This report looks at Coca-Cola, one of the most recognised brands in the world. The company claims to adhere to the highest ethical standards yet Coca-Cola’s activities around the world tell a different story.

Introduction: This is the third in a series of War on Want alternative company reports.

Their purpose is to compare and contrast the rhetoric of corporate social responsibility (CSR) with the reality of companies’ actual practices.The reports form part of War on Want’s ongoing campaign for a global framework of corporate regulation, and each recommends action that ordinary people can take to rein in the power of multinational corporations across the world.

This report looks at the international beverage company Coca-Cola, one of the most recognised brands in the world. Coca-Cola has built a global empire and now sells close to 400 brands in almost 200 countries.The company claims to adhere to the “highest ethical standards” and to be “an outstanding corporate citizen in every community we serve”.

Yet Coca-Cola’s activities around the world tell a different story. Coca-Cola has been accused of dehydrating local communities in its pursuit of water resources to feed its own plants, drying up farmers’ wells and destroying local agriculture.The company’s own workers have also suffered:workers in Coca-Cola and supplier plants have seen their rights violated in countries such as Colombia,Turkey, Guatemala and Russia. Only through its multi-million dollar marketing campaigns can Coca-Cola sustain the clean image it craves.

This report not only reviews Coca-Cola’s record over and against its rhetoric on corporate social responsibility. It also recommends action, both to send a message to Coca-Cola and to redress some of the damage inflicted by the company’s operations.This is War on Want’s mission more widely: to support people in developing countries in their fight against the root causes of poverty, but also to inform and inspire people in rich countries to challenge the global structures which sustain poverty across the world.

Louise Richards Paul Kenny
Chief Executive,War on Want

Download Coca-Cola - The Alternative Report

PDF format, 3.7MB, 16Pages.

Published March 2006
Written and researched by Joe Zacune

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War on Want fights poverty in developing countries in partnership and solidarity with people affected by globalisation. We campaign for workers' rights and against the root causes of global poverty, inequality and injustice.

War on Want knows that poverty is political. The decisions of politicians in rich countries can mean life or death for people in developing countries. We have the power to reshape the global landscape - to ensure that people across the world can live in justice and peace.

War on Want works with some of the bravest and most inspiring groups in the world. In rural communities, in factories and sweatshops, in conflict zones and on the margins of society, we work with people fighting for real, lasting change.

War on Want challenges the structures that keep poor people poor. From trade rules rigged in favour of rich countries and their multinational companies to poverty in Palestine, War on Want campaigns in the UK and internationally to deliver real lasting change for the world's poorest people.

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