Consumer choice

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday March 04, 2003 17:34 by Pepsi PR!

Are people aware that River Rock bottled-water, the "water you wear", is owned by Coca-Cola? The water is bottled at source in Ireland (The Green, Lambeg, Lisburn, Co. Antrim), but the fact that Coca Cola are the owners is, for me at least, cause for concern. Why should this be the case?

1. Consider their record with the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). Some of you may be aware that the MAI was a planned multilateral agreement that would have allowed multinational companies to challenge national environmental or workers' rights legislation. Coca-Cola was one of a number of companies supporting the MAI through its membership of the US Council for International Business. The MAI did not get passed but many are now arguing that it has been watered down (excuse the pun!) and has been placed in other trade laws, such as Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMS), with the view that these will be strengthened over time to revert to the main intentions of the MAI. Although, in saying that, others are also arguing that there are enough laws in place to counteract such a move. But that argument is for another day.
2. In the US the company "is the subject of a lawsuit by black employees who have alleged racial discrimination. The employees claim that there had been "countrywide discrimination against African Americans" in the US since 1995." (http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/magazine/buyers/soft_drinks.htm).
3. The company has also got a revealing history: support of oppressive regimes, irresponsible marketing, involvement with armaments (the manufacture and supply of non-strategic parts for the military), testing the product on animals, no declared environmental policy and has also been the subject of a boycott (http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/magazine/buyers/soft_drinks.htm).
4.There may be no relevance in this but it deserves mention all the same: There was a product recall notice for River Rock Still Natural Mineral Water on the 12 September 2001 by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), but, not surprisingly, records explaining the reasons for this have been deleted from the internet at least (the site still exists but when you try to click onto it I got the response "page cannot be found". www.fsai.ie/rapid_alerts/alerts/product_recalls_2001.htm. A search of the FSAI site gives the same response!)
5. And to top it off, many shops are now only providing this brand of bottled water with one or two others, despite the fact that there are quite a number of bottled water companies. The regulation of such companies is also a factor as to why some have closed down (paying for tap water in a bottle? No thanks), and while I understand that this is a competitive sector, support for local brands would not go astray. Coca-Cola may bring jobs to localities, but they, in the end, get all the profits. So, would it not be better for local companies to have control of ownership as they could also provide local employment? I am not calling for a reversion to the protectionist post-WW2 attitudes, but support for local industry helps reduce the dependency on multinationals for employment (multinationals who can use this dependency as a threat for compliance and consensus in their favour).

Seeing as our tap water system is so full of shite, people have reverted to buying bottled water in ever greater numbers (the tap water i get isn't too bad, so long as their isn't any heavy rain...and this is Ireland! Still, it does the trick, and i don't have the cash (or the will) to fork out to companys on a regular basis). Also, people that will not be at home for some time will buy water instead of other ones. so, next time you're about to wear a brand like riverrock consider who you are helping to advertise.