Kick Big Soda Out of Sport: Coca-Cola and the Olympics
The ironic sponsorship: Coca-cola &the olympic games
Athletes from around the globe push their bodies to the limits, showcasing peak physical conditioning at the Olympic Games. However, there's an irony that sits at the heart of this grand event – Coca-Cola, one of the world's largest producers of sugary beverages, is a major sponsor of the Olympics.
Yes, that’s true, Coca- Cola is a major sponsor of the olympics!
And prior to that there was McDonald’s. However, in June 2017, McDonald’s and the Olympic Games ended a multi-decade sponsorship arrangement barely halfway through an eight-year contract extension.
So?
Coca-Cola has been a consistent presence in the Olympics since 1928, leveraging this platform to market its products to a global audience.
By accepting billions from Coca-Cola to sponsor the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) implicitly endorses a world where health and environmental harms are “sports-washed” away!
Doesn’t that raise some eyebrows?
These agreements support the IOC’s global expansion goals. For example, Coca-Cola’s corporate bio on the Olympics site briefly refers to its products’ “refreshing” effect on athletes, officials, and spectators, before detailing its investment in youth sports.
Why should we care?
The company is a leading producer of sugary drinks.
Sugary drinks are a major contributor to rising rates of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Plastic pollution from the company along with its carbon emissions and water depletion are serious global concerns and are significant drivers of the climate crisis.
Children’s exposure to pervasive, unhealthy food marketing is a major risk factor for childhood obesity
Sports fans—along with concerned young people, parents, public health and environmental advocates, members of the media, and athletes themselves— meed to consider demonstrating a global opposition to this longstanding sponsorship.
“Ta ذغ iya” by Sarah Zahr
Support the #KickBigSodaOut campaign.
Sources
- Kick Big Soda Out Kick Big Soda Out campaign
