Coke red-faced after competition pays their ‘debt’

Coca-Cola was left red-faced after its opposition, Kingsley Beverages, offered to pay its “debt” to a local organisation following an owl rescue at one of its plants.

Danelle Murray, from the Owl Rescue Centre (ORC) in Hartbeestpoort, said when Coca-Cola posted on social media that it would be covering the cost of rehabilitation of Hercules the owl, the organisation celebrated its
commitment to wildlife conservation by posting on their Facebook page about it.

Murray explained Hercules was one of several juvenile spotted eagle owls rescued from the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Herules, Pretoria, last year. “Coca-Cola then decided to name this last rescued owl Hercules for their social media campaign,” Murray said.

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There had been a breeding pair of spotted eagle owls at the bottling plant. “As far as our knowledge goes, they have been breeding there for the past four years. The owls breed on the steelwork in a roof,” Murray said.

She explained when spotted eagle owlets reached an age of approximately five weeks, they jumped from the nesting and spent time on the ground before they could fly. The owls learned to hunt by chasing after small prey such as
insects and lizards. Murray said the plant was unsafe for the young owls.

The organisation was, however, disappointed when nothing came from the promises months later and it took to social media about Coca-Cola not honouring its commitment. Murray said Coca-Cola had deceived consumers into thinking
it cared about environmental issues, which gained support from people with the same values.

“Our supporters believed that Coca-Cola is sponsoring us, which gives the impression that financially we are doing well.” Murray said smaller donors had fallen away because of their belief that big companies had the organisation covered.

At any given time, ORC houses about 70 owls and on average 1 500 to 2 000 owls a year.

Hercules has been released. “He has been spotted from time to time at some of the support feeding stations in the sanctuary,” Murray said.

Steven Fernandes, head of marketing for Kingsley Beverages, said the company had been following the ORC for a few years and had seen what a remarkable job it had been doing. ORC had posted a picture on Facebook with a can of Dragon energy drink a few years ago. “We noticed this post and covered the rehab cost for that owl,” Fernandes said.
“When I saw the post with regards to them being dropped by a big company, I felt that Kinglsey Beverages should step in to assist as it would be the right thing to do.”

It has also decided to donate products to the centre this week. The Coca-Cola Beverage South Africa has apologised unreservedly for what it called a miscommunication. Although the company was not a sponsor of the ORC, it committed to working closely with the organisation to find an amicable resolution.

The company has also removed the social media posts on 17 December as requested by ORC.

marizkac@citizen.co.za