[A-List] US imperialism: casualties of war

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Superbrands reeling from aggressive American foreign policy
BILLY BRIGGS
The Herald, September 19 2003
WHEN Dr John S Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886 it is unlikely he would
have predicted that it would become one of the world's most famous brands.

The caramel-coloured syrup he concocted in a three-legged brass kettle in
his backyard, and first sold with carbonated water for five cents at a soda
fountain in Atlanta, provided him with a $20 loss in its first year.

Today, Coca-Cola products are advertised on nearly every street corner in
the world and are consumed at the rate of more than 834 million drinks per
day, worth £35bn in revenue last year.

It would appear now, however, that the once shining symbol of Western
capitalism and purveyor of the American dream is feeling a backlash as the
world turns its back on "Brand America".

Along with other cultural icons such as Pepsi, Marlboro and McDonalds, who
brought a taste of America to the peoples of the world laced with the
promise of freedom and prosperity, Coca-Cola is facing the prospect of a
weakening of its brand.

As opposition to American foreign policy around the globe deepens, and as
consumers opt for healthier alternatives, Coca-Cola and other American
multi-nationals may have to rethink a strategy based on the notion that as
globalisation took place and the world shrank, people's tastes would
converge, creating a single global market dominated by the world's most
successful brands.

Islamic alternatives, such as Qibla Cola and Mecca Cola, have enjoyed
runaway success since being launched in the past few years.

>From Naomi Klein-esque, anti-globalisation warnings that the world is a
breath away from being taken over by US multinationals, to recent consumer
boycotts in Germany on American products in protest against the US-led Iraq
war, it may be that we are witnessing the emergence of a consumer lifestyle
with broad international appeal that is grounded in a rejection of American
capitalism.

Although these global brands are certainly not about to disappear it may be
that their golden age is over.