On Saturday December 21 ten human rights activists launched a surprise demonstration against Coca-Cola, at the Coca-Cola truck marketing event in Brighton, United Kingdom. The group were demanding that Coca-Cola, as a sponsor of the coming Olympics in Sochi, break their silence on Russia’s homophobic laws. This week, Coca-Cola published official photos of part of the demonstration via their CokeZone website.
Photo from CokeZone of anti-Coca-Cola demo for Russian LGBTQ+ rights
Photo of anti-Coca-Cola demo for Russian LGBTQ+ rights
See original photos at:
http://bit.ly/cokedemo
http://bit.ly/cokedemo3
http://bit.ly/cokedemo4
The placards read: “Olympic sponsors break your silence on LGBTQ+ Russia!”, “Defend LGBTQ+ people in Russia!” and “Demand protection for LGBTQ+ Russians!”. We wonder if these demo photos will remain online as attention is drawn to them worldwide, or whether Coca-Cola will seek to silence the demonstrators’ call for equal rights.
Whilst Coca-Cola may be the “best place to work for LGBT equality“, they seek to benefit financially from sponsoring an event in a country which actively oppresses LGBTQ+ people through new anti-gay laws.
Since Putin passed the law against the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations to minors”, Russian LGBTQ+ citizens have seen homophobic and transphobic violence against them increase, whilst police stand by or even arrest the victims of assault. These laws victimise LGBTQ+ people and validate violence towards us in a country where people are increasingly angry at a multitude of oppressive measures from the government.
As Olympic sponsors, Coca-Cola and other sponsors are in a strong position where a statement of solidarity with Russian LGBTQ+ people, and explicitly against the anti-gay laws in Russia, would put pressure on Putin and his government to reconsider. Coca-Cola should use its sponsorship to raise awareness of the plight of Russian LGBTQ+ people, as its current silence makes Coca-Cola complicit in the abuse of LGBTQ+ people.
You can help raise awareness and put pressure on Coca-Cola by sharing this post, sharing the photos linked above on Facebook and Twitter, and sign a petition such as this one to demand Coca-Cola speak out. We’ll also be targeting other sponsors and demonstrating at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, so keep in touch with us via Facebook at http://facebook.com/russiawithlovebrighton
See more photos of the demonstration (not published by Coca-Cola!) at http://bit.ly/cokedemo2
Here’s me protesting at the Coca-Cola truck after we did the official Coca-Cola photo shoot!
http://bit.ly/cokedemo http://bit.ly/cokedemo3 http://bit.ly/cokedemo4 The placards read: “Olympic sponsors break your silence on LGBTQ+ Russia!”, “Defend LGBTQ+ people in Russia!” and “Demand protection for LGBTQ+ Russians!”. We wonder if these demo photos will remain online as attention is drawn to them worldwide, or whether Coca-Cola will seek to silence the demonstrators’ call for equal rights.
Whilst Coca-Cola may be the “best place to work for LGBT equality“, they seek to benefit financially from sponsoring an event in a country which actively oppresses LGBTQ+ people through new anti-gay laws.
Since Putin passed the law against the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations to minors”, Russian LGBTQ+ citizens have seen homophobic and transphobic violence against them increase, whilst police stand by or even arrest the victims of assault. These laws victimise LGBTQ+ people and validate violence towards us in a country where people are increasingly angry at a multitude of oppressive measures from the government.
As Olympic sponsors, Coca-Cola and other sponsors are in a strong position where a statement of solidarity with Russian LGBTQ+ people, and explicitly against the anti-gay laws in Russia, would put pressure on Putin and his government to reconsider. Coca-Cola should use its sponsorship to raise awareness of the plight of Russian LGBTQ+ people, as its current silence makes Coca-Cola complicit in the abuse of LGBTQ+ people.
You can help raise awareness and put pressure on Coca-Cola by sharing this post, sharing the photos linked above on Facebook and Twitter, and sign a petition such as this one to demand Coca-Cola speak out. We’ll also be targeting other sponsors and demonstrating at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, so keep in touch with us via Facebook at
http://facebook.com/russiawithlovebrighton See more photos of the demonstration (not published by Coca-Cola!) at
http://bit.ly/cokedemo2 Here’s me protesting at the Coca-Cola truck after we did the official Coca-Cola photo shoot!
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Hide the following 3 comments
http://killercoke.org/
29.12.2013 15:17
IHTF
Common sense !
30.12.2013 17:21
The guns, the police, the soldiers and the prisons all belong to the pubic sector social enterprise, the government. So if society is going to be governed by force, why would any private business want the government guns on their side ?
Anyway, I prefer Morrison's cola. It's cheeper and it's much cooler to be seen with ;)
anarchist
FAI/IRF threatens Coca Cola and Nestle with product sabotage
01.01.2014 19:45
In their declaration the group attacks Coca Cola and Nestle and claims that four days after sending the envelop, they would put bottles of Coca Cola and Nestea tampered with 100ml of hydrochloric acid back on store shelves. The militant group declares that their intention is not to harm innocent people, but to force the multinational companies of withdrawing their products from the shelves.
In the video included on the USB drive, the group shows how they managed tampered with a Coca Cola Light bottle without causing any damage to it seal, to demonstrate that the group is capable of carrying out the threat.
'anonymous