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Citizen Coke - Book review

A long lesson in capitalism or a history of Coca Cola, the book by Bartow Elmore, an author from Alabama (formerly from Atlanta where Coke is based) is an interesting read that I am not sure I will finish.

The main thesis of this narrative seems to me that every silver coin has a cloudy lining, as in while Coke is a globally recognized brand that in some press seems to be doing right by the environmentalists and being a good corporate citizen it is really a massive machine that has sucked on the teat of large governments and third parties that invest in the actual raw material production and sourcing.

Be it Clean Water, Corn for the high fructose sugars, Caffeine for the kick or materials for packaging its wares (plastic, glass or aluminum) it has spread its vast network into various parts of the globe to get what it needs.

It has been masterful to let people believe in the power of marketing that consuming the sugar flavored water (mixed with a gas no one in their right mind would breathe) in a decorative container is in fact making a statement about who you are.  What that statement is, is left to the consumer of said beverage.

The story stretches from place to place to expose how the power of big money can swing public vote whether its bottling plants in arid regions that suck a lot of available water, or obtaining permissions from municipalities to run recycling programs for the packaging material under the guise of job creation.
It is a tale of an inventor of the paradigm that selling a brand without owning real assets is the best profit engine there is.

Today that model is supercharged by the Silicon Valley types where the largest private transportation company (called UBER) owns ZERO cars or a service to temporarily house people owns ZERO real estate (AirBnB).

There is a lot of information there but it seems somewhat repetitive after a while and I have been able to plough through the first half and feel like I might need more caffeine to keep up and finish the thing.  The book is even packaged (cover) to look like a Coke product.

So now if I could simply figure out a way to get inspired and awake without actually consuming any real product I would have a Uni-Corn in the offing?
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