Gransnet forums

AIBU

To boycott Coca Cola products

(61 Posts)
Pammie1 Sat 29-May-21 14:38:45

Short and sweet. Expecting to get flamed quite a lot. Coca Cola has incorporated ‘be less white’ into their training videos. I find it really offensive and tantamount to reverse racism. AIBU to boycott Coke products from now on ?

Chestnut Sat 29-May-21 14:43:37

Can you explain the use of this term in their videos? I don't understand what it actually means. Do you have a link or some more details?

oodles Sat 29-May-21 15:09:19

Reasonable to boycott them on the grounds of selling sugary stuff bad for your health. Bu t not on the grounds you cite.

MaizieD Sat 29-May-21 15:13:24

I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole anyway. It's vile and quite unnecessary. I tried cleaning the toilet with it and it didn't even do that...

I can't begin to imagine what message 'be less white' is meant to convey

Artaylar Sat 29-May-21 15:17:24

There are plenty of reasons to boycott Coca Cola, some cited already, though on the grounds of some attempt at racial awareness raising in some training videos ? I would'nt say so.

Esspee Sat 29-May-21 15:43:23

Sorry I don’t agree Pammie1 even though I am unclear what is meant by “be less white” and I wouldn’t personally drink their products. I just can’t see how it can be reverse racism.

NotSpaghetti Sat 29-May-21 15:51:41

Coca Cola has over 500 brands. Will you boycott them all?

What do you mean about training videos? What's the real issue here please? Can we see them somewhere? Who are they aimed at exactly?

Alegrias1 Sat 29-May-21 16:14:58

Well, you might be justified if they had ever said that or implied it. But since they didn't, it seems a bit like jumping to conclusions to me.

eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/03/02/fact-check-coca-cola-ceos-alleged-insult-conservatives-false/6872079002/

greenlady102 Sat 29-May-21 16:17:37

sounds like YABU to me......check your facts!

Lucca Sat 29-May-21 16:19:02

Have a look at the link Alegrias provided. This never happened !

NotSpaghetti Sat 29-May-21 16:19:40

Thanks Alegrias1.
Interesting.

Lucca Sat 29-May-21 16:19:48

Pammie1

Short and sweet. Expecting to get flamed quite a lot. Coca Cola has incorporated ‘be less white’ into their training videos. I find it really offensive and tantamount to reverse racism. AIBU to boycott Coke products from now on ?

Not true, so yes YABU.

BlueBelle Sat 29-May-21 16:25:14

Might be best to ask for this to be removed as it’s taken out of context and not a true reflection

Alegrias1 Sat 29-May-21 16:31:39

Well, in case this thread disappears....

Why don't people just check things before seeing insult and injury at every turn? It took me 2 minutes to disprove this. All those accusing us of seeing racism everywhere; what's everywhere is a persecution complex.

As for reverse racism ; there is no reverse racism, just racism. And this isn't it.

BlueBelle Sat 29-May-21 16:34:55

Well said Alegrias you put it better than I could

Maggiemaybe Sat 29-May-21 16:55:08

Lucca

Have a look at the link Alegrias provided. This never happened !

Not the case, unfortunately.

The link Alegrias posts debunks the myth that the CEO of Coca Cola called those objecting to the alleged training right wing nuts. It does not actually address the LinkedIn training video implicated in the controversy, which has now been taken down, and whether it contained a be less white message or whether this was promoted by Coca-Cola.

Riverwalk Sat 29-May-21 16:56:25

Short and sweet indeed grin

The OP's attempt to fan the flames backfired!

I hope this thread isn't removed.

Maggiemaybe Sat 29-May-21 16:56:44

The Indy explains better than I can.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/coca-cola-racism-robin-diangelo-coke-b1806122.html%3famp

Alegrias1 Sat 29-May-21 17:07:57

Maggiemaybe

The Indy explains better than I can.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/coca-cola-racism-robin-diangelo-coke-b1806122.html%3famp

Read my link again.

USA Report quotation:

A Coca-Cola spokesperson told Snopes users had “the ability to navigate outside of the intended curriculum, which may have given the false impression that certain videos were part of the training.”

LinkedIn later removed the course from its online offerings.

LinkedIn, not Coke.

MerylStreep Sat 29-May-21 17:17:29

So we are expected to believe that a trusted newspaper such as The Independent has been duped into believing this story.

Alegrias1 Sat 29-May-21 17:22:52

Well if you read the article, they're not being duped are they; a great example of not reading past the headline, if you pardon me for saying so.

Quote from the Indy article:

In a statement to The Independent, the drinks giant said the seminar was not part of Coca-Cola's “learning curriculum.”

The Confronting Racism course, with Robin DiAngelo, was publicly available on the employment site LinkedIn until recently, it has since been removed.

Callistemon Sat 29-May-21 17:23:47

I'd like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
??

Maggiemaybe Sat 29-May-21 17:35:44

Read my link again.

I don’t need to, Alegrias As I said:

It does not actually address the LinkedIn training video implicated in the controversy, which has now been taken down, and whether it contained a be less white message or whether this was promoted by Coca-Cola.

Several posters on this thread seem to have taken your linked article as proof positive that Coca Cola employees were not told to look at this training video. It’s not. Coca Cola claim they did not direct employees to watch the video, some employees say they did. So we don’t know, do we? ??‍♀️

Alegrias1 Sat 29-May-21 17:48:43

Having worked in a large multi national, I have experienced the hoops that training sessions have to go through to be released for use. So, who do we believe; a multi national with decades of training experience and a legal team who will have checked everything a dozen times. Or a motley selection of professionally insulted right wingers?

Also, having seen screenshot of the offending slides, if they were being used by Coke then they need to hire some better graphic designers.

Maggiemaybe Sat 29-May-21 18:37:05

Who do I believe? Well, until I see some sort of concrete evidence one way or the other, I prefer to keep an open mind.

For what it’s worth, OP, I’d say the be less white statement was just a rather heavy-handed and attention grabbing way of saying that we should strive to be more aware of white privilege and racial bias that exists in every society. I doubt it was meant to offend and I wouldn’t be boycotting any company who promoted that message in good faith. What’s important is that issues such as this can be discussed openly and calmly, with neither side resorting to insults and abuse.