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Posts Tagged ‘the coca-cola company’

For Many Living With Limb Loss, “Open Happiness” Doesn’t Ring True

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

by Cara Wilking, JD

As part of its 2012 Olympic Games marketing blitz, the Coca-Cola Company has assembled a “Coca-Cola 8-pack of Athletes” to  “serve as Coca-Cola ‘Ambassadors of Active Living’ to help encourage and inspire people to lead active, balanced lives.”[1] This group includes Jessica Long, a 2012 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Team nominee.[2] Ms. Long was born with fibular hemimelia, a condition of the lower legs, and became a double leg amputee at 18 months old.[3] Ms. Long’s athletic achievements are undeniable and her seamless inclusion in the marketing campaign is in line with equality and dignity for all. The tragic reality of lower limb loss, however, is that the majority of people suffering from non-traumatic lower limb loss are diabetic, and it is not medically appropriate for diabetics to consume sugar-sweetened beverages.

From what has been released of the campaign so far, the “Coca-Cola 8-Pack of Athletes” promotes full-sugar Coca-Cola. Ms. Long is no exception. Her commercial, entitled “Home,” shows her swimming as a child in her grand-parents’ backyard pool and moves through a range of global swim competitions.[4] The commercial ends with Ms. Long drinking from a bottle of full-sugar Coca-Cola. Cans of full-sugar Coca-Cola are shown next to the tagline “Open Happiness” and an announcer says, “Support our athletes with the Cola-Cola Olympic Series Collector’s Cans.” In other words, “Buy Coke!”

If one of the goals of Coca-Cola’s “8-pack of Athletes” campaign is to inspire people, including those suffering from limb loss, to lead active lives, then why does the campaign promote a product diabetics are under doctor’s orders to avoid?

Sugar-sweetened beverages like Coca-Cola are associated with obesity-related diseases including Type 2 Diabetes.[5] The Centers for Disease Control estimates that as many as 1 in 3 U.S. adults could have diabetes by 2050.[6] The links between diabetes and limb loss are stark and tragic:

• Diabetes is the leading cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputation among adults in the United States.[7]
• More than 60% of non-traumatic lower-limb amputates are people with diabetes.[8]
• In 2008, more than 70,000 people with diabetes had a leg or foot amputated [9]
• Diabetes rates for people aged 20 years or older are:
  • 7.1% of Whites (non-Hispanic)
  • 8.4% of Asian Americans
  • 12.6% of African Americans (non-Hispanic)
  • 11.8% of Hispanics[10]
• African Americans and Hispanics are almost 3 times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to suffer from lower-limb amputations[11], [12]
• Researchers estimate that the number of people in the United States with diabetes who are living with the loss of a limb will nearly triple by the year 2050.[13]

As inspiring as Ms. Long’s journey is, for many people living with the loss of a limb there is no “happiness” to be found in a can of Coke—a fact the Coca-Cola Company seems to have overlooked.

Tags: 2012 Olympic Games, amputation, coca-cola, coke, diabetes, Jessica Long, limb loss, obesity, Olympics, the coca-cola company, Type 2 Diabetes
Posted in Feet to the Fire, Food/Beverage Marketing, Uncategorized | Comments Off

FDA Action Needed to Address Diet Coke’s Blatant & Unlawful Use of Heart Health Claims

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

The Public Health Advocacy Institute is asking the FDA to investigate and take enforcement action against The Coca-Cola Company’s unlawful use of heart health claims on cans of Diet Coke.  In February of 2010, 2011 and 2012, The Coca-Cola Company has released Diet Coke cans labeled with a large red heart symbol, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s “The Heart Truth” Red Dress logo, and references to women’s heart health.   Taken together, the large red heart symbol, the Red Dress logo and references to heart health imply a relationship between consuming a specific food, Diet Coke, and reduced risk for heart disease.  The cans pictured below represent the cans in circulation in 2012 (left), 2011 (center) and 2010 (right).

The FDA defines health claims to include “any claim made on the label or in labeling of a food…that expressly or by implication, including ‘third party’ references, written statements (e.g., a brand name including a term such as ‘heart’), symbols (e.g., a heart symbol), or vignettes, characterizes the relationship of any substance to a disease or health-related condition.” 21 CFR § 101.14 (a)(1). In its food labeling guidance the FDA states, “ health claims characterize a relationship between a substance (specific food component or a specific food) and a disease (e.g., lung cancer or heart disease) or health-related condition  (e.g., high blood pressure), and are supported by scientific evidence (see 21 CFR 101.1472).” FDA, Guidance for Industry: A Food Labeling Guide (April 2008), http://www.fda.gov.  The use of the heart symbol, the phrase “The Heart Truth” and the reference to a national health organization implies that Diet Coke consumption is beneficial to heart health. This claim is not supported by scientific evidence and is not otherwise allowed under FDA regulations.

This type of misbranding is especially damaging to the public because it unequivocally links the product to a desired health outcome through multiple uses of the word “heart” and the use of a heart symbol—expressly the type of symbols, third party references and words the FDA references in its regulations and guidance on health claims for the food industry. The FDA should act immediately to investigate The Coca-Cola Company’s unlawful use of this health claim, issue the appropriate warning letter and take enforcement action as necessary.

 

Tags: cause-marketing, cause-related marketing, coca-coal, Diet Coke, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Food Labeling, health claims, heart disease, misbranding, national heart lung and blood institute, nhlbi, obesity, soda, the coca-cola company, the heart truth
Posted in Feet to the Fire, Food/Beverage Marketing, Legal Filings | Comments Off