So it’s ironic that the Atlanta-based company made one of the great PR blunders of all time over the holiday season by leaving the disputed Crimean peninsula off a map of Russia, then putting it on with an apology to Russians, and then removing the whole campaign after Ukrainians complained.
Coca-Cola says it just wants to sell more of their products, not engage in politics.
But that is part of the problem.
Too many businesses like Coca-Cola don’t care whether they are selling in a dictatorship or a democracy, whether human rights are being violated or not. They care too much about market share and profits.
For the world to make progress, everyone has to voice strong stands for democracy and human rights, corporations and governments included. Do not put the burden on civil society and journalists alone.
In Ukraine, it’s almost universally acknowledged that powerful business interests – oligarchs by another name – have stunted this nation’s economic and political development almost since the inception of national independence in 1991.
But the nation has choices.
In this edition of the Kyiv Post, we are publishing an investigation by Objective Investigative Reporting Project, a partner of the newspaper, as well as a detailed report by Insider online news site into ownership of Ukraine’s news media.
The findings show that, despite the EuroMaidan Revolution that changed the nation’s political leadership two years ago, no revolution took place in media ownership. The same handful of oligarchs control most outlets. Not only that, but ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s fugitive front man Serhiy Kurchenko somehow still controls media holdings despite being wanted for serious financial crimes.
While we no longer believe that President Petro Poroshenko (the owner of Channel 5, incidentally) is serious about fighting corruption, the nation still has choices and can transform society on its own.
Boycotts may not be necessary. But consumers, advertisers, subscribers and businesses have choices in their media outlets, just as they have choices in whether to speak out publicly against corruption, law-breaking and human rights abuses.
People and companies can use their buying power to simply support independent journalism in Ukraine, the kind practiced by the Kyiv Post and many other outlets, and to shun the media outlets owned by oligarchs that use their influence to further their business and political interests, not the public interest.
Evasion of civic duty should not be a way of doing business. Sorry, Coca-Cola, nobody needs a product with no nutritional value. For it to sell, people have to want the product and feel good about the seller. Staying silent in the face of a clear-cut injustice, such as Russia’s seizure of Crimea, is no way to win respect of anyone. It’s just a cop out.
