The Coke Conspirators

Here's a theory you might never have considered.
 
I was reading a post on Laughing Squid about how the maker of a 2006 Coca-Cola animated commercial followed it up with his own mini-movie.
 
Nice post! A brief description, the original commercial video, the mini-movie video and a great animated "behind the scenes" video too.
 
Then, out of nowhere, comes the first comment - a rant about the evils of the Coca-Cola company, with claims such as...

• [Coca-Cola] being a hyper aggressive corporation which invented the term “Total Liquid Intake” in their strategies to dominate the WATER market
• they are also responsible for death squads which have murdered labor organizers in Columbia
• Coke has done a fantastic job creating diabetes and obesity in poor communities for decades

And on. Ok, I'm sure in Coke's 120 year history that they've done more than their share of underhanded dealings but death squads? Really?
 
Here's the part where I challenge your preconceptions and blow your mind. Or something.
 
Keep the following points in mind...

• There is no such thing as bad press.
• After 120 years of marketing your product, fresh ideas can be tough to pull out.
• If you're company has been marketing itself successfully for 120 years, it's safe to say that you're probably very good at it.

Picture this hypothetical:
Coca-Cola donates a million dollars towards cancer research, ending homelessness or some similar admirable philanthropic venture. Do you hear about it? Good for them but do you really care to know about it? Is there any blogosphere reaction or public discourse?
 
Chances are, no.
 
Now picture this hypothetical:
Some enterprising advertising whiz drops an anonymous comment on a blog or sends an anon. email, making some outlandish claims of corporate abuse, environmental atrocities or even death squads. Suddenly all of the home-brew public interest blogs and conspiracy theorists pick up the story and try to stir up public outcry. Do you hear about it? You once heard the rumor that Coke still contains trace amounts of cocaine to keep it's drinkers addicted, right?
 
Just think on that for a second. The people who are front-line fighting against the corporate monster are doing nothing more than keeping the product's name in the headlines and on people's minds. Free advertising at it's finest.
 
Sure, you could say that I'm flipping conspiracy on conspiracy theory but that should make it even more plausible to the tin-foil-hat set.
 
Then again, Scott Beale might just be right - dude works for Pepsi.