The Coke Machine (48 page)

Page 91 National Soft Drink Association fought back . . . lost revenue:
Nestle, 210-211.

Page 91 “the company puts profit”:
U.S. Senate Report 103-300, Better Nutrition and Health for Children Act of 1994, 103rd Congress, 2nd Session, July 1, 1994.

Page 91 so-called pouring-rights contracts . . . paid to the facility:
Howard Goodman, “One-Cola Pitch Sells on Campus,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, July 31, 1994; Chris Roush, “Pepsi Deal Breaks Coca-Cola’s NFL Monopoly,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, August 4, 1995.

Page 91 Woodland Hills, Pennsylvania, for example:
“School News,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
, April 21, 1994.

Page 91 Sam Barlow High School:
“Pepsi, Please,”
Oregonian
(Portland), October 30, 1998.

Page 92 contract in DeKalb County:
Elizabeth Lee, “School Lunches: Good Choices? Soft Drink Sales Provide Big Revenues, Little Nutrition,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, May 5, 2003.

Page 92 “Coke Dude”:
John Bushey, “District 11’s Coke Problem,”
Harper’s
, February 1, 1999; Constance L. Hays, “Today’s Lesson: Soda Rights,”
New York Times
, May 21, 1999; Schlosser,
Fast Food Nation,
56-57.

Page 92 Coke sweetened the pot . . . “They have become”:
Sherri Day, “Coke Moves with Caution to Remain in Schools,”
New York Times
, September 3, 2003.

Page 92 former college athletic director:
Marc Kaufman, “Health Advocates Sound Alarm As Schools Strike Deals with Coke and Pepsi,”
Washington Post
, March 23, 1999.

Page 93 DeRose would agree to speak:
Dan DeRose, e-mail to the author.

Page 93 “My basic philosophy”:
Billie Stanton, “Are Ad-Splashed Schools Selling Out Our Kids?”
Denver Post
, November 28, 1999.

Page 93 one signed by Cicero-North Syracuse High School:
Ross Getman, interview by the author; Lori Duffy, “C-NS Gets a Taste of Coke-Fueled Stadium; Coca-Cola, Taxpayers Would Fund $5.5m Complex,”
Post-Standard
(Syracuse, NY), July 14, 1998.

Page 93 with the help of the president of the state assembly:
Michael Bragman, “Coke-School Agreement Good Deal for Taxpayers,”
Post-Standard
(Syracuse, NY), August 3, 1998.

Page 93 two fully stocked Coke machines:
Amber Smith, “First Impressions: Bragmans Prepare Their Home to Host a Barbecue with Hillary Clinton,”
Post-Standard
(Syracuse, NY), July 8, 1999.

Page 93 2-cent-per-container soda tax . . . reelection campaigns:
Kevin Sack, “How Albany Works, Lesson 1: Lobbying, the Beverage Industry Pushes Hard for a Tax Break, and Succeeds,”
New York Times
, June 12, 1995; Erik Kriss, “Bragman Holds Largest Larder in the Region; Election Reports Disclose Donations to New York Candidates,”
Post-Standard
(Syracuse, NY), July 24, 1998; Jacqueline Arnold and Jim Emmons, “Cola Wars Loom for CNY School Districts; Liverpool and North Syracuse Are Putting Together Million-Dollar Deals with Coca-Cola,”
Post-Standard
(Syracuse, NY), April 13, 1998.

Page 93 standing next to Bragman . . . money for the stadium:
Duffy, “C-NS Gets a Taste of Coke-Fueled Stadium.”

Page 94 written up in Coke’s hometown newspaper:
Jennifer Brett, “Corporate Partnership: Cash Strapped Schools Ponder Sponsorships,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, January 21, 1999.

Page 94 school districts from Portland . . . to Edison:
Kaufman, “Health Advocates Sound Alarm As Schools Strike Deals with Coke and Pepsi.”

Page 94 92 percent of high schools . . . 43 percent of elementary schools:
Elizabeth Becker and Marian Burros, “Eat Your Vegetables? Only at a Few Schools,”
New York Times
, January 13, 2003; C. Miller et al., “Nutrition Services and Foods and Beverages Available at School: Results from the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2000,”
Journal of School Health
71 (2001), 313-324.

Page 94 “If a high school student drinks a Coke”:
Cardello, 109.

Page 94 targeted kids with special come-ons:
Allen, 207; Pendergrast, 203.

Page 94 “children under 6 or 7 years old ”:
Dietz, 127; Watters, 229.

Page 95 babies recognize brands:
Daniel S. Acuff and Robert H. Reiher,
Kidnapped: How Irresponsible Marketers Are Stealing the Minds of Your Children
(Chicago: Dearborn, 2005), 71; Susan Gregory Thomas,
Buy, Buy Baby: How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Minds
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007), 5.

Page 95 “With soft drink consumption”:
Steve Matthews, “Connecticut May Ban Soft Drinks in Schools on Obesity Concern,” Bloomberg News, May 25, 2005.

Page 95 “collectors’ items”:
Allan Petretti,
Petretti’s Coca-Cola Collectibles Price Guide
, 10th ed. (Dubuque, IA: Antique Trader Books, 1997).

Page 95 “You take any character that is cute”:
Daniel Acuff, interview by the author.

Page 95 originally intended for teens or adults:
Juliet B. Schor,
Born to Buy
(New York: Scribner, 2004), 40.

Page 95 helped foment the concept of “product placement”:
Scott Leith, “Coke Leads Push to Place Products in Movies, TV,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, October 29, 2000.

Page 95 “ludicrously conspicuous”:
Tom Shales, “‘Young Americans’: WB’s Summer Fling,”
Washington Post
, July 12, 2000.

Page 95 sponsorship of the runaway television hit . . . “35- to 64-[year-olds]”:
Theresa Howard, “Real Winner of ‘American Idol’: Coke,”
USA Today
, September 9, 2002.

Page 96 brokered a $150 million deal:
Olinka Koster, “Harry Potter Author’s Coca-Cola Deal,”
The Advertiser
, October 19, 2001.

Page 96 Coke wouldn’t appear . . . Minute Maid juices, and Hi-C:
“CSPI Says Coke Deal Makes ‘Chamber of Secrets’ More Like ‘Chamber of Commerce,’” U.S. Newswire, October 24, 2002.

Page 96 “Kids love Harry Potter”:
Greg Hassell, “Marketing Column,”
Houston Chronicle
, October 10, 2001.

Page 96 “The target is really”:
Scott Leith, “Analyst Criticizes Coke’s Marketing Efforts,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, June 14, 2001.

Page 96 second-highest-grossing film at the time
:
Brian Fuson, “Warner Reaps More Magic from Potter: $88mil Bow,”
Hollywood Reporter
, November 19, 2002.

Page 96 most successful campaign of the year:
Scott Leith, “Coca-Cola Confident of ‘Harry Potter’ Benefits,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, February 1, 2002.

Page 96 eighty-five of them between 2001 and 2009 . . .
Enchanted:
BrandChannel, Movie Product Placement,
http://www.brandchannel.com/brandcameo_brands.asp?all_year=all_year#brand_list
.

Page 96 leap to online advertising . . . 100,000 visitors a month:
Louise Story, “Coke Promotes Itself in a New Virtual World,”
New York Times
, December 7, 2007; author visit to CCMetro.

Page 97 Domac and her students . . . keeps the figures:
Domac, interview by the author.

Page 98 ban on soda in the entire Los Angeles:
Helen Gao, “Soda Ban May Burst Bubble; LAUSD Students Could Be the un-Pepsi generation,”
Daily News
(Los Angeles), August 26, 2002.

Page 98 data from a new UCLA study:
Gao, “Soda Ban May Burst Bubble.”

Page 99 threatening to pull its sponsorship:
Gao, “Soda Ban May Burst Bubble.”

Page 99 unanimously voted to cut their contract:
Helen Gao, “Last Sip for Campus Sodas; School Board Bans Soft-Drink Sales,”
Daily News
(Los Angeles), August 28, 2002; Erika Hayasaki, “Schools to End Soda Sales; L.A. Unified: The Soft Drinks Won’t Be Allowed on Campuses Starting in 2004. They May Be Replaced by More Healthful Beverages,”
Los Angeles Times
, August 28, 2002.

Page 99 spawning similar resolutions:
“School Ad Backlash,”
Denver Post
, October 1, 2000.

Page 99 “This is like using a squirt gun”:
Daniel B. Wood, “A Farewell to Fizz from LA Lunchrooms,”
Christian Science Monitor
, August 30, 2002.

Page 99 “it’s the couch, not the can”:
Sherri Williams, “More Limits Sought on Soda Sales in Schools,”
Columbus Dispatch
, January 9, 2004.

Page 99 “Step with It!”:
“Coca-Cola: The Bottom Line,” Datamonitor, July 19, 2002.

Page 100 praise from . . . Tommy Thompson:
Scott Leith, “Atlanta-Based CCE Takes on Critics, Defends Soft-Drink Sales in Schools,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, April 6, 2003.

Page 100 Coke reportedly “donated” $200,000:
Melanie Warner, “Striking Back at the Food Police,”
New York Times
, June 12, 2005.

Page 100 “There is a rush”:
Dan Mindus, senior analyst, Center for Consumer Freedom, interview by the author.

Page 100 four to eight times more likely:
David S. Ludwig, “Relationship Between Funding Source and Conclusion Among Nutrition-Related Scientific Articles,”
Public Library of Science
4, no. 1 (January 2007), e5.

Page 100 “Is that happening today”:
David Ludwig, interview by the author.

Page 100 The argument hits deep:
See Lori Dorfman and Lawrence Wallack, “Moving Nutrition Upstream: The Case for Reframing Obesity,”
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
39, no. 2S (March/April 2007), S46-50; Raj Patel,
Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power, and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System
(Hoboken, NJ: Melville House, 2007), 276; Abigail C. Saguy and Kevin W. Riley, “Weighing Both Sides: Morality, Mortality, and Framing Contests over Obesity,”
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law
30, no. 5 (2005), 869-923.

Page 101 spent $2.8 billion in advertising:
The Coca-Cola Company, Annual Report, 2009.

Page 101 “Certainly students should be taught”:
Lori Dorfman, director, Berkeley Media Studies Group, interview by the author.

Page 101 strategic retreat . . . “We just don’t think”:
“Coke Easing Off Marketing in Schools,”
Houston Chronicle
, March 15, 2001.

Page 101 nobody bothered to tell . . . ponied up a bid:
Scott Leith, “Obesity Weighs Heavily on Colas; Industry Studies How to Fight Back in Health Debate,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, February 6, 2005.

Page 101 “What is the plan?”. . . placed on its board:
Sherri Day, “Coke Moves with Caution to Remain in Schools,”
New York Times
, September 3, 2003.

Page 102 “They are a win for the students”:
“Sodas in Schools Become an Issue,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, September 6, 2001.

Page 102 news articles in 2001 and 2002:
Berkeley Media Studies Group, “Obesity Crisis or Soda Scapegoat? The Debate over Selling Soda in Schools,” January 2005.

Page 102 average only $12 to $24 per student:
Amy Hsuan, “Schools’ Soda Deals Losing Fizz,”
Oregonian
(Portland), November 15, 2006.

Page 102 Another analysis by CSPI:
Center for Science in the Public Interest and Public Health Advocacy Institute, “Raw Deal: School Beverage Contracts Less Lucrative Than They Seem,” December 2006.

Page 102 announced its own new policy . . . scoreboards stayed:
“Coke Announces Policy on Soda Sales in Schools,”
Washington Post
, November 18, 2003.

Page 102 industry conference in New York City:
Scott Leith, “Simplistic Solutions Won’t Cure Obesity, Coke CEO Says,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, December 9, 2003.

Page 103 2 percent overall:
Scott Leith, “Sales Growth Slow, Profit Flat at Coke,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, February 12, 2004.

Page 103
declined
3 percent:
Elizabeth Lee, “Cola a Day Doubles Diabetes Risk,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, August 25, 2004.

Page 103 Matthew Whitley, had lashed out . . . paid no fine:
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, “In the Matter of The Coca-Cola Company, Respondent,” Administrative Proceeding File No. 3-11902, April 18, 2005; William Spain, “No Fine for Coke in ‘Channel-Stuffing’ SEC: Beverage Behemoth to Continue ‘Remedial Actions,’” Market-Watch, April 18, 2005.

Page 103 In one 2003 poll in California:
California Endowment, “A Survey of Californians About the Problem of Childhood Obesity,” October/November 2003.

Page 103 “a simplistic” ... “absurd and outrageous”:
Leith, “Simplistic Solutions Won’t Cure Obesity, Coke CEO Says.”

Page 103 The first anti-soda bill . . . schools K-12:
Michele Simon,
Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back
(New York: Nation Books, 2006), 224-25.

Page 104 slip out the back door:
Domac, interview by the author.

Page 104 industry-paid experts . . . high schools anyway:
Simon, 226-227.

Page 104 California experience would be repeated:
Simon, 234-236; Greg Winter, “States Try to Limit Sales of Junk Food in School Buildings,”
New York Times
, September 9, 2001; Scott Leith, “Selling Soft Drinks to Kids: Obesity Battle Shifts to Schools,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, June 15, 2002.

Page 104 “When it came to the two”:
Michele Simon, interview by the author.

Page 104 The most notorious example . . . governor Jodi Rell:
Simon, 231-233.