2008 Woodie Awards
Redirecting the Coke front
By: Joseph Schultz
Issue date: 4/21/06 Section: Opinion
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Well what should I write about this week? The impending Coke ban? How about another tract on intellectual diversity? Well, I honestly can't decide. So how about a little shout-out for both?
The impending Coke ban. What a long way this issue has come in such a short period of time. The SRC has responded to accusations that it acted inappropriately by basically saying it didn't. And now Michigan wants to reinstitute Coke after Coke agreed to an investigation led by the United Nations into its activities in human rights contested areas.
Maybe the best way to start is to point out that Coke has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing, at least not yet. I will also point out that in this country you are innocent until proven guilty. As such, imposing a penalty on Coke in the form of a ban amounts to a distinctly unjust form of retribution.
What people who want to ban Coke should be doing is going around convincing people that Coke is a human rights abusing company and hence should not have its products purchased. This is hard. People tend to follow the path of least resistance. Hence what we have is a very small group of students who have convinced a very small group of faculty (read: SRC) that banning Coke is a good idea. I'll also mention that such a ban would never have worked with last year's SRC due to different SRC membership.
Somehow I'm unimpressed by all these shady goings on. Banning Coke will convince very few people (if any) to change their minds about Coke. People will still buy Coke from off-campus sources. If the pro-ban people really wanted to exert pressure on Coke, they would be doing the hard work of (pardon this phrase from our good President Bush) “winning hearts and minds.” I am left to conclude that the pro-ban people are too lazy (I doubt this one) or are basing their claims on too flimsy of evidence (much more likely). You'll have to excuse me, but I think I will continue to enjoy my Coke products.
The impending Coke ban. What a long way this issue has come in such a short period of time. The SRC has responded to accusations that it acted inappropriately by basically saying it didn't. And now Michigan wants to reinstitute Coke after Coke agreed to an investigation led by the United Nations into its activities in human rights contested areas.
Maybe the best way to start is to point out that Coke has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing, at least not yet. I will also point out that in this country you are innocent until proven guilty. As such, imposing a penalty on Coke in the form of a ban amounts to a distinctly unjust form of retribution.
What people who want to ban Coke should be doing is going around convincing people that Coke is a human rights abusing company and hence should not have its products purchased. This is hard. People tend to follow the path of least resistance. Hence what we have is a very small group of students who have convinced a very small group of faculty (read: SRC) that banning Coke is a good idea. I'll also mention that such a ban would never have worked with last year's SRC due to different SRC membership.
Somehow I'm unimpressed by all these shady goings on. Banning Coke will convince very few people (if any) to change their minds about Coke. People will still buy Coke from off-campus sources. If the pro-ban people really wanted to exert pressure on Coke, they would be doing the hard work of (pardon this phrase from our good President Bush) “winning hearts and minds.” I am left to conclude that the pro-ban people are too lazy (I doubt this one) or are basing their claims on too flimsy of evidence (much more likely). You'll have to excuse me, but I think I will continue to enjoy my Coke products.
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