The Coke Machine : The Dirty Truth Behind the World's Favorite Soft Drink

Review"Blanding roots his tale in the birth of the advertising era, and he is particularly effective in telling the story of how Coke fought to monopolize the sale of soft drinks to school children." --Salon.com "Like Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, The Coke Machine embeds current issues with history, policy, and interviews to reveal the wizard behind the curtain." --Suite101.com "An eye opening expose which blows the plastic lids off a company known to associate itself with love and happiness... The book lays out the case against Coke in startling clarity." --TowerReview.com "The book's sixty-three pages of notes attest to [Blanding's] careful research, and lend a vital legitimacy to his allegations--this is much more than an activist's polemic." --[tk] review "Important and readable... Blanding's painstakingly reported book reminds us that Coke's global success--perhaps like all spectacular global success--came at a price" --The Atlantic "Every company has a dark side, and you won't believe how dark Coca-Cola's is. After reading this book, good luck having a Coke and smile." --Morgan Spurlock, director of Super Size Me "Coca-Cola wants to teach the world to sing, but in the process they've trashed water supplies, peddled sugar to generations of kids, and undermined worker rights around the world. Put down your soda, read The Coke Machine and join the global movement to rein in unaccountable corporations." --Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Brightsided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America "In The Coke Machine, Michael Blanding takes a tough, unsweetened look at the business practices of this iconic American company. His investigations reveal the costs--in ethics, health, public resources, and sometimes even human life--of Coca-Cola's relentless pressure to expand sales of its products. This book is a terrific introduction to the inner workings of corporate capitalism as it plays out on a global scale." --Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, and author of Food Politics and What to Eat "In shocking detail, Blanding uncovers Coke's numerous transgressions against humanity and nature... Blanding's thoroughly detailed, stimulating and challenging study will have many readers saying, 'Give me a Pepsi.'" --BookPage, September 2010 "By this account, Coke's domination of the market begins to look less like a triumph of advertising and more like a symptom of the dark side of globalisation." --The Financial Times, September 20, 2010 Product DescriptionThe Coke Machine takes readers deep inside the Coca-Cola Company and its international franchisees to reveal how they became the number one brand in the world, and just how far they'll go to stay there. Ever since its "I'd like to teach the world to sing" commercials from the 1970s, Coca-Cola has billed itself as the world's beverage, uniting all colors and cultures in a mutual love of its caramel-sweet sugar water. The formula has worked incredibly well-making it one of the most profitable companies on the planet and "Coca-Cola" the world's second- most recognized word after "hello." However, as the company expands its reach into both domestic and foreign markets, an increasing number of the world's citizens are finding the taste of Coke more bitter than sweet. Journalist Michael Blanding's The Coke Machine probes shocking accusations about the company's global impact, including: • Coca-Cola's history of winning at any cost, even if it meant that its franchisees were making deals with the Nazis and Guatemalan paramilitary squads • How Coke has harmed children's health and contributed to an obesity epidemic through exclusive soda contracts in schools • The horrific environmental impact of Coke bottling plants in India and Mexico, where water supplies have been decimated while toxic pollution has escalated • That Coke bottlers stand accused of conspiring with paramilitaries to threaten, kidnap, and murder union leaders in their bottling plants in Colombia A disturbing portrait drawn from an award-winning journalist's daring, in-depth research, The Coke Machine is the first comprehensive probe of the company and its secret formula for greed. COKE is a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company.This book is not authorized by or endorsed by The Coca-Cola Company. The Coke Machine takes readers deep inside the Coca-Cola Company and its international franchisees to reveal how they became the number one brand in the world, and just how far they'll go to stay there. Ever since its "I'd like to teach the world to sing" commercials from the 1970s, Coca-Cola has billed itself as the world's beverage, uniting all colors and cultures in a mutual love of its caramel-sweet sugar water. The formula has worked incredibly well-making it one of the most profitable companies on the planet and "Coca-Cola" the world's second- most recognized word after "hello." However, as the company expands its reach into both domestic and foreign markets, an increasing number of the world's citizens are finding the taste of Coke more bitter than sweet. Journalist Michael Blanding's The Coke Machine probes shocking accusations about the company's global impact, including: • Coca-Cola's history of winning at any cost, even if it meant that its franchisees were making deals with the Nazis and Guatemalan paramilitary squads • How Coke has harmed children's health and contributed to an obesity epidemic through exclusive soda contracts in schools • The horrific environmental impact of Coke bottling plants in India and Mexico, where water supplies have been decimated while toxic pollution has escalated • That Coke bottlers stand accused of conspiring with paramilitaries to threaten, kidnap, and murder union leaders in their bottling plants in Colombia A disturbing portrait drawn from an award-winning journalist's daring, in-depth research, The Coke Machine is the first comprehensive probe of the company and its secret formula for greed. COKE is a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company. This book is not authorized by or endorsed by The Coca-Cola Company. Perhaps it's not too much of a surprise to find the Coca-Cola Company on the stand for these injustices. In this era of cynicism, it's standard practice to believe corporations from Halliburton to ExxonMobil capable of every form of evil, trained by the profit drive of capitalism to turn a blind eye to the worst consequences of their actions. The Coca-Cola Company, however, represents a special case-at once the quintessential example of a giant American multinational corporation through which it's possible to explore the excesses of capitalism as a whole and a beloved pop culture symbol that has spent billions of dollars to present an image of wholesomeness and harmony cherished by millions of people around the world. Finding the Coca-Cola Company accused of murder is like finding out Santa Claus is accused of being a pedophile. So how is it that a company that, in its own words, "exists to refresh and benefit everyone it touches" now stands accused of drought, disease, exploitation, and murder? To truly understand that contradiction, it's necessary to go back to Coca-Cola's origins as a cocaine-laced "nerve tonic" in the turn-of-the-century American South. It's there that the seeds of its inexorable drive to growth were planted, along with the decisions that have allowed it to disavow responsibility for its bottlers around the globe. That's the essence of Coca-Cola-what one of its legendary executives once called "the essence of capitalism." The Coke Machine takes readers deep inside The Coca-Cola Company and its international franchisees to reveal how they became the number one brand in the world, and how far they'll go to stay there. Ever since its "I'd like to teach the world to sing" commercials from the 1970s, Coca-Cola has billed itself as the world's beverage, a formula that has made it one of the most profitable companies on the planet and "Coca-Cola" the world's second most recognized word after "hello." however, as the company expands its reach, an increasing number of the world's citizens are finding the taste of coke more bitter than sweet. The Coke Machine probes shocking accusations about the company's global impact, including: coca-cola's history of winning at any cost, even if it meant that its franchisees were making deals with the Nazis and Guatemalan paramilitary squads the horrific environmental impact of coke bottling plants in India and Mexico that coke bottlers stand accused of conspiring with paramilitaries to threaten, kidnap, and murder union leaders in their bottling plants in Colombia The Coke Machine is the first comprehensive probe of the company and its secret formula for greed Cover Page 1 Title Page 5 Copyright Page 6 Dedication Page 7 Contents 9 Introduction 11 Part One: "All That America Stands For" 17 Chapter One: A Brief History of Coke 19 Chapter Two: Building the Brand 43 Chapter Three: Biggering and Biggering 73 Chapter Four: The Battle for Schools 99 Chapter Five: The Bottled Water Lie 128 Part Two: Teaching the World to Sing 153 Chapter Six: “iToma lo Bueno!” 155 Chapter Seven: “Syrup in the Veins” 181 Chapter Eight: The Full Force of the Law 211 Chapter Nine: All the Water in India 237 Chapter Ten: The Case Against “Killer Coke” 270 Acknowledgments 303 Notes 305 Bibliography 369 Index 379 An Exposé On The Rise Of Coca-cola To Become One Of The World's Most Profitable And Recognized Brands Shares Unsettling Reports On Franchise Deals In Adversarial Nations, The Role Of Company Products In Obesity Rates, And The Environmental Impact Of Its Bottling Practices. A Brief History Of Coke -- Building The Brand -- Biggering And Biggering -- The Battle For Schools -- The Bottled Water Lie -- !toma Lo Bueno! -- Syrup In The Veins -- The Full Force Of The Law -- All The Water In India -- The Case Against Killer Coke. Michael Blanding. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [295]-367) And Index.