prototype Slingshot water filtering unit

In the modern commercial world where public reputation has remarkable influence on the profitability of a company, we see a significant amount of corporations attempt to improve their public image through philanthropy. A good example of this would be Coca-Cola which has gained a bad reputation for devastating local communities by causing water shortage with its bottled water business. It has recently tried to counter that image by supporting philanthropic ventures such as the Slingshot Initiative, which was featured in the recent Businessweek article “Clean-Water Effort Combines Coke’s Know-How, Segway’s Futurism”. This article shows that Coca-Cola is trying to diminish their negative reputation through their promise to provide clean water to 150 countries by 2015. This is smart move on Coca-Cola’s part because the Slingshot initiative targets the exactly criticism that Coca-Cola is facing. As customers around the world are becoming increasingly conscious about corporations’ actions and their impact on local communities and a negative corporate reputation will affect definitely affect a company’s bottom line. Through the virtue of its charitable actions, Coca-Cola protects its profitability by associating their brands with a positive social image.

Reference:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-27/clean-water-effort-combines-cokes-know-how-segways-futurism#r=nav-r-story

Reference for Picture:

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/slingshot-inventor-dean-kamens-revolutionary-clean-water-machine