In this guest post for Dr. Yoni Freedhoff’s Weighty Matters blog, Dietitians For Professional Integrity’s Strategic Director, Andy Bellatti, shares some recent disturbing news he received from Argentina.
Highlights:
- Last week, Fernando D’Ippollito – a pediatrician in Argentina – sent me [a photograph] of a “diploma of good behavior” for his patients. The most disturbing detail: Coca-Cola’s logo in the lower left-hand corner.”
- “According to Dr. D’Ippollito, this diploma template – along with a Coca-Cola branded prescription pad – was given to all members of the pediatrics department at his hospital (José Penna Hospital in Buenos Aires) by a visiting Coca-Cola representative – a visit that can only happen with approval from hospital administration.”
- “2016 has only added more PR nightmares for the soft drink industry. Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, recently published an open letter to Big Soda calling for an end to marketing to children. This letter came just days after a new report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest which detailed the many ways in which Coca-Cola continues to targets children, despite pledges to not advertise to children under the age of 12.”
- “Today, keeping distance from the soda industry for a health institution or organization isn’t progressive and courageous as it is a basic display of integrity and commitment to health.”
- “The point of these initiatives – which barely make a dent in Coca-Cola’s operating budget – is to align the brand with health authorities in order to gain public trust. A sports figure hawking soda in a television commercial sells “cool”, but a pediatrician advertising soda via a “good behavior” diploma or a prescription pad is supposed to provide peace of mind to parents.”
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