The Coca Cola Case, a controversial documentary alleging Coke’s involvement in the deaths of Columbian union leaders, has re-sparked interest amongst Carleton student associations seeking a boycott of Coca-Cola’s exclusivity contract with Carleton, which makes them the only pop distributor on campus.
“The movie was amazing to connect the dots of all the student activists who want to join this cause,” explained Carleton student Katie Lloyd, a founder of the petition.
The film was shown on campus Jan. 25 as a part of Carleton’s Cinema Politica series.
As recently as Jan. 11, Coke tried to put a halt to the distribution of the film. In the most recent threat, Cinema Politica — a volunteer-run film collective that survives on donations — received a letter from a New York law firm representing Coke stating that the film discusses confidential details, and outdated, inaccurate information and therefore shouldn’t be screened.
Directed by German Gutierrez and Carmen Garcia, the film made its stop at Carleton as a part of a national promotional tour, which saw Gutierrez and other key experts taking part in a post-screening panel discussion.
The film follows American lawyers and union leaders during their lawsuit against Coca-Cola. The lawsuit claims that as the parent company, Coca-Cola was responsible for their bottling companies’ decisions to make backdoor deals with paramilitary groups in an attempt to squash the union movement in Columbia.
Those deals and subsequent paramilitary actions led to the murder of eight union leaders in a country considered to be the trade union murder capital of the world, the film depicts.
Another key figure in the film is activist Roy Rogers, who started the “Stop Killer Coke” campaign in an effort to raise awareness about multinational corporations.
The campaign has led to a number of universities and colleges boycotting Coca-Cola’s products.
Though at times in the film, the campaign is met with opposition. Prior to a scheduled Rogers appearance at the University of Illinois, we see footage of a pro-Coke student rally where one student is shown holding a sign reading “Fuck Human Rights.”
But when all was said and done, the lawyers and Coca-Cola never reached a financial agreement. Gutierrez, Rogers and the lawyers remain hopeful. Since the film stopped production, more lawsuits and claims have been filed or appealed.
Coke says they have no control or responsibility over the actions of their bottlers.
But many experts are finding it hard to side with the corporate giant.
Canadian Council for International Co-operation trade analyst Gauri Sreenivasan challenged Coke’s denials of responsibility as part of the discussion panel.
“I think the view that businesses involved in Columbia’s economy can be neutral in the context of this violence is quite naive.”
When discussing why Garcia and Gutierrez chose to do the documentary on Coke as opposed to another multinational corporation, Gutierrez explained that with sales in 200 countries, its brand image was universal.
More importantly though, they were targeting an English-speaking audience not too distanced from Coca-Cola and their Atlanta headquarters.
Although poor weather prevented his appearance, Rogers submitted a statement to be read on his behalf. In it he re-stated the words of Columbian union vice-president Juan Carlos Galvis.
“If we lose this fight against Coke, we will lose our union. Next we will lose our jobs, and then we will all lose our lives.”