Tuesday, November 20, 2007

My anti anti-coke rant....

I love Coke and can't stand fascist liberalism, hence I found much at fault with the documentary last night.

It was a series of globalisation stereotypes we've heard a million times before. Surprising given Mark Thomas was using footage going back 3 years. It could have been a parody documentary without changing anything. For Dispatches you expect a lot more.

They had the kid working in a sugar cane field in random developing world, ignoring any economic reality of children feeding families, or what would happen to them if to ease first-world consciences they stopped working. Ending child labour can only happen from the top down.

They also ignored the reality that the majority of global companies employ child labour whether they care to know it or not. Its not just the Nikes and Cokes, Principles or one of those English clothing retailers was only in the papers about it 2 weeks ago.

They showed a Nazi youth leaflet with coke advertised on the back. This was the most interesting part of the programme cause I'd heard but not seen evidence of this and old leaflets are always interesting. But he was using this as further evidence of the evil of Coke. If anything it shows how apolitical they were. They marketed their product in and out of political phases. You have to admire this constancy.

Then there was the Coke workers in Colombia being killed by local militant groups. Whatever about Coke doing nothing to help their workers there, there was no blame put on the militants.

I'm aware of my ridiculous bias towards Coke and that my addiction is a product of advertising, but that's no excuse for the laughable bias and complete lack of originality in the Dispatches documnentary.

Not to single out Channel 4, I then switched over to latest McCann TM media production - I'd also expect more from Panorama & BBC, there was nothing new here, and they avoided the one question everyone wants asked, i.e. how can you justify leaving your kids alone? There was a vague mention of it towards the end. More fool on me watching this media tripe.

2 comments:

  1. Ah, but you watched it so you could share it with those of us who didn't get the chance! Thanks!Sure I shopped in Walmart in the states, and they are owned by Satan apparently

    ReplyDelete
  2. You mean coverage of the McCann story is hysterical nonsense?!?!?!? Surely not...... :-)

    Very annoyed I missed the Mark Thomas thing.

    ReplyDelete

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