As early as the 1920s, Coke catered only to the Whites. Their supremacy is not only existent in their recipe but also in their marketing areas. Coca-Cola rarely supplied to areas with a high African-American percentage. Coca-Cola, the soft drink giant stood accused in a racial discrimination case in 2000 for their partiality in exhibiting lower wages and refusing key positions to black employees. And the trail doesn’t stop here; Coca-Cola continues to suck out fresh water resources and contaminating native ground water in Countries like India. (source)
6 Coca-Cola tried to attract Generation X with an off-beat Soda with the tagline “Things are going to be OK.”Image source: www.anchorofgold.com
Aimed at a generation full of multi-culture embracing, disillusioned youngsters with severe identity crisis right after the World War II baby boom, the OK Soda emerged in the timeline when the target audience considered mass media to be of manipulative nature. Coca-Cola engaged in offbeat marketing but it was failure. But OK Soda was a cult hit in the years to come. (source)
7 Coca-Cola once printed “You Retard” on their Vitamin Water bottlecapImage source: www.metronews.ca
Coca-Cola screwed up again when a family in Edmonton found the phrase âYou Retardâ on the lid of their daughterâs bottled water and it gets even worse. She has an 11 year old younger sister suffering from cerebral palsy. Coca-Cola apologized for the terrible mistake, and reported that it was a printing error involving French and English words as part of their new promotion. In French, “retard” means late or to slow down. Somewhere, another pissed off Cola drinker had the word âdoucheâ printed on his bottle cap. It means âshowerâ in French. (source)