Business talks back

I know it’s Christmas but so far that only means work and obligations to me, I thought as I fooled around with my TV remote. Then I caught a Philex Mining ad that talked about the value of mining to the country. It’s about time you talked back to those activists, I said.

In the ‘90s I handled corporate communications for Coca-Cola. That was when activists began their campaign against the soft drink industry. Then they said that they took a human tooth and left it in a glass of cola — Coke or Pepsi or whatever brand you chose. In 10 hours the tooth melted. That’s how bad these colas are for your teeth, the activists said.

Well that comment drove me up the wall. I wanted to reply. First of all, colas are refreshment, they are not dental care products. They promise only to quench your thirst. Second, when you drink a cola, do you not swallow it immediately? Of course you do, otherwise it would not refresh you. So, drinking a cola does not keep your tooth soaked in it for 10 hours. You swallow your drink in seconds. Third, what about your saliva? Does it not have a neutralizing effect? And fourth, don’t you brush your teeth before you go to sleep thus washing away whatever sugar is left in your mouth? So that accusatory statement about drinking colas is totally stupid and false. Putting a tooth in a glass of cola is not the same as drinking and enjoying the drink. There is a world of difference.

I asked my bosses if I could respond but all the way from Atlanta – Coke’s company headquarters – I got a resounding No! Ignore the activists, they said, they will go away. But we have to reply otherwise their exaggerated falsehoods will win, I protested. No, the top officials would not give in believing then that the activists were a minority who eventually would go away or at least fail to raise enough money for their cause. That was the culture of all business then. Do not answer back. Just continue to do what you are doing and one day the world will appreciate you.

?Then as now I fully disagreed with them but I had to obey, after all they were my bosses, the same people who overrode my protests when they decided to cut their advertising budget in half. Look, I told one of my clients, you are a softdrink, not a necessity. If you stop advertising, people will forget about you. You will be overtaken by juices. If you stop advertising, people will forget about the refreshing pleasure of a carbonated softdrink. They did not listen to me, thought I was just saying that to protect our agency’s financial interest. Now they and I know I was right after all. Today more people drink powdered juices, tea drinks that have very little tea, and water. All of which, except for water, contain about as much sugar (the cause of the activist’s dislike) as the colas.?

Imagine my horror when one of my students told me that carbonated softdrinks were poison. If it weren’t so wrong, I would have killed him on the spot. Once upon a time Dr. Pemberton put together a syrup panacea with coca leaves and gave it to soda hops (bartenders at soda fountains then) to serve to ladies who ordered it on their way home from shopping. It was supposed to give them some relief from headaches or whatever exhaustion they were feeling. His instructions were mix it with plain water.?

One day one of the soda hops made a mistake and mixed in carbonated water. The ladies felt more refreshed. It became an instant hit. That’s when Asa Chandler decided to buy the syrup’s formula from Dr. Pemberton and bottled it. That’s how Coca-Cola was born and sold not to medicate anything but to extend to customers a pause that refreshes. Eventually they took away the coca leaves to comply with regulations. All they ever claimed to do was give you a pause that refreshes.?

But then you have people I call humorless activists who attack the formula because it has lots of sugar. Then you have the ones who have grown obese eating a lot and downing their food with five liters of soft drink. But whose choice is that? The individual person’s choice. Nobody tells him or her to drink five liters of carbonated softdrinks a day. He chooses to and because he does, he must take responsibility for it.

?Coca-Cola was one of the best companies I ever worked for. The other company was McCann-Erickson. Both of these companies were multinational companies but they treated their people well. We had very good training and benefits. In my life I have worked for many Filipino and multinational companies and let me tell you, as a Filipina professional, multinational companies are better, kinder employers. But nobody hears about how good they are because they have cultural sensitivity, do not like to give interviews or to talk out loud especially to protest the claims of activists.?

Who were the activists’ favorite prey? The soft drinks’ industry. The mining industry. The tobacco industry. I think they have raised the most money from the tobacco industry. Why do they succeed? Because many consumers just listen to them and believe without thinking. For example, which softdrink drinker ever stopped to think – do I not swallow my softdrink for 10 hours? Not too many. Most just decide it will melt their teeth and decide also to deprive themselves of the pleasure of a cold carbonated drink on a sweltering day. I say – too bad for you.?

So I am happy to see Philex Mining stand up and take the cudgels for itself. It means business is finding its voice, is beginning to talk back to the activists, is starting to defend itself. Business has more resources than activists. Use your resources to create your image with the rest of the world. Activists are a small sliver of the population, but they are the loudest and they attract media attention because their (boring) demonstrations are photographable and make news, sometimes the front page when nothing exciting is happening. Speak louder than they do. Then you will convert people who listen and make them realize the value of business in their lives.

?Congratulations, Philex, though I do not know you at all. I hope you’ve started a trend for all other businesses to pick up. Then when your tones match the activists’ tones, we will have what feels like a good democracy at work.

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