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Coca-Cola is a brand “ever enshrouded in an aura of goodness and happiness,” writes Murray Carpenter in his just-released “Sweet and Deadly: How Coca-Cola Spreads Misinformation and Makes Us Sick” book published by The MIT Press.
He credits public relations campaigns that are so effective that “many Americans still have not gotten the memo about the health risks posed by sodas.”
Carpenter notes that some scientists say sugar-sweetened beverages contribute to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
“Put another way, one of the greatest threats to public health in the US, and around the world, is the consumption of Coca-Cola and other sugar-sweetened beverages,” he writes.
Sweet and Deadly covers how Coke has avoided its day of reckoning—unlike tobacco and opioid companies—via a sophisticated shadow network that has “masterfully spread disinformation for decades to hide the health risks from its consumers.”
The book is a must-read for PR people and students of disinformation.
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