Coca-Cola ads hurting polar bears

Coca-Cola is universally known as a delicious, thirst quenching soft drink. Unfortunately, the company is also part of a sick, disgusting series of holiday ad campaigns involving polar bears. This is not just one ad. This has been an ongoing problem for families of polar bears. As a blogger who works for the PETA website, I feel disappointed in the soft drink company. Each year, over and over and over again we see polar bears drinking Coke on TV. One of these advertisements (shown above) in the series depicts two polar bear parents being completely irresponsible and giving their two cubs a bottle of Coke. The rest of the series are all similar in that it always ends with a Coke in each of the polar bears paws. Yes, Coke is delicious and I would not blame the bears for wanting a sip of the soft drink. The blame should be squarely placed on the company for exposing these animals to the effects of a Coke, but what is the origin of these advertisements?

For any new readers, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA is an organization that has “Uncompromising Stands on Animal Rights”. This means no animals on this entire planet should be abused, and if they are, we are here to advocate for their rights. As many of you know, to make an impact we like to border on controversial when trying to promote a message. Frequently, PETA’s opponents are wealthy and big businesses (like Coca Cola) which makes it hard to get their attention. Recent protests against big, rich businesses include SeaWorld and their willingness to put trainers into the orca pools even though one of their trainers died last year. PETA’s advertising strategies for our animal rights messages involve getting the attention of the population through media coverage. Slogans like our vegetarian supporting “Save the Whales” billboard featuring a picture of an obese woman grab the awareness of the world’s population. This is a stance that must be continued, but in this case directed towards Coke. That is why below is an example of our newest slogan, “Coca-Cola Is For Humans… Not Polar Bears”. The striking image of a slumped over polar bear is shocking and the message is straightforward. Along with PETA supporters, the group may gain new ones with strong, direct messages like this one.

In 1993, the Coke brand created an all-new advertising campaign called “Always Coca-Cola”. One of these commercials included the introduction of polar bears. The concept’s creator, ken Stewart, thought of the idea through his own dog, which looked like a polar bear. Ken said, “We wanted to create a character that’s innocent, fun, and reflects the best attributes we like to call ‘human’”. Although the Coca Cola Company did not propose the idea, they did follow through with the ad campaign. With the help of outside companies, in 1993 their first commercial starring polar bears called “Northern Lights” aired. The background of the advertisements becomes relevant today since Coke continues to create the advertisements into the 2000’s.

Polar bears have been negatively affected by tough environmental circumstances, which makes it more inhumane that Coke used them for their ads. First, the harsh northern climates these bears live in include Alaska, Canada, Russia, Russia, Greenland, and Norway. The bears are now considered by many to be an endangered species due to the loss of ice caused by global warming. The species is already in a difficult situation making them the wrong species to take advantage of for commercial purposes. Their main diet are seals that live in the same northern areas--nothing resembling a Coke product.

With PETA’s principle “Uncompromising Stands on Animal Rights” comes the idea of no animals should ever be harmed. As a reader of this blog and a follower of animal rights, this is the main focus. The moral issue here is how the polar bears are exposed to the health effects that are exponentially more dangerous for animals than humans. Have you seen what a Coke does to a dog? The caffeine in it is fatal to dogs if consumed in large quantities. Caffeine poisoning of a dog causes restlessness, breathing troubles, heart palpitations, muscle tremors, and more (including death). Caffeine is not the only unhealthy ingredient in the soft drink. Ever give your dog sweets? Their blood sugar level could drop causing seizures and later death. Dogs are not polar bears, but unfortunately no statistics like that are kept for them. Scientists have not gotten to polar bear Coke drinking habits yet, but it can be assumed that sugar and caffeine are detrimental to bears like they are for dogs. So who is there to go to bat for those bears?

PETA could take this issue straight to the Coca Cola Company, but a more logical route was chosen because of the drink company’s size. This issue needs to be brought to our own followers. Whether you’re a vegetarian, vegan, celebrity, or a plain old animal lover then this applies to you; Stop drinking Coca-Cola! A boycott on all Coca-Cola company products will send a warning to such a big company. This boycott combined with PETA’s striking protests will cause a stir. The media’s coverage of protests and the boycott along with falling sales will make it impossible for the company not to notice. Coca-Cola may be massive and have a good reputation, but after PETA sends bad press the soft drink company's way then hopefully changes will be made.

Those of you new and old to our website are probably wondering what to make of all this information. As stated before, PETA is known for its sometimes provocative advertising campaigns. We may be just an animal rights group, but campaigns like our “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign make major headlines and attract major celebrity participants. PETA will go toe-to-toe with Coke through its’ supporters and limit pushing campaigns. So boycott and protest until changes are made. Use our newest campaign, “Coca-Cola Is For Humans… Not Polar Bears”. It is a tool that can reach out to a broader group of people and it has a large shock value. Remember to avoid purchasing all Coca-Cola products. Once Coca-Cola leaves the polar bears alone that leaves only one last hurdle for the bears, global warming. Is a company as massive as the Coca-Cola Company willing to anger the some two million strong members of PETA’s cause? After a short time, I do not think so. Even though it is a holiday tradition to exploit polar bears for money, Coke will make a change at the urging of the top animal rights organization in the world.