Obesity

Consumption of sugary beverages is a contributing factor to the rise in obesity seen in many Western developed societies. Fast food and sugary beverage companies have had an influential role in the consumption of their products through their value pricing, combo meals,

and marketing, as discussed in other pages (link to advertising). With an increase in awareness of this public health issue, Coca-Cola has been experiencing about a 5.6-7% decline in sales since 2015 (Gertner & Rifkin, 2017). They have tried to counter act this decline with the release of beverages with less sugar and calories; however, none have been fruitful. Coca-Cola’s solution to the obesity epidemic is through the support and promotion of physical activity with the notion that more activity will burn off the calories gained through the consumption of their product and will allow the consumer to drink as much as they want (Gertner & Rifkin, 2017). This is not an effective solution to the obesity epidemic because it does not arise from the caloric intake, but from the ingredients like sugar and corn syrup.

Coca-Cola has funded research on the obesity issue; however, this raises the question whether or not the results of the study can be trusted. For instance, there was a leak of various emails between head of the Coca-Cola Company and their funded obesity research organization about how the study should be set up and how the results should be displayed. In this case, Coca-Cola had a soft power over the study and therefore its result. They were not explicitly instructing the research facility to create desired results, but the researchers demonstrated a great desire to please their funders (Stuckler, Ruskin, & McKee, 2017). However, any kind of influence from involved companies can deem a study untrustworthy.