So Coca-Cola and Pepsi are in trouble in India over pesticide levels in their drinks. Its an issue I know quite a bit about, working somewhere which boycotted Coca-Cola for some time. And as ever, this boils down to communication rather than science. There may well be pesticides leaking into these soft-drinks. But that’s because nearly all of the ground water in India is contaminated with pesticides. One of the ways Coke has gone on the offensive is to point out that there is much less contamination in Coke than in a cup of tea – because the tea and the water it is made with is not as filtered. So why have Coke and Pepsi been targeted?

Simply, it comes with the territory (and by that I don’t necessarily mean India). Big multinationals are seen as fair game, and more importantly, fan the flames of their own accusation terribly well. Snap denials, big campaigns show they are on the run. But the safety of Indian groundwater, and indeed the water in which all fruit and veg are grown, is not a sexy story to the west. Campaigns against ground water contamination is a local issue, it is only when Coke and Pepsi are called evil that it becomes an international issue. And with international issues comes solidarity and funding. The campaign grows, even if it is grossly exaggerated to paint Coke as the bad guys, not the India government policy of agriculture, or local farmers. But even more ironically, its the damage to Coke’s reputation which might kick start all of India’s water being cleaned up – as Coke securing clear water by helping clean all the water – that could solve the problem. It would probably be cheaper than legal action.

Look how easy it is to damage big brands. And just a little tease, neither Coca-Cola or Pepsi made it into the Freakytrigger list of top 25 brands, starting soon, here…

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