Coca-Cola Suspends Advertising in the Philippines

Professor Henke asked us to think about food in the context of the holidays over this break, and I came across this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/coke-ads-philippines-_n_4338746.html. Coca-Cola, the soft drink giant, has announced that they will stop all advertising in the Philippines, and instead donate the money to the typhoon-relief effort. Typhoon Haiyan has already claimed over 5,000 lives and thousands still are missing. Coke has already donated $2.5 million in cash and in-kind donations, but the damages are estimated to be around $5.8 billion. With the holiday season just beginning, Coke has chosen an integral time of year to put advertising on hold--an advertising move in and of itself some may argue. However, I still believe it is a selfless move on Coke's part. It just goes to show how a mammoth food company can use its power for good in our society where we tend to have such a cynical outlook toward large-scale companies.