Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures with Coca Cola by Mark Thomas
Ebury Press, £11.99
COCA-COLA is simply an international franchise. Sure, it may control how the product is marketed, who its bottlers employ, where it is distributed and the uniform its distributors wear, but it has no responsibility for its bottlers around the world because it’s effectively a franchise. At least, that is Coca-Cola’s explanation for the unfortunate habit of finding dead trade unionists on its factory floors in Colombia. It also explains the regrettable use of child labour employed in getting the eight spoons of sugar you drink in each glass of the fizzy drink. This rather neat explanation also clarifies why Indian farmers have to fight each other at pumps for fresh water.
Mark Thomas’ journeys around the Coca-Cola world demonstrate two significant points. First, the stories of individuals do matter. For all the corporate gloss cited at the beginning of each chapter and the responses of the Coca-Cola company which spends billions on its corporate image, the stories of a handful of trade unionists and farm workers with little or no money – or no jobs at all – are worth infinitely more.
Second, it makes you realise that in a world where one company can develop into such a vast monopoly, the freedom of workers, as well as the freedom to buy from a company which respects human rights, suffer. Boycotting Nestlé and McDonalds is easy, because there are alternatives. Attempt to boycott Coca-Cola products in restaurants, cinemas, cafes, hotels, pubs and bars leaves you one alternative. And your liver won’t like it.
As grim as the stories might be, this book will leave you enthused and positively angry. Nothing is quite as satisfying as a good rant, except reading a rant that is well structured, passionate and sincere without being self-righteous. Enjoy!
David Gould
