tap Water & WINS” on the Coca-Cola online public relations portal. He then posted a link to the story on his website, and several mainstream news outlets picked up the issue and reported on it. Expectedly, Coca-Cola was widely criticized for the campaign,

2. In India, Coca-Cola Was Found To Contain Pesticides And Has Been Accused Of Degrading Water Supplies

In 2003, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) of New Delhi announced that water used by Coca-Cola in the production of their beverages contained toxic pesticides that could cause cancer and the breakdown of the immune system. More specifically, Coca-Cola’s beverages were found to contain thirty times the amount of pesticide permitted under EU regulations. The company angrily denied the allegations, but it still saw an 11% drop in its sales.

Regarding water supplies, several lawsuits, including those in Kerala, Plachimada, and Varanasi, have been brought against Coca-Cola in India for aggravating the water scarcity situation and degrading the water supply. None of the cases, however, have been decided against the company with finality. Nevertheless, Coca-Cola has admitted that it takes an average of 3.12 liters of water to create a liter of Coke.

3. Coca-Cola Was Once Marketed As A Nerve Tonic That Could Cure Morphine Addiction And Male Impotence

 

After being wounded in the Civil War, Colonel John Pemberton became addicted to morphine,
 and sought a safe substitute to the opiate. The first Coca-Cola recipe was then formulated
at a drugstore in Columbus, Georgia as a coca wine

 . In 1885, the substance was registered as a nerve tonic, and the following year, Coca-Cola
was sold as medicine that could supposedly cure several diseases, including morphine  addiction,
neurasthenia, dyspepsia, headaches, and impotence
 . Of course, today, the drink is marketed simply as a refreshing beverage with no medicinal properties.

4. Martin Luther King, Jr. Called For A Boycott Of Coca-Cola The Day Before He Died

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” delivered on April 3, 1968 is best known for how King seemed to foresee his impending assassination, which indeed took place the very next day. What isn’t often mentioned about the lengthy speech is that in it, he uttered the following line:

And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis.

King advocated the boycott of “white goods” as a non-violent means of protesting against racist businesses. At that time, white workers in Coca-Cola plants were getting paid a much higher wage than their black counterparts, while it was the latter who were being made to stay long hours and do the difficult work. That practice seemed to continue many years later, as in November of 2000, Coca Cola agreed to pay a large group of minority employees $192.5 million to settle a class action racial discrimination suit brought against the company. Today, however, Coca-Cola is one of the leading companies in terms of the diversity of its workforce.

5. Coca-Cola Stirred Controversy Doing Business With Nazi Germany And Sponsoring The 2014 Sochi Olympics.

 

a Nazi Germany-era Coca-Cola ad (left) and a 2014 Sochi Olympics ad (

As did several large American companies, Coca-Cola had a controversial relationship with Nazi Germany. During World War II, a division of the company actually continued to operate in Germany, several of the top executives there being public members of the Nazi Party. In fact, when German Coca-Cola plants could no longer acquire ingredients to make Coke, they instead created Fanta especially for Germany.
In 2014, meanwhile, Coca-Cola once again courted controversy when it proceeded with its sponsorship of the Sochi Winter Olympics despite widespread calls for the event to be boycotted due to Russia’s passage of the law banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations to minors”. As a result, various LGBT-supportive groups, including those in several U.S. college campuses, called for Coke itself to be boycotted. The company responded to the controversy by posting on its website an open letter that asserts the brand’s status as “one of the world’s most inclusive brands.”