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Statement at the Coca-Cola Annual Meeting of Shareowners
Josh Golin, Program Manager
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
April 19, 2005
My name is Josh Golin. I am a proxy representing a concerned
shareholder. I am also Program Manager for the Campaign for a
Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), a national coalition that
counters the harmful effects of marketing to children. CCFC
works for the rights of children to grow up—and the rights of
parents to raise them—without being undermined by commercial
interests. I am withholding my votes for the directors of this
board because of my concerns about how Coca-Cola’s marketing
practices adversely affect the health of our children.
Last month, the New England Journal of Medicine published a
study that said for the first time in two centuries, the current
generation of children in America may have shorter life
expectancies than their parents. The reason? The rapid rise
of childhood obesity and it attendant health problems, which if
left unchecked could shorten their lives by as much as five
years.
What does this have to with Coca-Cola and this board of
directors? Plenty. Obesity rates have risen in tandem with a
startling increase in soft drink consumption. The chance that
a child will be overweight increases with each daily serving of
sugared soft drinks they consume. There is a growing consensus
that soft drinks are contributing to health problems for
children, which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
World Health Organization, and others in the public health
community have called for restrictions on soft drink marketing.
And yet, as the epidemic of childhood obesity worsens, Coca-Cola
is spending more money and finding new ways to market products
to children in the hopes of developing lifetime brand loyalty.
Coca-Cola’s guidelines for marketing to children state, “The
Coca-Cola Company and its local bottling partners do not aim or
direct any marketing activity from any source to children under
the age of 12”, but a quick glance at some of Coke’s marketing
practices demonstrate this claim simply is not true. There are
Coke toys such as checker sets and cars that are designed to
introduce kids as young as four to the Coca-Cola brand. Coke’s
product placement is ubiquitous on American Idol, the top-rated
show for children ages 2-11. Coke’s sponsorship of films such
as the Harry Potter movies is clearly designed to reach young
children.
And Coca-Cola markets aggressively in schools. In 2003, in
response to growing concern about the presence of soft drinks in
schools, Coca-Cola announced its so-called
Model Guidelines for School Beverage Partnerships. These
self-serving guidelines do nothing to restrict soda sales to
middle and high school students. They also permit the marketing
of sugar-laden “sports drinks” to younger children. The
guidelines even permit the use of the Coca-Cola logo on
materials promoting health and nutrition education.
In order to protect its access to children, Coca-Cola uses
considerable financial clout to enlist prestigious – and
financially vulnerable – nonprofit organizations as allies. All
of the educational organizations that endorsed the
aforementioned school guidelines received funding from
Coca-Cola. In 2003, Coca-Cola gave the American Academy of
Pediatric Dentistry a $1 million research grant; shortly after,
the AAPD’s executive director was quoted as saying the role that
soda plays in developing cavities “is not clear.” Coca
Coca-Cola relies on these paid allies, organizations ordinarily
associated with promoting the well-being of children, to aid in
their extensive lobbying efforts against policies - such as
restrictions on junk food marketing – that would help combat
childhood obesity.
It is difficult, however, to find anyone to defend Coca-Cola’s
products or marketing practices that does not have a financial
connection to the company. And not all of Coca-Cola’s potential
critics are for sale. There is a growing movement to protect
children from companies like Coke. If Coca-Cola doesn’t stop
targeting children with potentially harmful products, the
company will be forced to stop by concerned parents, healthcare
professionals, policymakers, and lawyers.
It is past time for Coca-Cola to stop undermining parents’
efforts to raise healthy children and:
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Publicly acknowledge that some of
Coca-Cola’s products are contributing to health problems for
children;
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End all marketing aimed at
children – including Coke toys, product placement, tie-ins
with children’s media, and in-school marketing.
-
Stop lobbying against policies
that would help combat childhood obesity.
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