You think Coke wants to advertise itself next to people saying racial slurs and harassing queer kids?
Yes.
In 1933, right when Hitler and the Nazi Party were assuming power, German-born Max Keith (pronounced “Kite”) took over the company’s German subsidiary, Coca-Cola GmbH. Keith was an imposing figure: tall, intimidating, possessing a “little whisk-broom mustache” (not unlike Hitler’s), charming but quick-tempered, and utterly devoted to Coca-Cola. “[Keith] valued his allegiance to the drink and to the company more than his allegiance to his own country,” says Pendergrast. For that reason, he saw no quarrel with boosting sales by tying Coca-Cola to every aspect of German life and, increasingly, Nazi rule.
I mean, TBF today they wouldn't want to advertise next to nazi stuff. Don't get it wrong though, if it were more profitable to advertise for the stoning of gays or immigrants or whatever you can be damn certain they would. Corps don't care about race, gender, orientation, pronouns, or whatever else. All that matters is the dollar.
Now, in Coke's... defence? - that was clearly a winning sales tactic in 1930s Germany. They didn't embrace the Nazis because they liked Hitler, they embraced the Nazis because it was better for their business interests to go with the direction of Germany's cultural shift than swim against the tide.
Nowadays Coke wouldn't want to be associated with those sorts of people unless it once again becomes more profitable to market your product to openly horrible human beings than ones who aren't racist pieces of shit. So maybe in a year or two we'll see Coke ads featuring Proud Boys, but right now that's still not something the brand image department would have the right kind of data to sign off on.
(note that I am 100% NOT defending Max Keith or morally justifying the actions of Cola-Cola GmbH, nor anyone else who threw their lot in with the Nazis)
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u/Stonedandpwned 8d ago
Better question is why are they allowed to advertise that????