NYU's ban on Killer Coke is fast approaching: if the company doesn't agree to an independent investigation of its Latin American labor practices, the university is set to get rid of all Coca-Cola products on December 9th. The Washington Square News notes that the ban will include a whole variety of Coke Corp products-- not just the eponymous beverage:
About 12 different products will be banned from campus, including Powerade, Nestea and Minute Maid, in addition to Coke and Sprite soft drinks. Hi-C, Odwalla, Fanta, Barq’s Root Beer, Seagrams Ginger Ale, and Dasani water.
We've never had Barq's Root Beer, but during our time at NYU we must have drunk a thousand liters of Odwalla! If we had known that each delicious drop of fruit juice was lining the pockets of a union-busting global conglomerate, we'd probably have stuck to water. That'll teach us not to read labels!




Odwalla, created by two undergraduates at the University of California, Santa Cruz, was bought out by Coca-Cola in 2001. What a sad sad day that was: The Kresge Co-op (UCSC's on-campus student-run food co-op and the first store to stock Odwalla!) dropped it immediately; the creators came back to their alma mater to try an convince the co-op to keep it stocked. To no avail. Anyway.
well, who cares about NYU's policy. Frankly, this left-wing policy is ridiculous and this only punishes the students who can't get cola anymore.
maybe NYU should ban all products (after all, companies are EVIL).
i don't think all companies are evil-- but coke has been accused of working with local bottling corps in colombia who murder and kidnap union leaders-- that's not the sort of company that most universities are going to want to support. and they aren't asking for coke to even change company policies-- just to agree to an independent investigation of labor practices. seems like a fairly reasonable demand.
"this only punishes the students who can't get cola anymore."
LMFAO!!!
Get over it. Coca-Cola is widely available and often cheaper outside of dining halls. If NYU students experience trouble buying Coca-Cola products, they should try leaving their dorm for once.
I am fascinated at how ethics get in the way. Anti-globalization is the new alternative religion. I used to think the same way until I took a year long saunter to Beijing. Personal pragmatism was the name of the game.
Give me my joice and my coke!
It's coke people, not the Catholic church!
Such stone throwing. :D
It's not easy to learn you're a cog in the big mean wheel, but that's just how the world operates.
Odwalla is garbage juice anyways! There is very little juice in those "natural" drinks in the first place. (I believe the last time I checked, the common % for most of their drinks was only 17% juice!) The rest is sugar and other crap. To hell with them.
Props to NYU for showing its glimmer of a social conscience. Now stop union busting on your own effin' campus, you bastards!
oh, the drama.
barq's root beer's song was "barq's root beer has bite! now it's available in your areeeaaa"
guess that area didn't include nyu
yeah, I'm sure Coca-Cola bosses ordered and approved the killings and kidnappins. In fact, I just heard that George W. Bush was part of this conspiracy! Bush and Coca-Cola execs are personally part of the Coca-Cola death squads targeting local union bosses! Micheal Moore has confirmed this!!
Dear Deng,
Your sarcasm only highlights your ignorance. Better luck next time.
Love, Planet Earth
deng, yeah actually the amount of military aid that the US government sends to Colombia is second only to the Middle-East (Israel, Egypt).
Check out these related declassified documents:
Paramilitaries as Proxies
War in Colombia