“For us, then, this is an evolution, not a revolution—an elevation, not a revelation. And this is just the next step in our ongoing journey.” – Muhtar Kent

Muhtar Kent, the Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, has committed his establishment to promoting healthier decisions and fighting obesity. In the article, written by Kent himself, he proposes four key points in accomplishing his goal. These points are:  designs to give customers a lower calorie option, provide nutritional information on their packages, promote physical activities in the countries they serve, and possibly the most significant, market responsibly by not targeting advertisements to children under the age of 12 (Kent). Most of these changes would not jeopardize the company’s opportunity to create income, if anything the varying calorie levels in Coke products would attract business, as customers looking for lower calorie level beverages from other brands would no longer need to. However, by not targeting children under the age of 12 as potential consumers, a large market could possibly be lost. For example, the eight-year-old boy who watches a Coca-Cola advertisement on television, and then orders a Coke the next time he’s at McDonalds, might order a milk, or maybe water. As a generalization, children are often easily persuaded and convinced by marketing strategies, which makes targeting that demographic specifically appealing. However, this is not necessarily an ethical way to conduct business. The old saying: “It’s like taking candy from a baby” is applicable in this situation, as children are not aware of the consequences that sugary drinks impose, and for major corporations to “take” their business because children are as vulnerable as “a baby” would not be seen as ethical according to a modern society. This initiative from The Coca-Cola Company is a direct approach at them attempting to be a responsible company in their society. From Kent’s perspective, although possibly losing sales, child-obesity is a problem in society that requires a solution to not only be proposed, but executed. As stated in the chapter entitled “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits,” Milton Friedman writes, ” The difficulty of exercising “social responsibility” illustrates, of course, the great virtue of private competitive enterprise – it forces people to be responsible for their own actions and makes it difficult for them to “exploit” other people for either selfish or unselfish purposes. They can do good – but only at their own expense” (Friedman). For Kent, the expense of possible revenue is outweighed by helping the global community. Personally, I believe that this ethical decision made by the company will prove to benefit them in the future, as it provides positive stigma to the brand name, and could possibly influence more health-aware consumers to purchase from their company.

Works Cited:

Friedman, Milton. “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits.” Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance. By Walther Ch. Zimmerli, Klaus Richter, and Markus Holzinger.  Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer, 2007. 177. Site.ebrary.com: The University of British Columbia Library. Web. 11 Sep. 2013.

Kent, Muhtar. “Coke CEO on Glabal Well-Being Commitments.” Coca-Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Company, 8 May 2013. Web. 11 Sep. 2013