Monday, July 14, 2014

Should Religion be Used to Sell Junk Food?

Coca-Cola sure thinks so.

Of course we're all familiar with Coca-Cola's conscription of Christmas.



I guess selling on the back of religion must be a great way to do business because Coca-Cola's just launched a new Ramadan themed campaign.

Here's Coca-Cola's description of their Ramadan centric campaign in Indonesia,
"In honor of Ramadan, Coca-Cola Indonesia is holding a series of unique activations to inspire a reconnection. The program is named, “Sampaikan dengan Coca-Cola” which means, "Say it with Coca-Cola".

During the month of Ramadan, 1 and 1.5-liter Coca-Cola plastic bottles will feature a special design that includes the names of loved ones like Ayah (father), Ibu (mother), and Sahabat (best friend). The special packaging is intended to encourage family, colleagues, friends and companions to reconnect.

"The holy month of Ramadan is about reconnecting and forgiving each other. Yet over time, it often becomes a routine and loses the real meaning. This year, through a bottle of Coca-Cola, we want to bring positive inspiration to people to ensure that we have a good and close relationship with them by continuously reconnecting,": says Esther Tanudjaja, Senior Integrated Marketing Content & Connection Manager Coca-Cola Indonesia.
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And here are some videos from the campaign:





And if you're a practicing Hindu rather than Christian or Muslim, no worries, your holidays' emotions are also conscripted by Coca-Cola as seen in this Diwali ad



To be fair, this practice isn't unique to Coca-Cola. Virtually all fast and junk food makers use religion to sell food. And now I'm not a religious man, so I truthfully don't know the answer to this but for those who are religious, is Coca-Cola's (and others') usage of your religion's holiday joy and spirit to brand undeniably unhealthy products not a touch repugnant?