tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/coke-12366/articlesCoke – The Conversation2024-01-02T07:10:47Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2159232024-01-02T07:10:47Z2024-01-02T07:10:47ZCoca-Cola in Africa: a long history full of unexpected twists and turns<p><em>A new book called <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/bottled/#:%7E:text=Sara%20Byala%20charts%20the%20company%27s,but%20rather%20of%20a%20company">Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African</a> tells the story of how the world’s most famous carbonated drink conquered the continent. It’s a tale of marketing gumption and high politics and is the product of years of research by critical writing lecturer <a href="https://www.sarabyala.com">Sara Byala</a>, who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=sara+byala&btnG=">researches</a> histories of <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7208/9780226030449/html">heritage</a>, <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Water-Waste-Energy_sm-1.pdf">sustainability</a> and the ways in which capitalist systems intersect with social and cultural forces in Africa. We asked her some questions about the book.</em></p>
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<h2>What do you hope readers will take away?</h2>
<p>There are three main takeaways. The first is that while Africa is largely absent from books on Coca-Cola, the company’s imprint on the continent is enormous. It is present in every nation. Most estimates put Coke as one of the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/21/africa/coca-cola-africa-mpa-feat/index.html">largest private employers</a> in Africa, if not the largest. Beyond official jobs, the company has been shown to have <a href="https://docplayer.net/11916251-The-economic-impact-of-the-coca-cola-system-on-south-africa.html">a multiplier effect</a> that means that for each official job, upwards of 10 other people are supported. </p>
<p>The second takeaway is that Coke’s story in Africa is an old one. It starts with its use of the west African <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160922-the-nut-that-helped-to-build-a-global-empire">kola nut</a>, from which it takes its name (if no longer <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/pop-quiz-whats-in-a-coca-cola-if-its-not-coca-or-the-kola-nut/">its source of caffeine</a>). Arriving in Africa in the early 1900s, it’s a story that is deeply and, often surprisingly, entangled with key moments in African history. This includes the end of <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">apartheid</a> in South Africa and the advent of postcolonial African nations.</p>
<p>Third, I want readers to see that while we may assume that a multinational company selling carbonated, sugary water is inherently a force for ill, both the history of Coke in Africa and my fieldwork suggest a far more complicated story. Coca-Cola is what it is today in Africa, I argue, because it became local. It bent to the will of Africans in everything from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@GlobalCopaCocaCola/about">sport</a> to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/cokestudioAfrica">music</a> to <a href="https://www.coca-colacompany.com/social/project-last-mile">healthcare</a>. Its ubiquity thus tells us something about African engagement with a consumer product as well as the many ways in which ordinary people wield power. </p>
<h2>How did Coca-Cola first arrive in Africa?</h2>
<p>Coca-Cola doesn’t export a finished product from its corporate headquarters in the US. It sells a <a href="https://www.coca-colacompany.com/about-us/coca-cola-system">concentrate</a>, which comes from a handful of locations around the globe, including Egypt and Eswatini. This concentrate is sold to licensed bottlers who then mix it with local forms of sugar and water before carbonating and bottling or canning it. </p>
<p>Coca-Cola <a href="https://www.coca-cola.com/xe/en/media-center/95-years-operations-community-impact">lore</a> says that the company first secured local bottlers for its concentrate in South Africa in 1928, its first stop on the African continent. By combing through old newspapers, archival documents, and pharmaceutical publications, however, I found evidence to suggest that Coke may in fact have been sold in 1909 in Cape Town as a short-lived soda fountain endeavour. This is just 23 years after the product was invented in Atlanta, Georgia. </p>
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<p>It was neither easy nor assured that Coca-Cola would take off anywhere in the world upon its arrival. The early chapters of my book detail the often ingenious lengths that bottlers had to go to to get Coke off the ground. This included creating a new line of sodas to support the fledgling product called <a href="https://www.coca-cola.com/za/en/brands/sparletta">Sparletta</a>. This includes <a href="https://www.coca-cola.com/ng/en/brands/sparletta">green Creme Soda</a> and <a href="https://www.coca-cola.com/ng/en/brands/Stoney">Stoney ginger beer</a>, both still available for purchase. Later chapters explore the routes by which the product spread across the continent, by detailing everything from the co-branding of petrol stations with Coca-Cola, to the rise of Coke beauty pageants, the birth of local forms of Coke advertising, the proliferation of Coca-Cola signage, and much more. </p>
<h2>What role did it play in apartheid South Africa?</h2>
<p>Coca-Cola was entrenched in South Africa before the advent of the racist, white minority <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">apartheid</a> state in 1948. While the company largely attempted to stay out of politics in South Africa, much as it did elsewhere in the world, it resisted certain “petty apartheid” rules. For example, the washrooms and lunchrooms in its plants were open to all ethnic groups, unlike the “whites only” facilities established under apartheid. A turning point came in the 1980s when, in tandem with <a href="https://blackamericaweb.com/2014/08/10/little-known-black-history-fact-operation-push-boycotts/">activism in the US</a> calling on the company to redress racial imbalances in America, the company was forced to reexamine its racial politics in South Africa as well.</p>
<p>What followed was perhaps the most interesting chapter in the story of Coca-Cola in Africa. Breaking with established precedent, the company took a stance against the apartheid state. Coca-Cola executive Carl Ware led the way here. Under his <a href="https://www.carlwareauthor.com/">direction</a>, the company crafted a unique form of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-18-mn-11241-story.html">disinvestment</a> that enabled it to do what no other company managed: keep the products in the country while depriving the apartheid state of tax revenue. To do this, the company <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/09/18/coke-to-sell-all-holdings-in-s-africa/495f0069-2682-4d67-8769-506f4fbd2d83/">sold all its holdings</a> to a separate business that continued to sell Cokes. It then moved its concentrate plant to neighbouring Eswatini, leaving Coca-Cola with no assets or employees in South Africa.</p>
<p>In part, this was possible because the company aligned itself with the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/06/17/mandelas-stops-during-us-tour-reflect-anc-political-concerns/f41a84a3-4aa5-462f-abc3-fc2a9213bb58/">African National Congress (ANC)</a>, making a host of moves to help to end apartheid. These included meeting in secret with ANC leadership, funding clandestine meetings between the ANC and businesspeople, and setting up <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/24/us/coca-cola-giving-10-million-to-help-south-africa-blacks.html">a charitable fund</a> headed by <a href="https://saportareport.com/atlanta-leaders-to-pay-special-tribute-to-desmond-tutu-sept-28/sections/reports/maria_saporta/">Archbishop Desmond Tutu</a> to support Black educational empowerment. In the book, I document these activities for the first time with extensive interviews and archival material.</p>
<p>It was during this era of disinvestment that Coca-Cola exploded within densely populated and remote parts of the country, providing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/26/business/putting-africa-coke-s-map-pushing-soft-drinks-continent-that-has-seen-hard-hard.html">on-ramps to economic participation</a> for scores of South Africans that were later replicated with its global <a href="https://www.coca-cola.com/pk/en/about-us/faq/what-is-5by20-0">5x20 project</a> to empower women in business. </p>
<p>This spread in turn drove the consumption of liquid sugar to new heights, causing a host of other problems such as <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1573448/sugar-tax-pits-jobs-versus-health-diabetes-in-south-africa">diabetes and dental cavities</a>, which both the company and my book tackle too. </p>
<p>What I demonstrate in the book is that Coca-Cola’s shrewd positioning at the end of apartheid allowed it to emerge, in the post-apartheid landscape, ready not only to renew business in South Africa, but also to reinvigorate its presence on the continent at large. The question is how to weigh this spread (and its attendant benefits) against the costs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215923/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Byala does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Coca-Cola has often been entangled with key political moments in Africa since its arrival in the early 1900s.Sara Byala, Senior Lecturer in Critical Writing, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1501512020-11-23T13:18:12Z2020-11-23T13:18:12ZThe rise and fall of Tab – after surviving the sweetener scares, the iconic diet soda gets canned<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370404/original/file-20201119-21-lu4xns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Before there was Diet Coke, there was Tab.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/cans-of-diet-cola-tab-brand-soft-drink-produced-by-the-coca-news-photo/595289606?adppopup=true">Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tab, the Coca-Cola company’s original diet soda brand, is headed to the soda graveyard, joining retired brands such as <a href="https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/x0MAAOSwbWhdZzLu/s-l400.jpg">Like</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/georgeginis/status/1307440469090078722">Leed</a> and <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/690161122/1970s-lime-crush-limette-metal-pop-top">Limette</a>.</p>
<p>Coca-Cola has announced that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/business/coca-cola-tab.html">it is discontinuing Tab after 57 years on the market</a>, and fans of the drink will have until the end of December to purchase their last can of nostalgia.</p>
<p>From the beginning, Tab’s story has been one of perseverance. The brand survived initial low sales, the artificial sweetener scares of the 1960s and 1970s, lukewarm enthusiasm for the product at the corporate level and intermittent consumer availability to become – for a brief period – the most popular diet soda in America. Then, of course, Diet Coke came along.</p>
<p>While it never regained its lofty status as the top diet soda, loyal Tab fans kept the brand alive.</p>
<h2>Meant for diabetics, downed by dieters</h2>
<p>While some might think Tab was the first diet soda, that honor actually belongs to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSHfJ1tgzbQ">a beverage called No-Cal</a>, which was developed by beverage industry pioneer Hyman Kirsch in 1952. Kirsch wanted to create a soda for diabetics and people with cardiovascular problems, <a href="https://www.saveur.com/artificial-sweeteners/">so he used cyclamate</a>, which was discovered in 1937 by a graduate student working at a University of Illinois chemistry lab after he licked some of the substance and found that it tasted sweet. About 30 times sweeter than sugar, cyclamate isn’t metabolized, making it ideal for people who need to avoid sugar.</p>
<p>But from the start, No-Cal was popular with a different type of consumer: dieters. Actress Kim Novak became <a href="https://i2.wp.com/baybottles.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/KH-1956.jpg?resize=768%2C929&ssl=1">the brand’s slim celebrity spokesperson</a>. Canada Dry followed soon after with a line of diet sodas called Glamor, <a href="http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/15/0915/0902/product/2.jpg">marketing it to women trying to lose weight</a>.</p>
<p>Diet soda really took off with <a href="https://healthfully.com/diet-rite-cola-ingredients-6270941.html">the introduction of Diet-Rite Cola</a> by the Royal Crown Cola company in 1958. Like No-Cal, Diet-Rite initially targeted diabetics and was often placed in the over-the-counter medicine section of grocers. But it soon became clear that the real market was dieters. By 1960, <a href="https://www.drinkstuff-sa.co.za/the-bittersweet-sexist-history-of-marketing-diet-soda/">Diet-Rite was the fourth-best-selling soft drink in the country</a>, trailing only Coca-Cola, Pepsi and 7 Up. </p>
<h2>Soda giants caught flat-footed</h2>
<p>Coca-Cola and Pepsi, finding themselves behind the ball, scrambled to come up with their own diet soda offerings. </p>
<p>Coca-Cola’s foray into the diet cola market – <a href="https://www.metv.com/stories/in-the-1970s-coca-cola-also-tried-to-expand-its-diet-soda-with-a-variety-of-tab-flavors">dubbed Project Alpha</a> – was an ambitious one. It wanted to come up with a soda that tasted good, had a proper mouthfeel – sugar adds not only sweetness <a href="https://www.mydrinkbeverages.com/challenges-faced-in-creating-sugar-free-beverages">but also viscosity</a> – and was attractive to women, the presumptive market. It also needed a catchy name.</p>
<p>For the name, Coke executives had one directive: Even though its taste was engineered to mimic Coke’s, it couldn’t be called Diet Coke. Because most early diet sodas didn’t taste that great, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1537-4726.2004.00115.x">strategists warned</a> against associating their brands with drinks that might taint their tremendous value.</p>
<p>So an early IBM mainframe computer generated <a href="https://soda.fandom.com/wiki/Tab">more than 600 candidates</a> with the parameters that the name be three or four letters and not offensive in any foreign language.</p>
<p>Tabb, which was eventually shortened to Tab, eventually won the battle of market testing. Stylized as “TaB,” it was introduced to the world <a href="https://clickamericana.com/topics/food-drink/20-years-tab-diet-cola-vintage-ads">in a series of ads</a> with the tagline “How can just one calorie taste so good?”</p>
<p>For a company that ordinarily has such excellent marketing instincts, Coca-Cola wasn’t sure how to fit Tab into its portfolio. Bottlers resisted the product, fearing it would undercut their profitable sugar-based sodas. By the end of its first year, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1537-4726.2004.00115.x">it had only 10% of the diet soda market</a>, an unusual predicament for a brand backed by the No. 1 soda company in the world.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Coca-Cola wasn’t subtle about targeting dieting women.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Later in the 1960s, Coca-Cola introduced the grapefruit-flavored diet soda Fresca, <a href="https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/fresca-lived-up-to-its-tagline-for-1967-new-york-debut">which was a much bigger hit</a> with consumers and further sidelined Tab.</p>
<h2>Emerging from the sweetener scares</h2>
<p>Artificial sweeteners were riding high in the 1960s as Americans wanted to enjoy their sweets without paying the caloric price. But danger was lurking in the form of the <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/HRD-82-3">Delany Clause</a> in the Food Additives Amendment of 1958, which prohibits food additives that have been found to cause cancer. </p>
<p>In 1969, <a href="http://ilovetab.com/the-bitter-truth-about-a-sweetener-scare/">the Food and Drug Administration banned the sweetener cyclamate</a> after lab studies indicated that large doses of the sweetener led to bladder cancer in animals. While Tab contained two artificial sweeteners – saccharin and cyclamate – cyclamate was the more important of the two. Saccharin is 300 to 400 times sweeter than sugar, but in high concentrations it gives products a bitter, metallic aftertaste. However, when it’s combined with cyclamate, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.08.004">bitterness goes away</a>.</p>
<p>After the cyclamate ban, Tab was forced to reformulate and ended up deciding to use saccharine as its primary sweetener. Then in a second blow, follow-up research on potential health problems associated with artificial sweeteners focused on saccharin, leading the FDA to require warning labels on products using the sweetener. </p>
<p>Despite these obstacles, Tab <a href="https://www.mashed.com/263185/the-real-reason-coke-just-discontinued-tab/">still ended up becoming the bestselling diet cola of the 1970s and 1980s</a>. People, it seems, were willing to turn a blind eye to potential health problems as long as they were able to continue to get their diet soda. And Tab, for a brief period, was apparently the favorite of the bunch.</p>
<p>In 1982, Tab was reformulated yet again to include Nutrasweet, <a href="https://foodinsight.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-aspartame/">also known as aspartame</a>. But Tab drinkers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/10/garden/tab-soda-drinkers-miss-familiar-taste.html">protested the change to the drink’s flavor profile</a>, and the company dropped aspartame from the recipe.</p>
<h2>Enter: Diet Coke</h2>
<p>After Pepsi entered the diet cola market with Patio, it rebranded the product as “Diet Pepsi” within a year. Consumers embraced the new drink and a string of celebrity endorsers only enhanced its popularity. </p>
<p>This lesson was lost on Coca-Cola, which didn’t bring a diet drink using the Coca-Cola name onto the market until 1982, when it introduced Diet Coke.</p>
<p>Contrary to the company’s original fears, <a href="https://www.beveragehistory.com/2018/01/history-of-diet-coke.html">Diet Coke was an immediate hit</a>. Even though the flavor of the new beverage was not a carbon copy of the sugar-sweetened version, customers took to it. And the main victim of Diet Coke was not the original Coke, but Tab. Over the years, Tab’s market share dwindled; by 2019, <a href="https://www.ingredientsnetwork.com/cocacola-to-discontinue-production-of-tab-soda-news085577.html">its sales made up only about 1% of the Coca-Cola portfolio</a>.</p>
<p>Yet the drink managed to retain some passionate devotees, even as rumors of its impending doom circulated on and off over the years. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tab-shortage-sparks-panic-2018-10">A Tab shortage in 2018</a> caused self-described Tab-aholics to stockpile their favorite beverage, and petitions to save the drink were circulated and sent to the company. </p>
<p>They couldn’t stop the inevitable. Coca-Cola is trying to cut underperforming brands, and even modern ones like Odwalla juice and regional sodas like Delaware Punch <a href="https://www.today.com/food/coca-cola-will-stop-selling-tab-end-2020-t195035">are poised to fall prey to the cost-cutting guillotine</a>. The company says more than half of the 500 brands it currently markets <a href="https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/10/23/coca-cola-company-200-drinks-coke-brands-being-cancelled-list/">will disappear in the near future</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Tab lovers might have less time than they think to load up; serious Tab fans <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2020/10/16/coca-cola-discontinuing-tab-one-of-the-first-diet.html">have begun snapping up any six-packs</a> that might still be lurking on store shelves. </p>
<p>It won’t be long until the only cans left will be in the basements of Tab-aholics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150151/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Miller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tab was Coca-Cola’s first foray into the diet soda market. Though the brand went on to build and maintain a legion of devoted fans, its days are numbered.Jeffrey Miller, Associate Professor, Hospitality Management, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/945562018-04-12T21:21:23Z2018-04-12T21:21:23Z‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ owes more to Coca-Cola than to the Bible<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214355/original/file-20180411-577-vqbqhn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jim Caviezel as Luke and James Faulkner as Paul in 'Paul, Apostle of Christ.' </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(2018 CTMG)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The poster for <em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> shows a steely-eyed Paul (James Faulkner) gazing straight at the viewer. Luke, played by Jim Caviezel, (Jesus in <em>The Passion of the Christ</em>), stands resolutely beside him. Two handsome, sun-beaten white actors with strong noses and strong chins play heroes of the Christian faith. What could possibly be wrong?</p>
<p>In terms of historical accuracy, there’s much wrong. And much at stake. <em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> is one of an <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/mary-magdalene-film-rooney-mara-joaquin-phoenix-religion-a8258036.html">upsurge in Bible-themed movies</a> that romanticize and distort the past and risk present-day harm. Such films are like soda pop: Sweet, easy to swallow, but harmful as a steady diet. </p>
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<span class="caption">Poster for ‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ with Paul (James Faulkner) and Luke (Jim Caviezel) gazing straight at the viewer.</span>
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<p>I enjoyed watching <em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em>; the fictional subplot of Paul haunted by a young girl’s murder is quite touching. Despite that, I believe the movie owes more to Coca-Cola than to the Bible. Here are five ways:</p>
<h2>1. If your origins seem embarrassing, make up a new story</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/the-chronicle-of-coca-cola-birth-of-a-refreshing-idea">Coca-Cola was invented in 1886</a> by American Civil War veteran John Pemberton. Its earliest formulations contained alcohol and kola nut (caffeine) and coca leaf extracts (cocaine).</p>
<p>After businessman Asa Griggs Candler won the patent, Coca-Cola evolved into a “lifestyle beverage.” Coke doesn’t exactly hide its past but its advertising highlights sentimentalized images of the 1950s and 1960s like 10-cent dispensing machines and vintage soda fountains.</p>
<p><em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> claims to be about the origins of the Christian church. But its portrayal of the past is as romanticized as Coke’s. It ignores the Jewish, fervently apocalyptic origins of the movement and instead presents an idealized story of a group’s heroism under suffering that retrojects much-later Christianity onto the first century. </p>
<p>Historians and biblical scholars will find errors throughout the movie. One only has to be a careful reader of the New Testament to know something is wrong with the depiction of Paul virtually dictating the book of <em>Acts</em> to Luke. </p>
<p>Anyone who has read <em>Acts</em> will know that both its tone and content differ from Paul’s; it cannot have come from the same source. In fact, Paul was not alive when <em>Acts</em> was written decades later. The story of Paul’s encounter with the risen Jesus is retold three times in <em>Acts</em>, each with slightly different details — unlikely if Paul was checking Luke’s copy, as in the movie.</p>
<h2>2. Sell a lifestyle: Perception is more important than fact</h2>
<p>From 1971’s <em>I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing</em> to 2018’s <em>Because I Can</em>, Coca-Cola’s aim has always been not so much to sell a product as to make consumers believe they are the type of people who would naturally buy that product. In other words, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/cannes-creative-advertising-be-effective-1.4161249">Coke is an expert at selling ideas of self-image</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214573/original/file-20180412-587-semapq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214573/original/file-20180412-587-semapq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214573/original/file-20180412-587-semapq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214573/original/file-20180412-587-semapq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214573/original/file-20180412-587-semapq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214573/original/file-20180412-587-semapq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214573/original/file-20180412-587-semapq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coca-Cola advertisement from 1953 Mexico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Coca Cola)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In ancient rhetoric, this was called an argument from “ethos.” <em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> uses the same effective techniques. It retrojects Christians into a time before there were Christians, and makes them wise, heroic and unique <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ways-That-Never-Parted-Christians/dp/0800662091">before they were even a separate religion</a>.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2015/12/14/nero-and-the-christians/">scholarly debate about the treatment of Christians in Roman times</a>, the movie depicts a fully formed “Christian” community experiencing full-on persecution from the beginning.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0078%3Abook%3D15%3Achapter%3D44">Roman historian Tacitus mentions Nero murdering Christians in his Annals XV:44</a>, but does his text accurately depict the situation in Rome in the 60s of the Common Era? There was certainly occasional, sometimes savage, persecution of Jesus-followers; but <a href="http://www.harpercollins.ca/9780062104526/the-myth-of-persecution">historians</a> are less certain than the movie of the details.</p>
<p>No matter: An audience raised on Jedi Knights fighting the Evil Empire automatically fills in the blanks as Luke heroically enters Mamertine prison to, as he puts it, “capture the last of Paul’s wisdom.” The touching scene of Paul’s beheading — an ancient church tradition not in the New Testament — is reminiscent of Luke Skywalker’s final passing. </p>
<p>Which brings us to the next way <em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> is similar to Coca-Cola.</p>
<h2>3. Appropriate other peoples’ symbols</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-santa-claus">Coca-Cola famously transformed the Dutch Sinterklaas</a>. Under the company, the gift-giving bishop grew to become the corpulent, red-cheeked, symbol of excess and secularism that Santa Claus is today.</p>
<p>In <em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em>, filmmakers plug first-century “Christians” into symbols familiar from the 20th-century Holocaust. The believers, reminiscent of the Warsaw Jews, hide in a complex barred from the outside world. Gladiators check papers on every corner. Spies root out “the Christians,” who call the others “the Romans” even though they themselves are citizens.</p>
<p>Yet a true police state requires modern methods of surveillance. Ancient Rome under Nero was as dangerous a place for Jesus-followers as for many groups that drew unwanted attention. But it was an ancient city, sprawling and disorganized. One’s neighbours were <a href="https://theconversation.com/mythbusting-ancient-rome-throwing-christians-to-the-lions-67365">likely the greatest threat</a>. </p>
<p>The movie opens with the horrific burning of Jesus-followers as human torches, reported by Tacitus. Implicitly equating this terrible, but short-lived, persecution with the systematic 20th-century genocide of six million Jews is ethically questionable.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214567/original/file-20180412-566-1uhmv6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214567/original/file-20180412-566-1uhmv6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214567/original/file-20180412-566-1uhmv6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214567/original/file-20180412-566-1uhmv6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214567/original/file-20180412-566-1uhmv6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214567/original/file-20180412-566-1uhmv6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214567/original/file-20180412-566-1uhmv6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Luke (Jim Caviezel) enters Rome in secret to find Paul.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(CTMG)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Reinforce gender stereotypes</h2>
<p>Coca-Cola has received complaints about sexist advertising. Worst were the Irish <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/05/shes-seen-more-ceilings-than-michelangelo-brutally-refreshing-sprite-ads-called-sexist/?utm_term=.be9fac86acde">ads for Sprite</a>, featuring “She’s seen more ceilings than Michaelangelo.” </p>
<p>However, a more insidious sexism is the reinforcement of prevalent gender stereotypes implying women are weak and men heroic and decisive.</p>
<p>Two of the only obviously Jewish characters in the film are Prisca and Aquila. In <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+16&version=NRSV"><em>Romans 16.3-4</em></a>, Paul mentions Prisca first, a sign of her greater status. He notes that Priscilla (the longer form of her name) “risked her neck” for him. </p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/When-Women-Were-Priests-Subordination/dp/0060686618">much evidence</a> that women were leaders both in Jesus’s own entourage and in the first assemblies. The movie, to its credit, presents Prisca this way. However, the filmmakers then immediately weaken her with stereotypical “female faults” in the story. </p>
<p>Gender stereotyping is equally clear in the movie’s main character. One can hardly imagine a calmer, more authoritative, more “masculine” — and less historically likely — Paul. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214566/original/file-20180412-549-1hhv0it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214566/original/file-20180412-549-1hhv0it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214566/original/file-20180412-549-1hhv0it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214566/original/file-20180412-549-1hhv0it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214566/original/file-20180412-549-1hhv0it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214566/original/file-20180412-549-1hhv0it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214566/original/file-20180412-549-1hhv0it.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aquila (John Lynch) and Luke (Jim Caviezel) look on as Priscilla (Joanne Whalley) comforts the mother of a slain child.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(CTMG)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We don’t know exactly what Paul <a href="https://www.academia.edu/5493755/Pauls_Masculinity_Journal_of_Biblical_Literature_2004_">looked or spoke like</a>. He himself repeated criticisms in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+10%3A10&version=NRSVA"><em>2 Corinthians 10.10</em></a> that “his letters are weighty, but his physical presence is weak.” The apocryphal <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/thecla.html"><em>Acts of Paul and Thecla</em></a> describes Paul as a “man of small stature, with meeting eyebrows, bald head, bow-legged, strongly built, hollow-eyed, with a large, crooked nose.”</p>
<p>James Faulkner’s better-looking apostle is calm, measured in speech and recognized as a leader, even by Nero. In other words, apart from his bravery, he’s almost nothing like the excitable, irritable, boastful, socially isolated, sometimes petty and even <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Galatians%205:12">occasionally vicious</a> Paul we meet in his letters. Faulkner’s Paul is, rather, the ideal stoic man. </p>
<p>In his own rhetoric (advertising is not new!), Paul worked hard to cultivate a specific <a href="https://www.academia.edu/5909272/The_First_Cut_is_the_Deepest_Masculinity_and_Circumcision_in_the_First_Century">image of himself</a>. Faulkner plays to this version. I believe this is one part of the film Paul would be delighted with. Perhaps stoic ideals of masculinity are now considered more “Christian” than the charismatic, often women-led gatherings of Paul’s own day.</p>
<h2>5. Sell a mythical golden age</h2>
<p>The problem with <em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> is that, like <a href="http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/coke-ads-1950s">sentimentalized images of five-cent Cokes in the hands of stereotypical figures</a>, the movie’s “Christian community in Rome” is a mish-mash of retrojections. With Coke’s vintage ads, we’re not sold accuracy, but comfort and constructed tradition. This movie is just as idealized.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214571/original/file-20180412-540-qzz6c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214571/original/file-20180412-540-qzz6c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214571/original/file-20180412-540-qzz6c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214571/original/file-20180412-540-qzz6c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214571/original/file-20180412-540-qzz6c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214571/original/file-20180412-540-qzz6c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214571/original/file-20180412-540-qzz6c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1937 advertisement for Coca Cola emphasized family values.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Coca Cola</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the real Jesus gatherings of the mid-60s, signs of Judaism would have been everywhere. Their scriptures were Jewish; much of their prayer and worship as well. The Jesus movement was still many decades from distinguishing itself as anything other than another sect of Judaism. Christianity did not yet exist. </p>
<p>In the movie, there is almost no mention of Judaism as a living religion. This is a subtle, but dangerous, <a href="https://theconversation.com/mary-magdalene-another-easter-jesus-film-thats-bad-news-for-judaism-94136">form of anti-Semitism pointed out in other contemporary Bible films such as <em>Mary Magdalene</em></a>.</p>
<p><em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> ignores the fact that the real Paul <a href="http://fortresspress.com/product/paul-within-judaism-restoring-first-century-context-apostle">continued to be a Jew</a>, even after his vision of Christ. He called himself a servant of <em>Israel’s</em> god, and considered his message to non-Jews to be part of Israel’s apocalyptic timeline. </p>
<p>Like Coca-Cola downplaying its origins, <em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> overlooks the apocalyptic fervour that gave birth to Christianity, and is apparent in <a href="http://fortresspress.com/product/paul-and-apocalyptic-imagination">every one of Paul’s letters</a>. Paul <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15&version=NRSVA">awaited Jesus’ triumphant return</a> if not before his death, then shortly after. The earliest Jesus communities trembled with this expectation. Amazingly, the movie barely mentions it.</p>
<h2>How we describe our past says much about our present</h2>
<p><em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> will likely not appeal to those not already Christian. This is perhaps why Paul speaks with the fictional Roman guard-keeper Mauritius about “salvation” and “grace” as if speaking to contemporary believers.</p>
<p>I left the theatre wishing we could all be more like the director’s Paul: More measured in word and deed, more reflective, gentle, graceful, reconciled to ourselves and forgiving of others. </p>
<p><em>Paul, Apostle of Christ</em> is dedicated to “all those persecuted for their faith.” One can only endorse this. Which is why, despite Jim Caviezel and James Faulkner’s fine performances, it is odd that the filmmakers did not make their characters more like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/12/12/no-christians-do-not-face-looming-persecution-in-america/?utm_term=.f7b21e544b41">those actually being persecuted</a> today. Paul and Luke should look less like <a href="https://theconversation.com/mary-magdalene-is-yet-another-example-of-hollywood-whitewashing-94134">white actors</a> from an old-school Hollywood western, and more like Syrian Christians, Egyptian Copts or Rohingya refugees.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7DFGmw5oe0E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">(Affirm/Sony)</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Robert Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ is an enjoyable movie but its sugary message is like a can of soda: easy to swallow but not good for you with ideals that have have been manipulated to project a golden era.Matthew Robert Anderson, Affiliate Professor, Theological Studies, Loyola College for Diversity & Sustainability, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/496342015-11-02T11:02:30Z2015-11-02T11:02:30ZLook what is being sold to kids when they are in school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100361/original/image-20151030-16507-18tbzqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How stuff gets sold to kids.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zac-attack/4010505926/in/photolist-77oTFU-4fzQi7-4EUfLL-grfFSJ-9Mo2Mm-a3Hu5W-7Fvh8L-7CoYhS-auX8UD-MQ4ww-rsyXc-7hhuhV-E1iZV-7k8RZA-totpe-23EEH-5oJid9-agbyQ3-8D79s8-dhXhye-399K1o-aCUYFk-kstFG-gGhkEK-das3oF-9FwxvQ-agbzho-omNvvU-3QEwB-gGgZhj-6NHJ-rsz9e-scoVP-6npouJ-gGgXr5-8gB6Lx-4mAV3D-771u18-5GnKke-ag8KN8-ag952F-i2hRNr-CTvnZ-gGhnMm-9REDzk-doPAbK-9bEWDy-bUSKwr-9TNUqq-9WV2Cu">Zac Zellers</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students are greeted these days with a <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/ceru-home">barrage of marketing and advertising</a> as they enter the school year. And there is no let-up. The ads are all over.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/he00156.pdf">US Government Accountability Office</a> (GAO) found ads in corridors, on scoreboards and vending machines, and inserted in the curricula through supplementary educational materials. They were on school equipment (eg, uniforms, cups, water coolers, beverage cases, food display racks) and on school buses. Ads were also put out through school newspapers, yearbooks and the school radio stations.</p>
<p>What is the impact of such marketing on children? </p>
<p>Our book, <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475813616/Sold-Out-How-Marketing-in-School-Threatens-Children's-Well-Being-and-Undermines-their-Education">Sold Out</a>, details the results of our study of marketing and advertising to children in schools over the past 25 years. </p>
<p>We found that while schools often welcome them, marketing and advertising activities in schools threaten children’s psychological and physical well-being, as well as the integrity of their education.</p>
<h2>What is sold the most to children?</h2>
<p>Unhealthy food products are the most <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/national-survey-types-and-extent-marketing-foods-minimal-nutritional-value-schools">heavily marketed products in school</a>. </p>
<p>In 2012, the Federal Trade Commission reported that 48 major food and beverage companies marketing to children in the US <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/12/ftc-releases-follow-study-detailing-promotional-activities">spent US$149 million</a> on marketing to children in schools alone. </p>
<p>Soft-drink bottling companies, in particular, often enter into multi-year <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/schoolhouse-commercialism-2012">exclusive contracts</a> that bring product and branded vending machines, scoreboards, coolers and other paraphernalia into the schools. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/MCPS_foodmarketing_report2008.pdf">2008 study</a> found that the average high school in Montgomery County, Maryland, had 21 vending machines – each one both selling the product and functioning as a lit-up billboard. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.une.edu/news/2012/study-une-researcher-michele-polacsek-finds-junk-food-marketing-still-widespread-maine-schools">Another</a> 2012 study found advertising for soft drinks and other “<a href="http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/foods-minimal-nutritional-value">foods of minimal nutritional value</a>” in 85% of the high schools in Maine. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100362/original/image-20151030-16514-1cx4t8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100362/original/image-20151030-16514-1cx4t8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100362/original/image-20151030-16514-1cx4t8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100362/original/image-20151030-16514-1cx4t8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100362/original/image-20151030-16514-1cx4t8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100362/original/image-20151030-16514-1cx4t8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100362/original/image-20151030-16514-1cx4t8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Advertising for soft drinks is very common in schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/4771093139/in/photolist-8gB6Lx-6hgNNH-vg9KWn-5oJid9-wnAQd-wcnjjQ-8gB6Wn-kstFG-2RxLH4-vfZMVm-vg93wi-a3Hu5W-wd235H-vVppGJ-nyJfA-vVqiWd-vg1GtY-waFMQG-vVqzqE-3kCb81-7VM7TS-6dTBEv-vVoruo-vg4NSx-vg8ikt-wcZEfn-vgaDgr-vVosg1-7qpMVi-Dao9r-wckqEu-98NWmj-CTvnZ-vVmfj1-vVjp8q-4MV39g-4BzY5t-556oT6-7VM7e3-61kRcD-22msuN-2k1JSF-dnpBLj-vjYuCN-3hVe1g-7BQEKV-8gB6ZP-3LvLUX-waDVNQ-7VM6Nd">The Wolf Law Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Younger students, in schools without vending machines, routinely <a href="http://www.bridgingthegapresearch.org/research/terry-mcelrath2014_jamap/">receive free coupons</a> promoting food products.</p>
<p>Numerous studies demonstrate that food <a href="http://www.nap.edu/read/11514/chapter/1">marketing influences children’s</a> food preferences, what young children ask their parents to buy for them and what older children buy for themselves. </p>
<p>Although no study ties any specific marketing campaign to poor health, it stands to reason that the more children are encouraged to eat foods that are unhealthy when consumed to excess, the more likely they are to suffer from metabolic syndrome, obesity and the host of illnesses associated with them.</p>
<h2>Impact of marketing</h2>
<p>In one way or another, all marketing promotes the idea that identity, fulfillment, self-expression and confidence are achieved through consumption. </p>
<p><a href="http://commercialfreechildhood.org/sites/default/files/kanner_corporatizedchild.pdf">When children are occupied with consumer-oriented activity</a> (shopping, for example, or thinking about products or fantasizing about purchases), they simply have less time and brain-space for other pursuits, such as creative thinking and play, family and friends, artistic endeavors, or spiritual practices.</p>
<p>Materialistic values have been linked to higher rates of such <a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/Born-to-Buy/Juliet-B-Schor/9780684870564">psychological problems</a> as anxiety, depression, psychological distress, chronic physical symptoms and lower self-esteem.</p>
<p>Marketing in schools can have other consequences as well. It can take up class time, contradict what children learn in their classes (particularly about proper nutrition) and create an environment that encourages them to uncritically accept sponsors’ points of view. </p>
<p>When children, for example, learn about “energy balance” from <a href="http://www.togethercounts.com/sites/togethercounts.com/files/thematic-unit/pdfs/PROGRAM_OVERVIEW_2014.pdf">curricular materials</a> provided by a food-industry-funded nonprofit organization, they are encouraged to accept the industry’s point of view that individuals are responsible for balancing their “calories in” and “calories out.” </p>
<p>Assumed in this point of view is that all food products are healthy in moderation; excluded is industry’s role in encouraging children to consume food products that are unhealthy when consumed to excess. </p>
<h2>Why do schools allow marketing?</h2>
<p>Given the threats posed by advertising and marketing in school, how is it possible that so many well-intentioned principals, district administrators and <a href="http://onevoice.pta.org/?p=5025">parent groups</a> are eager to embrace it? </p>
<p>It is possible that these stakeholders are unaware of the threats posed through marketing. People tend to <a href="http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/1/1.abstract">underestimate</a> the extent to which they are influenced by marketing messages. Many reason that <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/Schoolhouse-commercialism-2010">children are so exposed</a> to marketing in other settings that adding it in a school setting won’t matter in any appreciable way. </p>
<p>Even if stakeholders are aware of the potential harm marketing can do to children, the immediate need for school funding often overwhelms their concerns.</p>
<p>States have been <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/new-normal">cutting funding</a> to schools for quite some time now, and school districts across the nation are so fiscally stressed that they are ever more open to the enticements of corporate marketing campaigns, often soothingly billed as “school-business partnerships,” that <a href="http://www.commercialalert.org/PDFs/SchoolCommercialismReport_PC.pdf">promise</a> to yield extra cash. </p>
<p>Parent groups, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PTOToday/videos/10155975642160224/?fref=nf">eager to provide needed resources</a> for their children, also seek out corporate fundraising “partnerships.” </p>
<h2>Who gains?</h2>
<p>Studies examining financial benefit to schools find, however, that marketing actually brings schools <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/national-survey-types-and-extent-marketing-foods-minimal-nutritional-value-schools">negligible financial returns</a>. </p>
<p>In a 2006 nationally representative study, we found that 67% of US schools engaged in marketing activities did not make any money at all from them. Another 19% of US schools made less than $5,000 over the course of the entire school year.</p>
<p>The self-interested commercial goals of corporations and the public interest goals of schools are in fundamental conflict.</p>
<p>Since corporations are <a href="http://aer.sagepub.com/content/45/2/343.short">legally mandated</a> to prioritize profit to their shareholders over any other goal, by definition, their activities in schools must also serve that purpose.</p>
<p>Cash-strapped schools are a perfect resource for companies that recognize that students are a captive market of <a href="http://www.nap.edu/read/11514/chapter/1">great value</a>, a source of immediate business and/or a lifelong customer base.</p>
<p>If we’re honest about the real value and costs of marketing and advertising to children in school, we will find that corporations are the ones emerging as the big winners. Schools make little money even as the well-being of their students is threatened. </p>
<p>It is past time to declare schools ad-free zones.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49634/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I have received funding to support my commercialism in schools research from Consumer's Union and from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Faith Boninger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Unhealthy foods are the most heavily marketed products in school. Why do we allow it?Faith Boninger, Research Associate in Education Policy, University of Colorado BoulderAlex Molnar, Research Professor, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/364562015-01-20T11:05:34Z2015-01-20T11:05:34ZEye on the prize: Coca-Cola’s magic has always been in mischievous marketing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69413/original/image-20150119-14495-37nngp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Red eye at night...</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/raindog/3276424448/in/photolist-9SkAJv-5TkQhq-eaRMoi-3Fwoh-e11Evs-dWFPxF-qc1m2r-5ZwwQG-hNwyDh-6TZKjN-nZKNDT-7HWoc-dgbR5-z72N8-7NQPR3-7PpSGS-7kdNKa-ijtEKG-8RnMPi-7NLT14-3Fwoj-dWqitb-7Pm1wK-7PpKZj-5o9zfp-pdbp4h-7PnYVh-7pLxvn-7Po36f-o1R9is-omWnbV-jCpx9v-6QfeM-mzZ6Xz-oFek6E-nPx9a1-67Xh2K-8Eq5yv-A4HEy-8yq6am-7PphXA-7jNzgv-dJDhuX-jitqs-7PpmAh-9RxeJm-7PkVq6-7PkZvD-cUerPL-9SH3Nn">jim crossley</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it was announced last year that Coca-Cola had agreed a two-year sponsorship deal with the owners of the London Eye, the general manager of the company’s UK and Ireland operations <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/sep/16/coca-cola-sponsor-london-eye">said the sponsorship</a> would “help us play an even greater part in future moments of happiness and celebration in the capital”.</p>
<p>But just as with the furore over fast food sponsorships of the London Olympics in 2012, not everyone is celebrating. On Saturday Malcolm Clark, coordinator of the Children’s Food Campaign led a group of volunteers in <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2915408/London-Eye-turns-red-Coca-Cola-sponsorship-deal-launched-campaigners-hand-toothbrushes-families-protest-against-sugary-drink-firm.html">handing out toothbrushes</a> to children and parents queueing up for their ride on the London Eye. This was an effort to publicise the perceived inappropriateness of the global soft drinks company sponsoring such a major tourist attraction. </p>
<p>What does the sponsorship mean in reality? Each pod will now be branded with Coca-Cola and staff will wear red tops with the brand name on the back while security staff will wear Coca-Cola hats and all the cafes in the ticket office are similarly branded. But perhaps most significant is that the wheel will now shine Coca-Cola red at night. </p>
<h2>Sugaring the pill</h2>
<p>The Children’s Food Campaign is against Coca-Cola in principle. It is canvassing for a tax on sugary drinks and a ban on junk food advertising before 9.00pm. But do Malcolm Clark and his supporters have a point regarding the appropriateness of Coca-Cola taking over the sponsorship at this time in the nation’s struggle with obesity, diabetes and poor dental health?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69424/original/image-20150119-14492-djg90q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69424/original/image-20150119-14492-djg90q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69424/original/image-20150119-14492-djg90q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69424/original/image-20150119-14492-djg90q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69424/original/image-20150119-14492-djg90q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69424/original/image-20150119-14492-djg90q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69424/original/image-20150119-14492-djg90q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69424/original/image-20150119-14492-djg90q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In the gutter?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasstrosse/5672848150/in/photolist-9DhQ7J-8fhXv3-q7aPe-brx7xX-8BxwWx-4idqdT-8CWPHX-pdah4j-9WtgCc-8EUr2u-7EYKTP-8hoxXk-8fsPdu-8tJA4r-81PzVX-8v9xRD-85JFqP-8EUqWd-83dKfd-8K6PNh-3YgrBj-8feETg-7WQp2U-8SBrop-81SJks-8i2BdS-8s4Rph-4rVufK-8feFL8-8tJzXi-8vcACo-8fpyoa-8s4Rth-8s4RqU-8fhXUb-85MPEw-85MPL3-8onLuh-8fhXJW-8feFNZ-7oLyBQ-8tJzUt-8fhXyy-8i2Fy5-8hozDD-oHgo7d-pppcrG-8onLjL-4Xmwhp-8i9vzU">Thomas Strosse</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Of course there is one argument to say parents should be responsible for controlling what their children consume and that Coke is just another choice. Another argument says that whoever took on the sponsorship, there would be the potential for controversy; as one parent is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jan/18/coca-cola-london-eye-charity-anger">reported to have pointed out</a>, those who are concerned with climate change may have disapproved of EDF and British Airways, previous sponsors of the wheel. </p>
<p>But Coca-Cola is different. It is a worldwide consumer brand high in sugar that is currently carefully managing its role in the obesity debate. The company’s mantra has been that Coca-Cola should be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet – which is fine except that we know people have a problem balancing their diets. It is a signatory to the much-vaunted and criticised <a href="http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/health/responsibility-deal/">responsibility deal</a> with government wherein it has committed to reducing the calories in its drinks and has (finally) adopted traffic light labelling. The company has <a href="https://theconversation.com/coke-life-lands-a-blow-against-sugar-but-its-worthy-credentials-could-still-be-trouble-31208">recently launched Coke Life</a> with 89 calories compared to the standard Coke’s 139, and has developed other measures including selling coke in smaller cans. </p>
<p>But these actions have all been taken alongside the company’s existing brands. You can still buy fully sugared coke in large bottle and cans. A cynic might say that Coca-Cola is looking for every opportunity to continue to market its brand while developing initiatives that will take the heat off it in the obesity debate. This is a clever strategy of appropriate product development while ensuring that their name is in front of consumers young and old, whatever version of the brand they choose to drink. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69421/original/image-20150119-14503-xg03q5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69421/original/image-20150119-14503-xg03q5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69421/original/image-20150119-14503-xg03q5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69421/original/image-20150119-14503-xg03q5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69421/original/image-20150119-14503-xg03q5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69421/original/image-20150119-14503-xg03q5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1032&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69421/original/image-20150119-14503-xg03q5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1032&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69421/original/image-20150119-14503-xg03q5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1032&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Coca Cola precursor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/69184488@N06/10174644175/in/photolist-gv7qQD-gv6Hez-mdNQ4M-dR2DBX">MCAD Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>This company has survived since the 19th century because it has adapted and responded to market situations. It could be described an original “me-too product” – Coca-Cola investor John Pemberton started out with “French Wine Coca” which was <a href="http://vinepair.com/wine-blog/vin-mariani-bordeaux-wine-coca/">inspired by successful tonic wine “Vin Mariani”</a> in its product composition. When the southern states of America became more temperance-minded the firm’s founder John Pemberton quickly replaced the wine with carbonated water. </p>
<h2>War footing</h2>
<p>Coca-Cola wasn’t above making the most of a market opportunity <a href="http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/about-us/history-of-coca-cola-1941-1959.html">during World War II</a>. The company presented itself as a dedicated public citizen committed to the war effort, bringing much needed energy to a nation weary from the exertions of the war, while patriotically selling sugar at below market price to the US military. Actions such as this led to exclusive contracts with US military across the globe, excluding its major rival Pepsi and resulting in control of 95% of all military soft drink sales. It was Coke’s successful war that was the foundation for its global expansion. </p>
<p>Coca-Cola is a company that produces a simple product (albeit one with <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/not-quite-the-real-thing-cocacolas-secret-formula-is-out-of-the-bottle--but-can-the-famous-flavour-be-recreated-at-home-8621636.html">a secret recipe</a>) but whose success has been largely achieved through a plethora of canny business decisions that have kept the product in front of the consumer around the globe. </p>
<p>The sponsorship of the London Eye is just the latest in a long line of examples of smart positioning, and it means organisations like the Children’s Food Campaign will have their work cut out to remove the ubiquitous brand from Britain’s not-so-balanced diet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36456/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
When it was announced last year that Coca-Cola had agreed a two-year sponsorship deal with the owners of the London Eye, the general manager of the company’s UK and Ireland operations said the sponsorship…Isabelle Szmigin, Professor of Marketing, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/312082014-09-19T13:51:47Z2014-09-19T13:51:47ZCoke Life lands a blow against sugar, but its worthy credentials could still be trouble<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59045/original/vvm8qrz4-1410791465.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=306%2C324%2C1621%2C797&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Greeener than thou?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/riveranotario/12962976023/in/photolist-oWXR6F-if3NCb-oWixvy-kKw639-6FoD8K-9Q3h84-oDQGwC-kKuD9B-gaM3t8-kLQ2Y1-kLP9y7-kJ6HgB-f11EB7-ahi9XP-fGPHR7-p2GTRN-kiFvht-hQR4cF-f4aFdn-js8HyJ-eyprhv">RiveraNotario</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Coca Cola has begun carefully <a href="http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/lower-calorie-coca-cola-life-to-launch-in-great-britain">rolling out its green-labelled “Life” brand</a>, filling its iconic hour-glass bottles with a new fizzy drink which has nearly a third fewer calories than Coke Original. It is a useful win for anti-sugar campaigners but the strategy brings all kinds of risks for the Atlanta-based soft drinks giant.</p>
<p>There is a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/dietandfitness/10634081/John-Yudkin-the-man-who-tried-to-warn-us-about-sugar.html">rising tide against sugar consumption</a> and its links to obesity and ill-health. Mexico – one of the leading soft drinks markets, but a country where 9% of the population <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2013/04/diabetes-mexico">suffer from type-2 diabetes</a> – has already implemented a sugar tax. </p>
<p>Euromonitor’s Howard Telford noted that western European and North American markets are increasingly mistrustful of sweeteners, and this is coupled with a health agenda that is trying to limit calorific consumption. Market researchers Mintel UK support this assessment, with a quarter of respondents in a survey saying they now consume fewer carbonated drinks than six months ago. Although not measuring actual behaviour, this does suggest that health campaigns such as <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/Pages/change-for-life.aspx">Change4Life</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/actiononsugar">Action on Sugar</a> are influencing consumer demand.</p>
<p>According to Telford: “The introduction of Coca Cola Life is a slick, high profile example of the company publicly seeking to address its role in public health through innovations.” He’s right: this is a clever move on Coke’s part that should be applauded, though also a modest one that is not without problems.</p>
<h2>Bitter experience</h2>
<p>Coke’s executives have clearly learnt the lessons of <a href="http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1913612_1913610_1913608,00.html">the New Coke</a> debacle in the 1980s. Back then, market research suggested the younger Pepsi generation would prefer a sweeter taste, and the new product was duly born. Alas, the researchers had bungled the study and unintentionally created a future marketing case study of how not to launch a new brand.</p>
<p>What taste-test research actually tends to indicate is that consumers struggle to differentiate between variations of brown fizz, regardless of sugar content. Instead, it is product branding that influences.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59171/original/qfgvr739-1410869756.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59171/original/qfgvr739-1410869756.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59171/original/qfgvr739-1410869756.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59171/original/qfgvr739-1410869756.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59171/original/qfgvr739-1410869756.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59171/original/qfgvr739-1410869756.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59171/original/qfgvr739-1410869756.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59171/original/qfgvr739-1410869756.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Original Coke near a tipping point?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinomara/3529868846/in/photolist-6nVv2G-3hst6B-fCA5Zc-4TN45e-81txkz-4TSi1s-4TN3Sr-4TN2Ux-4TSgwq-4TN3vX-4TN36K-4TN3ET-9n5Kjd-przC-nWUf1-oGhnpP-7kNo9n-JMjSj-q2EAP-t3Zk6-6btsR8-5cYddC-5cYdtw-5cTTYV-5cYcWf-4q3abj-ojYQzc-oD9ks5-6GdcZD-9KuQts-ECja2-2d1Xhn-6YuyCr-8K3LSP-jMvrHe-57Ty9S-eibS34-83Gn2h-b7Miy2-8ujo2-5uXbYs-87qvGu-94tCcR-76cPF8-FDnWT-77GqdA-kihat-5A37AF-5mpDPg-6dFoPS">Kevin O'Mara</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The three main Coke brands – Original, Diet and Zero – are currently running a simultaneous, heavy spend, mass-market TV campaign that offers consumers personalised bottles. By contrast, the Life advertising is an outdoor-focused, push campaign. The green packaging extends the familiar red, silver, black and gold product line offerings in a way that is easily understood. </p>
<p>The company has adopted a cautious, incremental and geographic launch strategy. Life’s global launch was in Chile and Argentina, which boasts one of the highest per capita soft drink consumption levels in the world. Substantial markets such as the UK, France, Mexico and US are following. </p>
<p>There is a background to this too. Western beverage firms are experiencing significant global drops in market share as consumers increasingly choose branded water and Chinese beverage brands grow stronger. Nonetheless, the Coca Cola portfolio leads with a 21% share of the market (far ahead of second-placed PepsiCo, which has 10% of volume). Coca Cola is valued at US$79 billion and was ranked for many years as the top global brand by Interbrand (<a href="http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/2013/Best-Global-Brands-2013.aspx">deposed in 2013 by Apple and Google</a>).</p>
<h2>A sour aftertaste?</h2>
<p>One risk for Coke is that the lower-sugar Life sub-brand may be an extension too far. Phil Caroll, a drinks sector analyst at investment firm Shore Capital, has <a href="http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/food-and-drink/news/coke-brings-coca-cola-life-to-the-uk/4010784.article">suggested that Life sits in a no-man’s-land</a> between core propositions that already serve customers well. However, substantial regional differences suggest that there is indeed life in Life. The slow take-up of Zero in the UK compared to a rapid market penetration in the more dynamic market of Australia is a useful case in point. In short, there appears to be some potential for the Life brand to do well. And even in the UK, success in reducing salt intake – <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2604761/Salt-intake-falls-15-heart-deaths-fall-40-eat-it.html">15% lower salt consumption over a decade</a> as consumer tastes adjusted with time – suggests that firms can change their products to the benefit of society while bringing their customers with them; a key commercial imperative.</p>
<h2>Social and environmental impact</h2>
<p>Coca Cola is a major producer of soft drinks: ultimately unnecessary products which use large amounts of finite resources, often in regions that can ill afford their loss. This is the <a href="http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/nero.htm">main charge of the “Nero” criticism</a> – that Coca Cola is fiddling at the edges with Life, without addressing the problem of burning up the planet’s resources to make it.</p>
<p>A simple internet search for “Coca Cola”, “water”, and “controversy” provide ample illustration of the criticisms. By positioning the brand as a green alternative – regardless of the health focus – Coke is in danger of being seen to mislead customers (see the <a href="http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/">useful Sins of Greenwashing tool</a>). Also, sugar’s enemies will not be satisfied with incremental change when many are pushing for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29212780">ever greater cuts to recommended consumption</a>. </p>
<h2>Supply chains and sugar substitute</h2>
<p>A supply chain issue hinges on the question of how Life is able to contain a third fewer calories. The answer <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22758059">is Stevia, a sugar alternative</a>. Secondary Coca Cola brands Lilt, Sprite and Fanta switched completely to Stevia in 2013, without the use of a shadow brand. Did you notice? And Sprite and Fanta are respectively ranked fifth and sixth in the off-trade Euromonitor global rankings, each with 1.5% volume share: these are high net worth brands in their own right.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59169/original/dqrny79k-1410869328.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59169/original/dqrny79k-1410869328.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59169/original/dqrny79k-1410869328.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59169/original/dqrny79k-1410869328.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59169/original/dqrny79k-1410869328.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59169/original/dqrny79k-1410869328.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59169/original/dqrny79k-1410869328.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Substitute for sugar: Stevia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosasay/14277894055/in/photolist-nKFWta-6xTq2C-8GdcLJ-6ypXqW-nvTYbg-6ykPL2-nu8476-ncCBx7-nvTXUz-ncCvU2-bBtfim-aS1M1Z-fDeSju-oT6gPU-gkbcbt-cDWYB9-cvBG17-78BBym-7xNcJE-8KMX6R-k85GSd-dU9dqd-9yDSEX-dqZXF3-dqZMJc-dqZLrF-dqZWkG-dqZMdz-dqZVsb-8EdQBN-kFMxZ-be7KEc-6xPhaz-9JBwiz-arKQdY-5ncJMy-88NkDT-5Y7mWz-rn6ap-4xW7Hd-4PWRc3-aS1LET-bsC2Bi-PQUyh-4ZJnNx-4U1ZGM-nBqe9U-66kXzP-ccvjLs-aBa98s">Rosa Say</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Stevia is a plant-extract originating in South America. It has reportedly been used as a sweetener in Japan since the 1970s, and was more recently approved for use in the US and EU. Its emergence leaves many open questions: What are the social and environmental conditions of the agricultural workers involved? Is the manufacturing process environmentally damaging? Is there sufficient supply to meet the demand if consumers buy it in droves? What sort of land is required to grow the plants (lessons from palm oil should sound warning bells)? What is its impact on the body? And will the anti-Stevia activists (<a href="http://institutefornaturalhealing.com/2012/07/is-stevia-bad-for-you/">for they exist</a>) remain fringe groups, or will their arguments gain traction? </p>
<h2>Security of supply</h2>
<p>Finally, there is also a potential issue around security of supply: in the longer term, companies like Coca Cola may need to develop complete alternatives to traditional sugar. Climate change presents a threat to many aspects of life, and agriculture is one of these. Sugar is not immune to the changes. For example, KWS – the world market leader in sugar-beet, with substantial interests in corn/maize – <a href="http://www.kws.de/aw/KWS/company_info/Company/Research_and_Breeding/Challenges/%7Eevmz/Agriculture_and_climate_change/">has included climate-related breeding objectives</a> as a key element in its research and plant-breeding work for some time.</p>
<p>Coca Cola may have some scope to develop organic, eco and natural-brand dimensions – maybe the green labelling and Life brand suggest this is under consideration. But the company needs to tread carefully. Coca Cola seems to have made a modest and potentially useful contribution to the problem of sugar over-consumption, but Life will not deflect critics’ fire – and may be storing up problems for the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Coca Cola has begun carefully rolling out its green-labelled “Life” brand, filling its iconic hour-glass bottles with a new fizzy drink which has nearly a third fewer calories than Coke Original. It is…Professor Justin O'Brien, MBA Programme Director, Royal Holloway University of LondonStephanos Anastasiadis, Lecturer in Sustainability, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.