Fanta - drink of the Nazis. (9053 hits)
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Submitted by PAS (View user info) at 2004-02-27 13:49:41 EST
Is Coke your favourite drink? Maybe you should think again.
A couple of weeks ago I went to see the political stand-up Mark Thomas. He's quite well known in England and has his own TV show on Channel 4.
Mark has some beef with Coca Cola. The first reason is that they have opened a new plant in India -in a drought region! but they're able to dig deep enough to get to the water, leaving the locals with dry wells and failed crops.
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From https://www.actionzone.cc/markthomas.html
Coca Cola's subsidiary company the Hindustan Coca Cola Company opened a bottling plant in 2000 and promptly dug 6 bore wells. You might have thought that some bright spark would have questioned the opening of a highly water intensive industry in a drought area but both the national and state government eagerly bought into the notion that a Coca Cola factory equates to "development"...
With dull predictability the local inhabitants noticed their water diminishing. Wells went dry and what water there was became undrinkable, a study by the district medical officer concluded "This water is unfit for drinking." Faced with no local water people have to walk long distances to the nearest clean wells... Thousands have been affected. People I spoke to said they used to earn about a £1 a day as harvesters and they used to get about 20 days work a month. Now they are lucky if they get 5 days work a month, as the local crops have failed. They felt they had no option but to fight the company and set up a 24 hour a day vigil in a shelter opposite the plant. At the end of the month they will have been there for 647 days. In 1950's style logic Coke's response has been to claim that the protests have been the work of Marxist agitators.
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The second fact that Mark Thomas pulled out of his hat was that along with sponsoring the Berlin Olympics in 1936 Coca Cola was a huge supporter of the Nazi regime. During the second world war, when an ingredient could no longer be supplied, the German branch of Coke devised a new drink for the Nazis - Fanta.
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From http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CLASS/coke/coke2.html
Coca- Cola ads failed to mention: Coke's U.S. roots. The Company had successfully established itself as a German brand in the unconscious mind of the soda-drinking public...Coke's readiness to strike deals points to the second pillar of Coke's survival strategy which had a lot to do with the leadership of Max Keith, "the quintessential Coca-Cola man and Nazi-collaborator." Simply put, his strategy was to please the Nazis whenever possible and through whatever means necessary.
An abundance of examples shows how Coke's advertising supported the Third Reich. Hans Dieter Schaefer reports, for instance, that after the aggressive news broadcast by the Reichsrundfunk, silly advertising jingles propagating the evangelium of refreshment were next. Coke ads deliberately sought the close contact to the men in power. This meant that when the cover of a magazine sported a picture of the Fuehrer, chances were good that a Coke advertisement would grace the back of that cover. Even when visitors streamed into the Sportpalast to listen to one of Dr. Goebbels' infamous speeches, they had to pass by a large billboard urging them to drink "Coca-Cola eiskalt."
Max Keith left out no opportunity to ingratiate himself with Germany's leaders. Coca-Cola was one of the three official beverage sponsors with a Getraenkedienst (beverage service) at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and thus participated in an event the Nazis deliberately exploited to celebrate Germany's return to power and status...
The strategy of direct association with Nazi-leaders or of lending support to events propagandized by nazi-ideology sent a powerful subliminal message to both consumers and government by signaling that Coca-Cola was on Germany's side... in the October 1938 issue of the army-magazine Die Wehrmacht printed up to celebrate the annexation of the Sudetenland. In this (unfortunately unavailable) ad, Hans- Dieter Schaefer reports that a hand holds out a Coke bottle in front of a world map underlined by the caption Ja, Coca-Cola hat Weltruf (Yes, Coca-Cola enjoys international reputation) that goes on stating that `of the forty million automobilists from all over the world increasing attention is demanded,' which is the reason why they 'like to take advantage of the "pause that refreshes."'
Given this overtly enthusiastic embrace of the Nazis, the fact that the Coca-Cola GmbH survived the oncoming war seems more a logical conclusion to this paper than a surprise in need of an explanation. Despite all the difficulties inherent in Coke's rise, by the time war broke out, Coke's situation was so secure that Max Keith could get himself "appointed to the Office of Enemy Property to supervise all soft drink plants, both in Germany and the captured teritory. As German troops overran Europe, Keith and Oppenhof followed, assisting and taking over the Coca-Cola businesses in Italy, France, Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium and Norway." Even that the war had cut off the supply of 7X and Merchandise #5 proved unimportant. Keith and his men countered by inventing Fanta to see them through the war, and thus created a success that still reverberates throughout the corners of the world where local bottling companies fill Fanta bottles.
(There was) no doubt that the swastika and the Coca-Cola logo rested next to each other comfortably.
User Reviews
Submitted by a_reader (user info) at 2006-05-22 17:18:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/m/74012
Also, I want one of those swastikas.
Submitted by Trout (user info) at 2004-03-01 19:14:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Yep - coke are fuckers.
At school we read some book about how they ran roughshod over union leaders in one of their south american plants, 2 of them ended up dead.
The workers never went on strike after that.
Dodgy company.
Submitted by K.M (user info) at 2004-02-28 21:05:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Please Stay.
Submitted by Jocko_Johnson (user info) at 2004-02-28 02:52:49 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
All this intellectual banter gives me a hard on.
If you're gonna bitch, you should be doing something about it.
In the mean time shut the fuck up.
The rich rule and the poor take it deep in the ass...
Enough said.
Submitted by DraconianKing (user info) at 2004-02-28 01:21:39 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Coke still rules.
Submitted by UncleNecro (user info) at 2004-02-28 00:05:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I wouldn't care if they made fanta or coke from hungry babies in ethiopia. If it's good, I'll drink it. For all I care, they could be crashing planes into buildings or go on crusades in the middle-east, they could be doing genocide or even drain the water away from thirsty indians. As long as I get my fucking soft drink. Wohoo! Go coca cola company!
Submitted by Beer_bong (user info) at 2004-02-27 19:47:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I almost forgot how much I love you.
Submitted by kai070169 (user info) at 2004-02-27 16:42:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
What's the problem? now all those poor thirsty Indians will have coke to drink!
Multinational corporations suck. I like the Cola like grandma used to make in HER laboratory.
Submitted by kgbpasha (user info) at 2004-02-27 16:18:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I could use a Fanta right now...
or a Cactus Cooler.
Submitted by Quartermain (user info) at 2004-02-27 16:08:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This was a good post and its a shame what was and is done and all, but to be completely honest, I'm left with a feeling of 'and.....?'
What they're doing in India is not what you might call ethical, and the fact that they were in bed with the Nazis isn't a shining moment for them either, but what is it that you're after here? Coca-Cola changing its business practices is slightly less likely to happen than people stopping drinking Coke.
Besides, if every business that dealt with the Nazis before or during WWII were to admit it and apologise, there'd be no room on the news for anything else for a week or two.
Submitted by Anansie (user info) at 2004-02-27 15:55:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Interesting . . . but what would I drink my Crown with?
Hey, something interesting that I read, it's sort of related, I'll have to go and look it up because it was so long ago: A lot of Japanese car companies still in business today forced American POWs to work in their facilities. Not as bad as the Nazis, but still kinda bad. I read this in Reader's Digest. They won't own up to it today, and apparently our government is taking the Car Companies sides because of economic reasons or something. So the POWs who spent time over there are pretty pissed about it. Anyone else hear about that? They were major car companies, but I don't know where I put that magazine.
Submitted by lush (user info) at 2004-02-27 15:36:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I love Fanta! I really really do! However, I think Orangina may be better.. but I don't think I could totally take Fanta out of my life. It makes me smile.
Submitted by PeopleAreStrange (user info) at 2004-02-27 15:35:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Hi Insane. Only reason I've been able to post a couple of times this week is that I've been off work sick with flu. I do miss Uber but the majority of posts are a waste of time. Excluding 10-20 writers. I'm gonna catch up with your stuff now :o)
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2004-02-27 15:27:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2004-02-27 15:07:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
but I can't help it
it's an addiction
Submitted by PeopleAreStrange (user info) at 2004-02-27 15:01:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Wiccket (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:31:03 (#)
Ranking: -1
And your point here is what exactly? Yeah, so Coca Cola sold there product to Nazis, so what? That means nothing today. Should we boycott Volkswagon and BMW as well? They are German cars and the German's supported Hitler....
Did you expect a company to do something other than try to sell it's product.
Exactly, the other companies were German. Coca Cola was American but integrated itself so successfully into Germany that the consumers thought it was a German company. And since America fought Nazi's in the second world war you'd have thought maybe Coca Cola wouldn't want to advertise in magazines for Nazi soldiers.
I suppose you also excuse companies who used slave labour from concentration camps (which I think also included Coca Cola).
The shitty thing is Coca Cola either deny or refuse to comment on what they did before and during World War II. I'm giving myself +2 for sharing this piece of little known info with turdburglars like yourself Wiccket.
Submitted by Insanethemind (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:53:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
everytime ive been in europe I look for Sunkist and all i can find is that piss-sugarwater fanta.
ugh
Hi pas!
Submitted by Judoka (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:46:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Please write more often.
Submitted by yidele (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:35:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
great story, PAS.
Submitted by Wiccket (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:31:03 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
And your point here is what exactly? Yeah, so Coca Cola sold there product to Nazis, so what? That means nothing today. Should we boycott Volkswagon and BMW as well? They are German cars and the German's supported Hitler....
Did you expect a company to do something other than try to sell it's product.
Submitted by Heimdallsman (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:11:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Very interesting.
Well done.
Heh, heh, I just realized my first line sounded like Arte Johnson on Laugh-In...
--HeimdallsMan
Submitted by PeopleAreStrange (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:09:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:01:26 (#)
Ranking: 1
... woah... i drink pepsi
Pepsi support doing it up the pooper.
Submitted by PeopleAreStrange (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:06:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
A quote from the 'Swastika museum' http://www.manwoman.net/swastika/swastika2.html
"In 1925 Coca Cola made a lucky watch fob in the shape of a swastika with the slogan, "Drink Coca Cola five cents in bottles." When I phoned the Coke Archives in Atlanta, Georgia they denied even having one in their collection."
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2004-02-27 14:01:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
... woah... i drink pepsi