Coke set itself up
Feb 8, 2010Environmental demons Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are competing to make their own marks in the world through cause branding. While Coke hopes to increase sales through its questionable environmental efforts, Pepsi's approach is at least less vulnerable to outright criticism. The Pepsi Refresh Project is focused on social causes, which includes the environment but also includes other important social causes in the arts, culture, and education. A common myth in cause branding is that the strategy should be related to reducing corporate damage. But shouldn't we be able to expect Coke and Pepsi to clean up their environmental acts and brand around doing something more?
Coke needs to do a much better job if they're going to use environmentalism as a brand promise and focus on some good they can do in the meantime.
