The Dark Secrets Of The Coca Cola Empire

1. Allegations of child labor

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You probably see The Coca-Cola Company's logos everywhere you go as their products are consumed everywhere.  But this household name has been at the center of many controversies over the years including facing allegations of using child labor, particularly within its sugar supply chain.

2. Depletion of water resources

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The Coca-Cola Company maintains that it brings economic opportunities to many communities around the world.  However, they have also face accusations of overusing and depleting water resources in these communities which leads to shortages for the locals it claims to help.

3. Environmental pollution

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On top of the water depletion, The Coca-Cola Company has also been criticized for the role it allegedly plays in environmental pollution including polluting the water sources and natural environment through its many bottling plants and other damaging production processes.

4. Misleading advertising

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The Coca-Cola Company has claimed in the past that some of its products carry health benefits for consumers, leading people to buy their products because they believe that they will make a healthy addition to their lifestyle.  But many believe that this is false advertising and it largely misleads the public.

5. Marketing to children

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Now we all know how easily swayed children can be - their brains are still developing and are like little sponges ready to absorb and remember any information that comes their way.  And Coca-Cola has faced criticism for exploiting this and marketing their sugary drinks to children.

6. Health concerns

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The Coca-Cola Company are well-known and almost notorious for Coca-Cola and their other sugary beverages.  And studies have found that consuming these types of drinks increases the risk of diabetes, tooth decay and also contributes to the obesity epidemic.

7. Extraction of natural resources

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The Coca-Cola Company has also been often criticized for extracting natural resources including water and sugar, mainly from developing countries.  And the problem is that they don't actually give back, leaving communities short of their natural resources.

8. Support of dictators

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The Coca-Cola Company has too often been linked with certain dictators and other oppressive regimes over the years and they have often been criticized about the support their show for these.  One example of this is their support for the apartheid government in South Africa.

9. Unethical marketing

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The Coca-Cola Company has often been accused of employing unethical marketing practices to avertise their products.  This includes using aggressive tactics, misleading information, and even targetting more vulnerable populations like children to sell their products.

10. Opposed to recycling

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And despite including a recycling symbol on their cans and plastic bottles, the dark truth is that The Coca-Cola Company couldn't care less about recycling.  In fact, they've been too often criticized for actually opposing bottle recycle schemes and other recycling initiatives.

11. Exploitation

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The Coca-Cola Company has also faced multiple damaging allegations of not only exploiting but also mistreating their workers in its bottling plants across the world.  This exploitation and mistreatments involves unfair pay and very poor working conditions.

12. Poor working conditions

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Workers accross the world in The Coca-Cola Company's bottling plants allegedly face very poor working conditions.  These poor working conditions can vary across sites but commonly include long working hours without sufficient breaks, low pay and a lack of safety equipment.

13. Human rights violation

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The Coca-Cola Company's supply chain spans the globe and their Linkedin profile states that they employ 700,000 people world wide, and claims that they bring economic opportunities to the communities they operate in.  However, they have been accused of violating the human rights of many of their employees, particularly in courtries such as Columbia.

14. Tax evasion

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Another controversy that the The Coca-Cola Company has faced surrounds their financial and tax affairs.  in fact, The Coca-Cola Company has been accused multiple times of engaging in a range of tax evasion schemes and has often successfully avoided paying their fair share of tax in certain countries.

15. Product contamination

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You might see the Coca-Cola symbol and trust that what you're consuming is actually what you think it is.  And it probably is, but The Coca-Cola Company did once face lawsuits that alleged their products had been contaminated with pesticides and heavy metals which are, as we know, harmful for humans to consume.

16. Political influence

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It's no lie that The Coca-Cola Company is a dominant business that spans the globe, and because of this, it's no surprise that they're hugely influential in a variety of domains.  In fact, Coca-Cola has been accused in the past of using its political influence to shape government policies to favor its own interests.

17. Exploitation of vulnerable communities

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The Coca-Cola Company has also often been accused of exploiting some of the more vulnerable communities in the world, including providing low pay, poor working conditions, long hours, child labor, and even depleting and overusing natural resources, leaving the communities short.

18. Misuse of water

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The Coca-Cola Company has also been accused of not only depleting water resources, but completely misusing the as well.  And the dark truth is that The Coca-Cola Company allegedly continue to use up scarce water resources where the availability of tht water is already a problem for the loccal communities.

19. Exploitation of farmers

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So after learning of the accusations of how The Coca-Cola Company exploits its workers, you won't be surprised to learn that they've also faced many accusations of also exploiting their farmers in their sugar supply chain too by underpaying them for their crops.

20. Price fixing

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Knowing that The Coca-Cola Company's products are the most dominant on the market, but is it because of their magical powers?  Obviously not, in fact, they have been accused of engaging in price fixing schemes so the company can maintain their place as the number 1 drinks company in the world.  No one else stands a chance!

21. Discrimination

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Unfortunately, it's not just exploitation of their workers they're accused of.  The truth is that The Coca-Cola Company have also often been criticized and accused of racial discrimmination, particularly when it comes to looking into its emplyment practices.

22. Animal testing

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The Coca-Cola Company also has a poor track record when it comes to its morals and ethics surrounding animal testing.  And no, we don't mean them getting innocent animals to taste their sugary beverages, but it's more about how they fund animal testing.

23. Lobbying against health regulations

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Worryingly, The Coca-Cola Company has allegedly also used it's political power to restrict or change the information that is released to the public, particularly when it concerns health.  And it has been accused of lobbying against health regulations that could harm its profits, like soda taxes.

24. Aggressive marketing tactics

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As part of its unethical marketing practices, The Coca-Cola Company have been criticized for how aggressive their tactics can be.  And although they call their strategy 'dynamic', the truth is that we probably never have a day without seeing their branding somewhere whether its on the TV, online, in print, movies, and other sponsorships.

25. Environmental degradation

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The Coca-Cola Company has also been widely criticized for the role that it allegedly plays in contributing significantly to environmental degradation.  This degradation is said to be through the company's production processes, including greenhouse gas emmissions and plastic waste.

26. Discrimination of LGBTQ+

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After the The Coca-Cola Company supported the Sochi Olympics in Russia in 2014 where anti-LGBTQ+ laws were in place, activists called for a boycott of the company.  The company has often been criticized for not doing enough to support the LGBTQ+ community.

27. Harmful working conditions

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As well as having poor woring conditions, workers across the world for The Coca-Cola Company also allegedly face very dangerous working conditions.  The company has often been criticized for their dangerous working conditions in their supply chain including the use of hazardous chemicals and poor safety procedures.

28. Promotion of unhealthy lifestyles

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The Coca-Cola Company has regularly been criticized for its unethical promotion of unhealthy lifestyles by lobbying against healthcare information and allegedly funding research that downplays the risk of the overconsumption of its products, including obesity and diabetes.

29. Plastic pollution

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You might have noticed, but The Coca-Cola Company uses a lot of plastic in most of its bottled products and it has been criticized for its enormous contribution to global plastic pollution.  This is because of it's use of single-use plastic bottles that take hundreds of years to degrade.

30. Involvement in political conflicts

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The Coca-Cola Company has been criticized for allegedly getting involved in political conflicts around the world including in countries such as Israel and Palestine.  In this particular conflict, The Coca-Cola Company has been accused of supporting the Israeli occupation.