Activists want the Olympics to ditch Coca-Cola because sugary drinks are unhealthy

By James Rogers

Coca-Cola's Olympics sponsorship forces athletes to implicitly endorse unhealthy sugary drinks, according to public-health organization Vital Strategies

The International Olympic Committee should cut its links with longtime sponsor Coca-Cola Co., says public-health organization Vital Strategies, arguing that the move would be in the best interests of athletes, spectators and the planet.

Coca-Cola's (KO) sponsorship forces athletes to implicitly endorse unhealthy sugary drinks, and also provides Coca-Cola with access to political and corporate leaders to exert its influence, according to authors Trish Cotter and Sandra Mullin of Vital Strategies, in an editorial that will be published this week in the journal BMJ Global Health - days before the Games end.

In a press release, the authors cited sugary drinks' contribution to obesity, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as the International Olympic Committee's mission to champion athletes' health.

Related: Paris Olympics offer a reset for sponsors after years of troubled games

"By continuing its association with Coca-Cola, the Olympic movement risks being complicit in intensifying a global epidemic of poor nutrition, environmental degradation, and climate change," the authors wrote.

"By severing ties with Coca-Cola, the IOC can send a powerful message that the Olympics stand for integrity, health and sustainability," the authors said. "Let's implore the IOC to act swiftly in the best interests of athletes, spectators, and the planet."

To underline the power of sport, the authors pointed to soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo's famous snub at the European Championships in 2021 when he removed two Coca-Cola bottles before holding a bottle of water and saying "Agua!" Ronaldo's gesture "was seen by the public as a rebuke to the idea that Coca-Cola is a benign drink embraced by athletes at the top of their game," the authors write.

Related: Coca-Cola's stock rises after another profit beat, and the outlook was raised

The beverage giant has been associated with the Olympic games since 1928, longer than any other corporate sponsor, according to the Coca-Cola website. A founding member of The Olympic Partner program, Coca-Cola will be a sponsor until at least 2032 - extending the relationship to 104 years. The extended sponsorship, which includes Mengniu Dairy, is worth a reported $3 billion. The company has also been a partner of the Olympic Torch Relay for more than two decades.

"For more than 95 years, we've proudly partnered with the Olympic Games, refreshing athletes, officials, volunteers and spectators," a Coca-Cola spokesperson told MarketWatch in a statement. "As a total beverage company, we support recommendations to limit added sugar to 10% of daily calories and continuously adapt our product range by reducing added sugar and introducing innovative products to meet evolving consumer tastes. At the Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games, we are offering a lineup of drinks for fans to enjoy, including water, tea, coffee, juice and sparkling beverages."

Coca-Cola is also implementing "a refreshed distribution model" for its drinks in partnership with the city of Paris and the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, according to the spokesperson. "Where feasible, we are leveraging beverage fountains and returnable glass bottles, serving our drinks into reusable and returnable cups provided and managed by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee," the spokesperson said. "In venues where we can't have drink fountains, we serve beverages from recycled plastic bottles."

Related: NBC has struck gold with Paris Olympics, with ratings way up from Tokyo and Beijing Games

The spokesperson cited "the scale and complexity" of the Olympic and Paralympic Games as "a unique opportunity to test and learn about packaging distribution" and noted that Coca-Cola is looking forward to collecting the learnings from Paris 2024.

Additionally, the spokesperson described Coca-Cola's worldwide partnership as providing "essential support" to many of the teams and athletes who compete in the Olympic Games. "This funding is critical to enable athletes from around the world to train, prepare for and compete in the Games," the spokesperson added.

The IOC has not yet responded to a request for comment from MarketWatch.

Related: The Paris Olympics will cost an estimated $8.2 billion to host. Here's how that compares with other recent Olympics.

Last month, branding expert Jim Andrews told MarketWatch that the Paris Olympics offer a reset for major sponsors after years of games held against the backdrop of geopolitical issues and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andrews pointed to the human-rights criticisms of Russia and China, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2014 and 2022, respectively; the delayed 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, which were held against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021; and the concerns about the Zika virus that swirled before the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016.

The Olympic partner program also includes Visa Inc. (V), as well as Intel Corp. (INTC) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) - the latter two have been worldwide Olympic partners since 2017. Airbnb Inc. (ABNB) became a partner in 2019, and Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), whose Budweiser brand sponsored the 2022 Qatar World Cup (and was subject to a surprise stadium beer ban), became an Olympic partner earlier this year.

Related: Google has pulled controversial Gemini AI Olympics ad from TV rotation

Coca-Cola shares are up 0.1% Wednesday. The stock is up 15.6% in 2024, outpacing the S&P 500 index's SPX gain of 11.4%.

-James Rogers

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08-10-24 0812ET

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