Recently, Coco Cola announced that since 2010, they’ve donated $120 million to various health research organizations as part of their “transparency” campaign. The donations were received by the American Cancer Society, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
However, Coca Cola believes that people, and the media, think too much about what people are eating, and not enough about how much exercise they are getting. A $120 million donation may seem generous, but in 2013, they spent $3.3 billion dollars on marketing alone. The Street also says that they would consider Coca Cola’s stock a “buy” right now.
With that in mind, it seems pretty obvious that they made this “huge” donation to health programs to create positive publicity. By giving away a mere fraction of what they spend on marketing, they are applauded and suddenly a company that really cares about the consumers of their sugary drinks. Good for them right? True, what they did is not unethical in most people’s minds; however, I would like to see a bit more work from them to try and actually help obesity in America.
On the other hand, I slightly agree with Coca Cola that people focus too much on the diet of people rather than their exercise. I can eat healthy, and lay on my couch all day long, and I wouldn’t lose any weight. On the other hand, I can go eat McDonalds for every meal and then workout regularly and not gain weight.