Coca-Cola Threatens Top Indian Photographer with Lawsuit (source : Indiaresource.org)
For this picture by Sharad Haksar:
(photo courtesy degreecopy – these colourful plastic kudams are such a strong symbol of water scarcity in Chennai – murders have been committed over this…)
This is why – Mr. Haksar’s billboard highlights the severe water shortages being experienced by communities that live around Coca-Cola’s bottling plants across India. A community close to Chennai, in Gangaikondan, has already held large protests – protesting against an upcoming Coca-Cola plant. In the neighboring state of Kerala, in the village of Plachimada, Coca-Cola has been unable to open its bottling facility for the last 16 months – because the community will not allow it to.
The story about this hoarding is the the photographer Haksar had approached Coke before putting it up – and Coke which apprently had no problems then, has suddenly woken up to the fact that such a hoarding could cause “damage to its goodwill”.
The Kerala story – No water? Drink Coke!
More on the Coke controversy here and here
Other blog views by degreecopy and tiffix box
Related read : Vanilla Coke and ‘Wakau’
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Interestingly, Coke was the first company to understand and fully exploit the concept of ‘competitive set’ – for them the adversary was not other carbonated drinks but water – or anything that could be drunk – share of stomach and not share of soda.. This insight is what drove Coke’s sales even during the toughest times of the cola wars and made their late CEO Roberto Goizueta a marketing legend.
hey charu, my page also talks ‘Kudams’ 🙂
Hey Charu, have linked this post both on a ryze article and in my new blog.
Cheers!
charu, great picture. thanks for this. very marie antoinette: “let them drink coke.” for entire communities in our country, water is becoming scarcer every day. 🙁
Cold drink companies are not only great water polluters, they are also a big health risk. This post: http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2005_07_14.html#010042 (Soon air will carry a warning label) has an interesting thread going.
Charu,
Sharad Haksar has sent an email to few bloggers (including me) to explain his stand on the same. I don’t see anything controversial in this. If Coke is my current customer / prospective customer I wouldn’t want to ruffle any feathers. Hv u seen the earlier Just DO it ad?
Hi Charu
While I don’t recommend that people drink soda pop, I think it is unfortunate that Coca Cola is being false accused of contributing to the water shortage in places in India. Soda pop represents such an infinitesimal fraction of the total water consumption in any country that it is ludicrous to equate the two.
People don’t realize that the water needed to grow crops we eat in a day represents 100 times more than the water we drink each day. Of course, we all need food, but improving the efficiency of irrigation is much more important.
Besides, the people who can afford to drink soda pop are going to get enough to drink anyway, whether coca cola can produce soda or not. All closing the Coca Cola plant does is create the poverty tnat makes people too poor to buy water in a free market.
Uma, I saw the kudams post – liked the picture too 🙂
Aparna, thanks! your newsinlimerick blog rocks!
Uma MD, Amrit, there have been lots of accusations against soft drink companies – and I sometimes wonder how much of it is colored by their earlier controversies including the pesticide. interestingly, why always soft drink manufacturers vs farmers / agriculture?
Kaps, if coke is a potential customer, then Haksar shd have thought twice about this. it seems to me both coke and the photographer are acting guided by some misplaced hindsight…
Michael, most people in India cannot afford to buy water. and it is a sad story that they do not get free water either – for drinking or for irrigation. “On 22 April, 2002, more than 2,000 irate protestors, consisting mostly of indigenous people and dalits gathered at the gates of the Hindustan Coca Cola factory in Plachimada, Palghat district, Kerala. Residents from the villages surrounding Coke’s greenfield soft-drink bottling factory here say that Coke’s indiscriminate mining of groundwater has dried up many wells, and contaminated the remainder” (from the india together article I have linked to in the post). Can you please elaborate on why you think closing down the coke factory contributes to poverty?
(and do read what I have written about Coke’s idea about their competitive set – this is a company which seriously believes that too!)
Is the water problem in Plachimada solved / reduced now after 16 months? If we know the answer to that, may be we can discuss this more realistically than just emotionally.
16 months? do you have a point Senthil?
In the main post it said coco cola has not been able to open their plant for the last 16 months. So i am wondering if the water problem has been reduced / solved in the last 16 months, as the plant is no longer operating.
hey guysthe problems created plant has not been taken seriously by the goverment. i feel we should take the initiative and bring an end to all this..and best way to start it should be by not drinking coke and other products like this…the rest will follow…help save the planet…cos we are the future n we beeter make the place good for us and the comin generations….
hi guys,
check out this site…http://www.indiaresource.org/…and sent fax to CEO coca cola
with regards
hari nair