MEDIAWATCH: How easy is it for TVNZ to allow Coke Cola to greenwash NZ?

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Coca-Cola to change Sprite’s iconic green packaging

Soft drink industry giant Coca-Cola is changing their iconic 60-year-old green Sprite bottles to clear plastic.

The company’s regional manager told 1News they are ditching the green bottles in an attempt to improve sustainability.

Coca-Cola’s Julie O’Toole says clear bottles are easier to recycle into new bottles.

“While green PET [polyethylene terephthalate] plastic is recyclable, it’s usually converted into single-use items like clothing and carpet that cannot be recycled again.

“The shift from green to clear plastic Sprite bottles will help increase these bottles’ likelihood of being remade into new bottles.”

O’Toole said the change in New Zealand will affect all pack sizes of Sprite Classic bottles in PET plastic packaging.

“Sprite No Sugar (which is already in a clear plastic bottle) will now sport a new-look black logo and name, Sprite Zero Sugar, to align it with Coca-Cola’s Zero Sugar range.”

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The change is expected to be complete in Aotearoa by June this year as retailers sell existing stock.

I was reading this in shock yesterday thinking, ‘how fucking easy is it for Coke to sell some bulshit greenwashing on the state broadcaster, because, that’s what this is, a story from the advertising department who have pushed a Coke press release into the news cycle.

The truth is that only a tiny fraction of all the plastic produced ever gets recycled, and then, even recycled plastic eventually breaks down into micro-plastics that end up in our air, our food, and in our blood.

This isn’t a solution, it’s a press campaign to con the sleepy hobbits of muddle NuZilind into believing coke are actually doing something meaningful.

Shame on TVNZ for getting so easily played by one of their largest advertisers.

 

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10 COMMENTS

  1. D.O.A.

    The Only Thing Green

    You must have heard by now
    It’s time to go green
    Get on the bandwagon
    It helps to be seen
    But it’s not a simple job
    Saving the earth
    So start with lip service
    You know what it’s worth

    Time to clean up
    The profits are high
    Make a quick buck
    Let the bullshit fly

    The only thing green is the color of their money
    Politicians and businessmen
    On the bandwagon
    They don’t give a damn
    They’re liars and they’re phonies
    The only thing green is the color of your money

    There’s lots of opportunity
    With the environment
    And if you lie enough
    You might become president
    They make it friendly
    They make it clean
    But the crap they leave
    Will never disappear

    It’s good for the earth
    It’s good for the sky
    Just count the cash
    Sell those lies

    The only thing green is the color of their money
    Politicians and businessmen
    On the bandwagon
    They don’t give a damn
    They’re liars and they’re phonies
    The only thing green is the color of your money

    The only thing green is the color of their money
    Politicians and businessmen
    On the bandwagon
    They don’t give a damn
    They’re liars and they’re phonies
    The only thing green is the color of your money
    The only thing green is the color of your money
    The only thing green is the color of your money
    Money
    Money
    Money
    Money
    Money
    Money
    Money

  2. While Coca-Cola is just greenwashing there still seems to be an abundance of people willing to pay for their sugar hit despite the health benefits of only drinking water so I expect that they will continue to profit while our planet gets increasingly polluted.

    • Heaven and hell.
      Most choose to live like their ambition is to go to hell expecting to end up in heaven.
      By all accounts heaven seems a rather boring place; no coke, no meat, no travel, no fun ….

  3. What they say is true. Based on science and economics.

    The woke wants to ban that what they dislike, even progress. Outrage is their call.

    If you fail to convince through argument, shout louder.

    Fact: Recycling has a very low economic return on investment. The value of waste minimisation is the sense of feeling virtuous. Feeling virtuous and good about yourself is actually a public good. Your are not saving the planet, sorry to burst your bubble.

  4. Remrmber universal praise they received for:
    “Our ambition is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050”

    BTW this planet does not need saving. Nor rescuing. Our pathetic species does. From itself.

  5. coke, never drink the sugary crap, in NZ we have small producers producing much better colas but they are more expensive than water which seems to be cokes price point….if you must give mexican coke a try it’s kinda tolerable

  6. I understand they’ve been considering this change for quite a while, I feel that it is welcome and about time.

Comments are closed.