Coca-Cola Olympic Deal Questioned At Shareholders Meeting
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Isdell Discusses Coca-Cola's Olympic
Sponsorship At Shareholder's Meeting |
Coca-Cola yesterday held its annual shareholder meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, and protesters engaged Chair & CEO Neville Isdell in a "rare public dialogue about China's human rights record in Tibet," according to Stephanie Clifford of the N.Y. TIMES. Protesters outside the meeting "chanted and waved picket signs," and one protester at the meeting asked Isdell, "Will you tell the IOC to stop taking the Olympic torch relay into Tibet?" Isdell responded by saying the torch relay "has symbolized openness, it has symbolized hopes." Isdell: "I don't believe that stopping the torch run is in any way over the long term going to be the right thing to do. ... We still believe that the torch is a light of hope, and we trust that's what it will be as it goes every single place in the world." Isdell added the company already is a "sponsor of the Olympic games -- wherever they may go -- through 2020, and I trust that will continue through 2028." But media execs noted that official Olympic sponsors in India "avoided buying television and radio ads that were timed to the Olympic torch relay on Thursday." Meanwhile, Clifford notes Coca-Cola yesterday at the meeting released its Q1 results, which "suggest the extent of its reliance on the Chinese market." The company's unit case volume sales in China jumped 20%, "one of the highest figures from any country" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/17). Isdell noted that while Coca-Cola "has concern for the situation in Tibet, it does not control the torch route." Isdell added that despite the protests, the company "believes the Olympics and torch run are a force for good and has no plans to drop its ties" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 4/17).
DARFUR: Human rights group Dream for Darfur (DFD) yesterday in a conference call with reporters "blasted Coke and other Olympic sponsors for not doing enough to stop abuses in Darfur." DFD Exec Dir Jill Savitt said that the group in the next two weeks "plans to issue a report on Olympic corporate sponsors," and that companies which receive a "C" grade or lower "will be greeted with demonstrations" at their corporate HQs. The sponsors also "will be targets of the group's 'Turn it off' campaign,'" calling for Olympic TV viewers to change the channel or turn off their TVs when the sponsors' ads air. Savitt said that Coca-Cola is among nine of the 19 Olympic sponsors which have met with the group (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 4/17).
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