Friday, June 14, 2024

Coca-Cola shoots itself in the foot with its Bangladesh ad

So small background: Coca-Cola is among the brands targeted by boycott due to its perceived support of Israel with the Hamas war in Gaza. Actually it just put out an ad in Bangladesh to distance itself from the whole debacle. In the ad - which is a regular one, nothing too special - the talent says "even Palestine has a Coca-Cola factory" and invites the people to search for "Coca-Cola Palestine factory". The problem? It is in Atarot, an illegal Israeli settlement built on stolen Palestinian land. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Note that Coca-Cola no longer exists in the Lebanese market (here) but that between 1968 to 1990 Coca-Cola was boycotted in the Arab world by order of the League of Arab Nations since it provided "financial help for Israel" in the 1967 six day war. So here we are again - sometimes as the saying goes "when in a hole stop digging". If you wish to see the Bangladesh ad please look here.