Coca-Cola wants to pretend it is a champion for human rights. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas put that notion to the test and showed why companies such as Coca-Cola should be reminded of their deference to China at every opportunity.
Cotton did so after Paul Lalli, Coke’s global vice president of human rights, said, “We stand up for what is right across the world. We apply the same human rights principles in the United States that we do across the world.”
When Cotton then pressed him on the company’s position on China, namely its sponsoring of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Lalli fell into repeating diplomatically worded talking points about how the company focuses on the U.S., “but we are clear in our respect for human rights globally.”
Coca-Cola: We stand up for what is right across the world.
Also Coca-Cola: We will not condemn the Chinese Communist Party for committing genocide, and we will support the Winter Olympics in Beijing. pic.twitter.com/9C56MJJYe8
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) July 27, 2021
Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey similarly pressed Coca-Cola, along with other Olympic sponsors, to say whether they think the Beijing Olympics should be relocated or postponed over China’s human rights abuses, including the genocide of the Uyghur ethnic minority. All of them dodged the question, including Lalli.
Compare Lalli’s answers with Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey’s misguided comments on Georgia’s election law: “Let me be crystal clear and unequivocal: This legislation is unacceptable, it is a step backward, and it does not promote principles we have stood for in Georgia around broad access to voting, around voter convenience, about ensuring election integrity. And this is, frankly, just a step backward.”
Does anything Lalli is willing to say about China sound “crystal clear and unequivocal”?
If Coca-Cola and other companies want to turn themselves into Democratic attack dogs while pretending they care about human rights, then they need to explain why they rely on China for business while refusing to denounce genocide. Coca-Cola in particular also needs to explain why it was lobbying against a bill that would crack down on goods made with forced labor in Xinjiang.
Coca-Cola ventured into a political battle, took the side of one party, and then embraced that party’s lies about its opponents. Now, it wants to stay quiet when it comes to human rights, at least with regard to the genocidal regime where it makes up 42% of the soft drink market.
Coke does not care about human rights. It doesn’t care about bipartisanship either, despite its assertions to the contrary. Coca-Cola is a company that wants to be a partisan actor that is tougher on Republicans than on the Chinese Communist Party because pretending to be woke takes a back seat to the almighty dollar. Company leaders should be reminded of this reality every time they opine on the political issue of the day.
