Pressure Group Wants Coca-Cola To Take The “Coca” Out Of Its Name

You can’t imagine McDonald’s without its golden arches.

You wouldn’t be able to think about Kentucky Fried Chicken minus the Colonel.

And where would Mazda be sans its Zoom Zoom Zoom?

So how could you possibly consider Coca-Cola without its “Coca”?

That’s exactly what’s happening in Bolivia, where the farmers who grow coca leaves are pressing their country to actually rewrite their constitution and force the soft drink giant to take the word out of its title.

The leaf, which can be used to make cocaine but is also involved in the manufacture of other non-drug products, is something of a sacred cow in the country. And many seem to feel that using it for a glass of pop somehow demeans its value.

Which explains the strongly worded resolution demanding that “international companies that include in their commercial name the name of coca (example: Coca Cola) refrain from using the name of the sacred leaf in their products.”

Sound like a far fetched idea doomed to failure? It may be.

While there’s no word on whether he supports the initiative, the country’s president is known to be behind the idea of the rehabilitating the maligned coca leaf.

The substance is tightly controlled in Bolivia to discourage drug dealers. 

But growers claim if the wraps were taken off the national institution, it would encourage people to use it to make legitimate products, like tea, flour and even toothpaste.

Needless to say, Coke is not amused. Coca-Cola is “the most valuable and recognized brand in the world,” the company notes in a statement and points out its name is protected under Bolivian law.

The bottling giant insists those old rumours that Coca-Cola once contained cocaine aren’t true but didn’t say if the coca leaf was used to flavour the world’s best selling soft drink.

If the Bolivian government decides to actually make this bizarre change, it would create a strange dilemma for the pop maker. It couldn’t call itself simply “Cola”, which is far too generic. And coming up with a new moniker for a single country would be expensive and a waste of money.

The legal battles over such a move would cost both the country and the company a fortune. Coke is fiercely protective of its brand and its name and wouldn’t take any interference – no matter how strange – lightly.

So don’t expect this movement to have a lot of fizz. It’s likely Coke expects Bolivia to simply leave them alone. Or at least leaf them alone.