Wherever you go and Whatever you do

In our highly monetized, commercialized and capitalist society, subtle advertisements appear everywhere.  We have become so used to them that often they go completely unnoticed, a Dr. Pepper can prominently displayed in the movie Spiderman, or a logo on the officials' table at a basketball game.  You can't go through a normal day without encountering some kind of sales pitch, and in some ways that's okay.  Companies move product by infecting our minds, constantly bombarding us with information in an attempt the blur the lines between 'want' and 'need', 'treats' and 'necessities'.  For the informed, ignoring these constant temptations takes a equal parts knowledge and will-power; a small amount of each and you're free.  Preying on the stupid and gluttonous, while evil, is a fundamental aspect of marketing.  Most people reading this blog probably don't see a commercial for Pizza Hut and immediately (we're assuming sobriety) think "I have to have Pizza Hut now!".  Chances are you can resist the immediate temptation to get Pizza Hut, even if it gets you thinking pizza could be good later.  This is for a few reasons I'm guessing.  Pizza Hut isn't that great, it's far away if you have to go there, you could get something cheaper for the same price, you may be eating PB&J because you're broke.  Essentially, you have options.

I'm sorry if you're bored, I'll get to the point.  When companies start to try to eliminate options in a market while still constantly reminding consumers of their product, even the most savvy consumers begin to fall prey.  If you couldn't figure it out from the title, I'm talking about Coke's dominating presence on Ohio State's campus.  The line you will hear at every football game (if you're not too drunk to miss it):

"The Ohio State University has a tradition that the students, faculty, staff, and fans all share, and Coca-Cola is proud to be a part of that tradition. From The Oval to The Horseshoe, OSU has a genuine spirit that fills the heart of every buckeye. Wherever you go and whatever you do there will always be buckeyes and there will always be Coca-Cola. Enjoy!"

Just reading it makes me cringe a little.  I found the whole spiel here, I can't believe that page exists either.  It is a well documented fact that Coke has some downright horrible practices in foreign countries.  A few examples include allowing paramilitary groups to kill unionized workers in Columbia, depleting water resources in India and giving toxic waste as fertilizer to farmers.  According to the Students Against Coke (SAC) at Ohio State, the American Anthropological Association issued a boycott of Coca-Cola which to my knowledge has not been lifted.  It doesn't take much digging to find issues with Coke around the world, but I will limit to my argument from now on to Universities in The U.S.

Ohio State, like most major Universities, is a public, 'state run' institution.  By law all documents produced by the university that do not fall under some other law (attorney-client, doctor-patient) are public record, and must be presented upon request.  We have a lot of problems with that here, without a little pressure from the media.  When the contract with Coke was renewed, Jim Lynch, director of media relations, claimed Coke and Ohio States contract contained "trade secrets", a weak attempt at stopping anyone from digging further into the matter.  Only a redacted set of contracts were eventually released.  The University of Minnesota, also in a contract with Coke, provided a copy of their un-redacted contract to The Lantern upon request.  Given that the argument Lynch and Coke made about how releasing real figures could compromise Coke's competitiveness on Ohio State's campus and the seemingly easy release of the same data from another major school, one would have to assume Coke is simply trying to keep reigns on its for now legal monopoly of our campus.



There is enough evidence of harms to humanity at large by Coca Cola International to justify boycotting their products.  I have said in the past that I like Coke, that their support of our great university gives them a special place for me.  In reality though, they are a vampire attached to us, sucking the life from us.  Every time you see a Coke add next to an Ohio State logo, that logo starts to mean less and less.  All things Scarlet and Gray start to simply blend into the ignored background of subtle advertising.  I would rather fight a corporate leviathan than have the logo on my shirt, that stands for all the pride, humility and achievements of out University and its people make someone want to stop at the nearest gas station and buy a sugary soft drink.  At the heart of this is not preference or taste, or even money.  It's something deeper, do we want to be whores to an international company?  Do we want to limit ourselves to the sole consumption of a product we have no stake in?  Do we want to spend our hard earned 1.25s and see only a fraction smaller than the one that pays the drivers of the corrupt men who sell it return to the place where it was purchased?  Do we want to sit and watch while The Ohio State University and Coca Cola become interchangeable vassals of predatory advertising and greed?  No, we want to keep our name inviolate.  Do your own small part to stem the tide of Coke's takeover.  Drink something else, ignore their meek attempts at philanthropy and next time the contract comes around make the cover of TIME for your words against the evils.