This is the reason why millions are boycotting Coca-Cola (and it’s not the sugar)

Some consumers are turning against Coca-Cola.

Various consumer boycotts have been launched against the soft drink giant, each citing different but troubling practices of the company. Some of these boycotts go back decades, and though they remain active, their existence has served as a tool to raise awareness more than a viable mechanism to cut into the company’s profits.

For example, in the early 2000s, The Guardian reported on a boycott among trade unionists that had emerged after Coca-Cola was accused of hiring members of the far-right militia group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, to assassinate nine union members. Coca-Cola denies any such allegation. This boycott continues, and is now joined by other consumer calls to avoid Coca-Cola products, which could make each of their demands more pressing.

More recently, calls to boycott circulated online after allegations surfaced that Coca-Cola had reported undocumented workers working at a facility in Texas to ICE. These reports have not been verified, but the rumors were enough for consumers to organize under the “Latino Freeze Movement.”

Coca-Cola executives point to “weakening consumer sentiment”

There are some signs that these boycotts may be shifting Coca-Cola’s financial landscape. The Street reported earlier this month that in the company’s most recent earnings meeting, executives reported a four percent decrease in sales in the US, compared to 2024.

The company’s leaders pointed to “weakening consumer sentiment" in the North American market as one of the reasons they had seen a decrease in revenue. climate-conscious

Greenpeace launched a Coca-Cola boycott in 2023

For years, reports published by Greenpeace found that Coca-Cola was one of the world’s largest plastic polluters. Environmental organizations have taken these findings and encouraged climate-conscious consumers to avoid the brand’s lineup of products.

“Coca Cola’s role in plastic pollution is emblematic of plastic itself‚” said the environmental group, noting that like Coca-Cola’s brand, plastic is able to mask its danger to human health and that of the planet.

“Slick appearances, good public relations and its often close proximity to food and beverage would have you believe it is safe, clean and sterile. Like Coke itself, the truth is that plastic is not healthy at all.”

Plastic is made from petroleum, and thus forms part of the fossil fuel industry. But it is not only the reliance on fossil fuels that prompted Greenpeace’s boycott of Coca-Cola, but the company’s unwillingness to grapple with the sheer amount of single-use plastic containers it creates that have “invaded every part of the human experience with devastating impacts.”

According to Greenpeace, Coca-Cola sells a staggering 100 billion single-use plastic bottles, with the vast majority never being recycled, and instead sitting in a landfill or in the ocean.

Coca-Cola’s addition to the BDS list

In December 2024, Coca-Cola was added to the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment (BDS) movement, which targets companies operating within illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank.

When BDS activists added Coca-Cola to the boycott list, they accused Coca-Cola Israel of operating “a regional distribution center and cooling houses in the [Israeli] Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone.”

“Furthermore, its subsidiary, Tabor Winery, “produces wines from grapes sourced from vineyards located on occupied land in settlements in the West Bank and Syrian Golan‚” states the press release as further evidence that the consumers concerned about Israel’s actions, both in Gaza and the Occupied West bank should avoid making purchases from the company.

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