Power to the people with the pesos

In a world obsessed with destination, the process of continuously boycotting and protesting must seem rather tedious.

Didn't we DO that already? Didn't we already boycott XYZ? And what benefit did the boycott produce?

The reality is that boycotts -- effective boycotts -- do bring about significant and dramatic changes. And, often, not because of one protest or one organization.

Often, a strong, well-thought out boycott takes on a life of it's own -- jumping from one dedicated group to another -- but always with one aim in mind: to change a socially/economically unjust policy caused by the company.

This type of political protest (that affects the bottom line through awareness and perception) has worked for Shell (South Africa), Nestle (Africa), Nike (Asian countries), among others.

And just when you thought it was over...another springs up.

Now, it appears Coca-Cola has become the latest in a list of multinationals with poor standards.

I know...hold your horror.

But, according to War on Wants (a non-profit engaged in rebalancing world inequity) Coco-Cola has:

• exhausted community water reserves in India by drilling deep into underground reservoirs, drying up local wells and leaving farmers unable to irrigate their crops;
  contaminated local ecosystems in El Salvador and India through waste effluents discharged from its plants;
• been implicated in human rights abuses in Colombia, including the death and disappearances of trade union activists at Coca-Cola bottling plants;
• adopted union-busting tactics in a wide range of other countries such as Pakistan, Turkey, Russia, Peru, Chile, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

The group's Coca-Cola: The Alternative Report is the first full exposé of the company’s activities worldwide, and is the basis for War on Want’s ongoing campaign for corporate directors to be made liable for corporate wrongdoing.

And despite a $2-billion advertising budget, Coca-Cola has not been able to quell the press garnered by War on Want and other groups in South Asia demanding better work and environmental standards.

Nor should the big bank roll be able to. In fact, Coca's response (to counter negative campaigns and rumours) only helps to lend credence to their accusers and helps push the corporation closer to succession. And it is all part of the cycle, explains Jeremy Moon, a professor of corporate social responsibility at Nottingham University. He suggests that Coke is going through the same growing pains as other multinational corporations. As he states in a Guardian interview: "Being a branded company clearly brings opprobrium," he said. "If you look at Nike or Reebok, probably they have better practices than anyone else in their supply chains but because they are branded, they are targeted."

In otherwords, Moon suggests that the noble image of a socially responsible corporation is a result from pressure -- pressure exerted by everyday consumesr through boycotts and campaigns.

As for Coca-Cola, well the impetus of the charges appears to have evidence in a few countries across the world.

In Nigeria, there are allegations that Coca-Cola killed fish by pumping untreated waste in to a lagoon near Lagos. In Italy protestors disrupted the Olympic torch run to protest the inclusion of Coke as a sponsor. In India the corporation has been charged with supplying pop that contains 27 times the permitted levels of pesticides, while depleted a nation's water resources. In Colombia, Guatemala and Nicaragua the corporation has been charged with ignoring anti-union abuses. In Turkey the corpo. has allegedly ignored the intimidation and beatings of union activists and, finally, in the good ol' USofA, universities, postal workers and teachers are voting to remove Coca-Cola products from their facilities.

If history provides us any clue we know that Coke's decision to ignore the current swell will only result in reduced market share and a damaged image. However, as history will also so, the continued pressure by people and organizations may, eventually, prompt Coca-Cola to return some of their ill-gained profits and reinvest that money into socially-responsible corporate operations.

Power to the people (with the pesos)...for they get to set the agenda...eventually.

For more information on the War on Want's campaign go to: http://www.waronwant.org/?lid=12157

To read the Guardian article go to: http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1852635,00.html

To read about Coca-Cola's war on unions go to: http://www.labournet.de/internationales/co/cocacola3.html