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Pepsi, Coca-Cola, A&W and Jones – all a part of the same carbonated family? Not according to Killer Coke, a campaign that has reached the University of Maine.
UMaine’s 10-year contract with Coca-Cola will expire on June 30, 2009.
“Once Coke knows there’s a movement at the University of Maine, they are going to make a lot of calls and do everything they can to keep Coke at the university,” Killer Coke Director Ray Rogers said.
The Campaign Against Killer Coke began in April 2003. The small organization spreads the message that Coca-Cola is involved in numerous unethical practices in several countries. The main goal is to encourage boycotts on Coca-Cola products.
“Lawsuits charge Coca-Cola bottlers in Columbia for contracting or otherwise directing paramilitary security forces that utilized extreme violence and murdered, tortured, unlawfully detained or otherwise silenced trade union leaders,” Rogers said.
“We [Coca-Cola] categorically deny any of the allegations that have been made against the company, with respect to human rights and worker rights violations,” said Diana Garza Ciarlante, a representative of Coca-Cola.
UMaine first-year journalism student Ken Keplinger became involved with Killer Coke last summer after reading an article in the New York Times on a 2006 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Workers of America on behalf of Columbian Coca-Cola plant employees.
“Nine people today they’ve killed since 1989 . all union leaders,” Keplinger said.
The campaign focuses on Coca-Cola’s actions in Columbia, El Salvador, Mexico and India.
They have caused the company to be kicked off at least 52 U.S. college campuses, according to Rogers. Coca-Cola does not agree with this statistic.
“There are fewer than 10 schools who have chosen over the years to not renew the contracts, but that’s just the cost of doing business . We believe that what we are doing is the right thing to do and that we’re behaving in a very ethical and moral way,” Ciarlante said.
The removal of Coca-Cola products would include Dasani, Fanta, Minute Maid, Nestea, Odwalla, Powerade and Sprite.
“Students are the primary market for Coca-Cola. . Coke says, ‘We can get a student hooked on our product, and we have a customer for 60 years,’” Rogers said.
Keplinger’s ultimate goal is to get Coca-Cola off the UMaine campus entirely. He would at least like UMaine to form a contract that allows other beverage companies on campus so students have a choice.
“Honestly, I just kinda like the taste of Coke better than Pepsi. . I would say just redo the Coke contract because we already have the machines there. I don’t see any advantages of choosing Pepsi over Coke,” said UMaine junior history student Derek Jones.
“Coke is not a giver; they’re an exploiter. . They steal the identity of your university . looking to turn out millions of Coke-heads from campuses each year,” Rogers said.
Keplinger describes Killer Coke as a pro-union organization. At UMaine, he focuses on two main issues: the problem with Columbia union breaking and environmental degradation.
“I’ve never heard of Coke being accused of unethical business practices,” Jones said.
Besides committing violence in Columbia, Rogers said the company has exploited scarce water resources in India and Mexico. The campaign’s DVD documentary displays child labor in sugar cane fields in El Salvador, allegedly owned by Coca-Cola, who denied these allegations in 2004.
“We don’t disagree that being concerned for fair trade and fair labor practices is important. What we do disagree with is the use of the company’s reputation and the company’s brand in a way to bring attention to what otherwise is a very important issue,” Ciarlante said.
“It’s the company that has probably lied more than any company on the planet over the years. . All I can say is that George Bush probably learned from them,” Rogers said.
The organization ships out material to students such as leaflets, posters, DVDs, stickers and T-shirts. Rogers travels to speak at colleges when invited. He visited Beloit College in Wisconsin on Nov. 6 and Mount Holyoke College, in Massachusetts on Nov. 20.
“I have already made it very clear I would be excited to come to the University of Maine and talk. I don’t care if you have 20 feet of snow,” Rogers said.
Keplinger plans to petition the General Student Senate to pass an anti-Coca-Cola resolution. So far, approximately six students have e-mailed him to express interest in joining the campaign. Philosophy professor Doug Allen has invited him to speak at the Maine Peace Action Committee meeting on Nov. 25.
The Campaign Against Killer Coke DVD consists of three documentaries and will be added to the weekly MPAC Peace and Justice Film Series for the spring semester, according to Allen.
“I would challenge the Coca-Cola Company to send anybody … I’ll go head to head with anybody on this issue. . I will answer any questions,” Rogers said. Coca-Cola has issued a statement asserting they will not engage in any venue he’s in, according to Rogers.
“We believe that what the two main judiciary committees . and the most recent publicly reported assessment from the Ifo [Institute for Economic Research] proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that there’s no truth behind any of these allegations,” Ciarlante said.
The Killer Coke’s Student Activation page provides a Campus Activation Packet and numerous links to anti-Coca-Cola school articles, reports, resolutions, pamphlets and letters.
To learn more, visit killercoke.org and thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/governance_ethics.html.
Keplinger hands out stickers and pamphlets in the Memorial Union in a Killer Coke T-shirt. All of the posters he placed around campus have been torn down. When asked if he will continue to put them up, he said, “Of course – again and again.”
Bangor Daily News