Today’s letter of
the day is C for Coca-Cola… and for crisis.
The beverage company
recently sponsored a promotion that involved pairing one random English word
and one random French word and printing them on the inside of their
Vitaminwater bottle caps. Coca-Cola intended for people to collect the bottle
caps, combine the phrases, and compete to see who could create the silliest
bilingual sentences.
To
her surprise, a Canadian girl named Blake Loates opened a bottle of
Vitaminwater and found the words “YOU RETARD” printed on the cap. The Loates
family was especially insulted because Blake’s 11-year-old sister Fiona is
autistic.
I
don’t think Coca-Cola intended to offend so many people with this competition
but unfortunately they did, due to a lack of planning and product inspection before they hit shelves. In French, the word “retard” means “late” or “delay.”
Unfortunately, the word’s English meeting was overlooked in the review process
and Coca-Cola claims the English and French word lists were examined
separately.
In
a public apology, Shannon Denny, the director of brand communications for
Coca-Cola, told ABC News:
"We have
spoken to the family to offer our sincerest apologies and to explain the
production process to them. This is certainly not an excuse in any way for what
has occurred. We wanted them to know that this was in no way intentional and
was a mistake on our part during the review process. We also wanted to share
that the promotion has since been cancelled and we are no longer producing
bottles with those caps."
Coca-Cola
did the right thing by coming forth with an apology and cancelling the bottle
cap promotion. I understand this promotion was meant to be a funny competition,
but in my opinion, the organization should have put a little more thought into
the production and review processes. The message on this bottle cap could have
been negatively perceived by any consumer, not just those with autistic loved
ones.
I saw this story and thought basically the same thing. Obviously part of this is just bad luck, but Coca-Cola definitely failed to put some though into this promotion. It shouldn't have been that hard to foresee this sort of issue.
ReplyDeleteI actually missed this story last week, but I agree with Noah. This was a case of extremely bad luck (and poor foresight), made worse because the recipient's younger sibling is autistic. Hindsight is 20/20, however, so it's much easier for us to point out Coca-Cola's flaws than it was for them to foresee this.
ReplyDeleteI think the company did the right thing by issuing a public apology in addition to the personal conversation with the Loates family. Taking it one step further and canceling the promotion shows that Coca-Cola is serious about not having a repeat incident.
I missed this story last week as well. I agree with both Noah and Kelsi. This was an accident and a horrible case of bad luck but it would have been smart if Coca-Cola had looked into words that could become possible insulting combinations and took them out of the promotion.
ReplyDeleteKatee- I saw all the activity on this blog and I had to check it out. After reading this blog, I understand how the Loates family might be offended by the bottle cap. Honestly, having the Loates family get "you retard" under the cap is unfortunate. If I got that under a bottle cap now, I would die of laughter and probably frame the cap. I believe little mistakes like this one is just how people react to the cause. Everyone makes mistakes, all you can do is just laugh. Life's too short to complain all the time.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I didn't hear about this! I can see both sides of the story. Everyone does make mistakes, but it's still not acceptable. I believe Coca-Cola made the right move by admitting the fault is on their part. It just shows they take responsibility. However, it is unfortunate the bottle cap hit heart strings in the Loates family.
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling the same way Candace! I can't believe I missed this! I agree with everyone about Coca-Cola doing the right thing, but my question is, how did the word retard get passed on the list? Yes, I know it is french for late or delay, but I would have to believe the people checking the list would know the negative connotation. I personally have always been opposed to the word in general. I have never had any personal experience, but I know how hurtful derogatory words can be to some people. Why put your business in a position that could be harmful? Even if 'retard' wasn't paired with the word 'you,' chances are someone would have been offended.
ReplyDelete