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Case illustration: Coca-Cola in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2010

Michael Yaziji  and
Jonathan Doh
Michael Yaziji
Affiliation:
IMD, Lausanne
Jonathan Doh
Affiliation:
Villanova University, Pennsylvania
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Summary

Coca-Cola is a virtually omnipresent product, and as such has endured its fair share of both acceptance and resistance. In one instance, Coca-Cola was the target of a snowballing global campaign by NGOs that has cost the company millions of dollars. While Coke has tried to collaborate with certain environmental NGOs, the company is still mainly involved in conflictual corporate–NGO relationships.

Coke has had particular trouble in India, where it has been accused of creating water shortages, polluting groundwater and soil, and exposing its customers to toxic waste and pesticides. Activist Amit Srivastava, who runs a California-based NGO known as Global Resistance, toured American college campuses in 2005 spreading the message that, “[Coke] is destroying lives, it is destroying livelihoods and it is destroying communities all across India.” Srivastava is rallying American and European college students against Coca-Cola. In response, colleges such as Bard College in New York, Carleton College in Minnesota and Oberlin College in Ohio have banned Coke products on campus. Srivastava's website, www.indiaresource.org, is a global stage and means of communication for activists and protesters, drawing about 20,000 visitors a month. On the other hand, www.cokefacts.org, designed by Coke to counter NGO allegations, only draws 800 visitors a month. Coca-Cola has been struggling against a number of global, activist NGOs to protect its reputation.

Type
Chapter
Information
NGOs and Corporations
Conflict and Collaboration
 , pp. 115 - 120
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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References

Stecklow, S., “How a global web of activists gives Coke problems in India,” Wall Street Journal June 7 (2005), A1.Google Scholar
Devraj, R., “Indian Coke, Pepsi laced with pesticides, says NGO,” available at www.indiaresource.org/news/2003/4725.html. Accessed November 22, 2005.
Devraj, , “Indian Coke.”
Amit, Srivastava, “Coca-Cola funded group investigates Coca-Cola in India,” India Resource Center April 16 (2007), available at www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2007/coketeri.html.
Sappenfield, Mark, “India's cola revolt taps into old distrust; behind contradictory reports of pesticides in Coke and Pepsi is an underlying wariness of foreign companies,” The Christian Science Monitor September 1 (2006), available at www.monitorweek.net/2006/0901/p06s01-wosc.html.
Gentleman, Amelia, “For 2 giants of soft drinks, a crisis in crucial market,” New York Times August 23 (2006), C3.Google Scholar
Wonacott, P. and Terhune, C., “Path to India's market dotted with potholes,” Wall Street Journal September 12 (2006), available at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115801500763459902.html?mod=seekingalpha.Google Scholar
Blanchard, Ben, “Coke vows to reduce water used in drink production,” June 5 (2007), available at www.reuters.com.

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