I was reading this blog post this morning and found it really interesting.
Why Tackling Obesity NOW Is A Smart Strategy For Coke
Coca-Cola recently published a series of ads that talks about obesity. While people often say drinking soft drinks (Coke) will gain weight, Coca Cola is trying to address this concern by telling people that they now offer low or no-calorie choices, smaller portion drinks, add calorie labels on the containers, and volunteered to change the drinks offered in elementary schools to water, juices, or low or 0 cal options.
See Video (Coming Together)
I think the writer’s points are really good that he identified the reasons why Coca Cola is willing to face such obesity, a topic that might negatively influence the company. The writer stated that Coca Cola decided to do this because of the below reasons:
- “Public pressure” – while obesity is considered a serious problem now in US, and ignoring the concern is no longer an appropriate option, Coca-Cola has to face this problem and give a reasonable reason.
- “Negative reputation of high fructose corn syrup”
- “commitments to health matter more at the start of the year”
- “focus on health can make competitors look unfeeling or out of touch”
I agree with the above points. In today’s world, social responsibility has become more and more important. If the company wants to maintain a long term relationship with its customers, it needs to show that it cares about the society and the environment. Coca Cola really needs to find a way to address the problem of obesity since their product is highly correlated with obesity. By emphasizing the improvements they tried to make (low cal), the company is able to show people that they actually do care about them. Moreover, doing so enables Coca Cola to sound like as if they care more about their consumers’ health compared to their competitors (e.g. Pepsi).