‘Woke’ Coke Pauses Diversity Plan After
‘Intense Backlash,’ Plan Author Suddenly
Resigns
Daily Wire,
by
Emily Zanotti
Original Article
Posted By: Imright,
5/4/2021 9:19:36 PM
Coca-Cola has pressed pause on a controversial “diversity plan” after what Fox News described as an “intense backlash,” and the company’s general counsel, Bradley Gayton, who authored the plan, has now abruptly resigned.As The Daily Wire reported back in February, “Coca-Cola debuted a new policy this year implementing a diversity quota for the outside counsel it retains, saying it will only hire law firms that commit to providing 15 percent of billed time from black attorneys, higher than the percentage of African Americans in the U.S. population.”
Reply 1 - Posted by:
itsonlyme 5/4/2021 9:36:35 PM (No. 775611)
Bradley Gayton
Let me guess, pause, correct again
Dawg
44 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
DVC 5/4/2021 9:39:21 PM (No. 775613)
We used to drink Coke Zero regularly, would buy a 12 pack about once a week. And we haven't bought ANY Coke products since the moron-in-charge came out with the evil, brain-dead "act less white" advice.
If I never drink any again, I'll be fine. Scroom.
134 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
TJ54 5/4/2021 9:40:24 PM (No. 775614)
F Coke!
75 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
phosita 5/4/2021 9:42:56 PM (No. 775616)
Dear Coca-Cola,
You can grovel. You can beg. You can apologize. But the days of buying your products are over, done, kaput. You. Are. Canceled. Enjoy.
159 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 5/4/2021 9:49:14 PM (No. 775620)
In order to appease the radical leftists - -
- - they're changing the product name from Coke to Woke.
I still won't buy the crap.
96 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
acesfull 5/4/2021 9:50:43 PM (No. 775621)
I’ve been drinking coke for over 55 years. No more. Moving MLB All Star game from Atlanta was the last straw. Haven’t had a coke since and have no plans to start again or go back to watching Fox News for that matter. Besides Pepsi is just as good (ice cold!), My golly, how stupid these woke corporations are.
85 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Maggie2u 5/4/2021 9:55:08 PM (No. 775622)
Act less White? How'd that work out for Rachel Dolezal?
77 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
SALady 5/4/2021 10:08:08 PM (No. 775630)
Oh well, that's nice. Go woke, go broke. If it fits, wear it.
But we are still clearly too white to be drinking Coke, so I still won't be buying it any time in foreseeable future.
Oh, #6, please don't forget that Pepsi were huge supporters of BLM and gave them millions of dollars last year. I can safely say none of those dollars came from our house once we knew that.
87 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Krause 5/4/2021 10:12:25 PM (No. 775632)
They’re tripping all over themselves after getting down in the mud with all the other idiot wokesters.
60 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
downnout 5/4/2021 10:21:06 PM (No. 775635)
Gayton was only at Coca Cola for six or seven months but he still received a very nice golden parachute to tide him over until his next diversity gig.
65 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
voxpopuli 5/4/2021 10:27:59 PM (No. 775640)
Lord Abbett, a huge financial firm, also signed on
with a plan to redistribute their assets to
BLMers and hire Diverse
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/businesses-philanthropy-unite-eliminate-racial-wealth-gap-rcna608
25 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Omen55 5/4/2021 10:42:21 PM (No. 775650)
IOW real lawyers looked at this & said.
"You are nuts!. We'll be sued by other lawyers who will take us for all of the coke!"
28 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
chumley 5/4/2021 10:56:11 PM (No. 775663)
Store brands and local brands are just as good and half the price. They spent the 1970's making ads targeted at inner city ghetto dwellers, and now this. I dont believe I'll be sending them my money. I hope they lose their diabetes.
30 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Catherine 5/4/2021 11:04:13 PM (No. 775669)
I drank an awful lot of Diet Coke in my lifetime. Then, due to cost, I started supplementing with Shasta diet cola. Not bad. In fact Shasta has tons of different diet flavors and a case is, or was, less than $3. I can say Shasta here, right?
36 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Songstress 5/4/2021 11:12:53 PM (No. 775673)
Coca Cola, a company that for almost a century had a reputation as being as “American as apple pie” needs to ditch their British CEO, too. Don’t we have any qualified candidates here? I’m sick of this globalist crap.
70 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
ScooterTrash 5/4/2021 11:42:01 PM (No. 775683)
Coke wants me to be less white. Hey Coke, how about you be less stupid!
91 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 5/5/2021 1:42:45 AM (No. 775715)
Please don't tell me RC Cola has jumped on the "woke" band wagon.
24 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
DCGIRL 5/5/2021 5:16:54 AM (No. 775744)
I would purchase coke zero for my family and friends. Now, Coke is no longer on my shopping list. We have switched to Dr. Pepper zero. It's very good.
27 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
ARKfamily 5/5/2021 6:00:53 AM (No. 775751)
When are businesses going to learn to stick to what they intended in the first place? Take this advice from a customer. If you are selling a product, sell a product. If you are providing a service, provide a service. Please do not use my account for social causes or charitable causes. I am not your employee. You are not my CEO or Pastor. I read my Bible to be a better person and give cheerfully on my own.
In society, these lines have been blurred for a long time and I am speaking up. It started last year in May or June 2020. Kohl's contacted me through my account information to send me a social message. Yet, the prior year I had called customer service to talk to them about a situation concerning discrimination. The manager hung up on me. Since then, I have cancelled my account with Kohl's and shop there infrequently. The stuff I purchased there recently fell apart.
So, I am sticking to my belief about businesses. . .
35 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
HisHandmaiden 5/5/2021 6:09:47 AM (No. 775754)
LDotters, this should not surprise you smart people, but there is nothing good for you in a soft drink, no matter the name... these companies should not even be in business, let alone get tax breaks from us!
And why do they need high-paid lawyers?
Get a good reverse osmosis water filter, add a refreshing fresh lemon wedge to each glass of the 6-8 glasses a day to start, and you will not only be more healthy, no more acid reflux, bloating, weight gain... you will have a so much better, younger complexion and save $.
KAG
54 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
5 handicap 5/5/2021 6:16:19 AM (No. 775757)
This certainly doesn't mean people should ever start using Coke products again, only that perhaps they made a boo boo!
12 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
Rinktum 5/5/2021 6:40:49 AM (No. 775767)
Clearly, there is still a lot of good old American spirit out there. Regardless of what the media tells us, we are not going to be brainwashed by the woke crowd. Some will but they are the kind of people who go through life never watching the news or understanding why it is important to be informed. Those are becoming less and less because the woke monster is in everyone’s face and we don’t like it. Americans expect to be left alone to live our lives, but this group of communist yahoos believe they have the power and right to tell us how to live out lives. It is not going to happen. Thankfully, people are stepping up and taking these woke-mongers head on. It is music to my ears to hear these companies back away from the foolishness they are promoting in order to be in with the in crowd. I don’t believe they understand that the in crowd is a minority in the country. Sure, they are a loud one but in numbers they do not measure up. Remember that. We are the majority.
Coke and the rest of the woke companies are killing their brand and its a beautiful thing to behold. Maybe some CEO sitting in a high rise somewhere will take note and refuse to go down the woke road. We can only hope.
41 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
FunOne 5/5/2021 6:48:47 AM (No. 775775)
Actually, this train wreck started when Coke bought into the affirmative action concept and hired ole Bradley Gayton.
I am done with Coke, and it used to be my go-to choice of soft drinks, but I am not going to support a company that has a leadership that applies "white guilt" when hiring.
38 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
udanja99 5/5/2021 7:09:15 AM (No. 775785)
You beat me to it, #20. The three worst things that you can put into your body are, in order: street drugs, cigarettes and soft drinks.
I have two water filters. One takes out all of the garbage and the other makes the water alkaline. Other than coffee in the morning, water is the only thing I drink.
Besides the benefits listed by #20, you’ll also have fewer dental problems.
27 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
Muguy 5/5/2021 7:13:02 AM (No. 775787)
I would imagine that there are quite a few more TEA drinkers now as many have given up Coca Cola products.
I have saved a TON of money by eliminating Cokes from my life-- amazing how much carbonated "sugar water" I was drinking...
Sugar addiction no more!
21 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
jigzsaw 5/5/2021 7:23:54 AM (No. 775794)
Nice buyout for a year’s work. No more Dasani for me.
21 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
Speedy2 5/5/2021 7:33:16 AM (No. 775802)
woka cola
23 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
Jebediah 5/5/2021 7:37:09 AM (No. 775808)
And word today is that American Airlines,Levi and others are ALREADY objecting to the Texas plan to make voting safe and legal. I will never fly Americanm and Coke is off the list, as well as everything they own under another brand name!
21 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
JrSample 5/5/2021 7:56:55 AM (No. 775823)
It has to be more than a coincidence that his monthly consulting fee is $666,666.
I am not kidding...it says that in the article. Read about his separation agreement, they are still paying him.
22 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
vboscaino 5/5/2021 8:06:41 AM (No. 775835)
So he's a current employee, but his severance package essentially pays him a $4.0 million signing bonus plus $666,666 per month ($8.0 million) over the next year to be a "consultant". will be fun to see what magnitude of hit their earnings took after this clown unveiled his woke stupidity. Whatever the earnings loss is, throw the $12 million on top of that that this idiot is getting paid. I'm sure Coke shareholders will appreciate all the value that he brought to the table.
25 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 5/5/2021 8:17:38 AM (No. 775838)
I seldom drink sodas, but kept it on hand for visiting friends. Once my current stash is gone, that's it. Giving up Dasani water will be harder - it is the best-tasting bottled water. I'll have to talk to my DH about that one.
10 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
bpl40 5/5/2021 8:28:13 AM (No. 775845)
Customer brand loyalty is something that is earned the hard way and is very difficult to take away from capable competitors who know what they are doing. If I were Pepsi I would start a campaign of "Pepsi the favorite of patriots". or some such. But apparently Pepsi is equally dense in these matters.
14 people like this.
Reply 33 - Posted by:
Bassman1911 5/5/2021 8:41:51 AM (No. 775856)
Demand 15% of attorneys be black. Doesn’t matter if they’re good attorneys or unqualified attorneys, just as long as they’re black. What a strategy for success. Why doesn’t Coke just shut up and sell soda.
21 people like this.
Reply 34 - Posted by:
Zigrid 5/5/2021 8:48:53 AM (No. 775865)
My store has shelves of coke products sitting on the shelves... no one is buying... BTW...Dr. Pepper has been a great alternative...and now coke is getting nervous because it's hurting the bottom line... maxine's mob stealing coke/cola isn't the same as putting your US dollars down at the checkout counter...walk with your wallets folks... WE don't have to take this crap from anybody...I'm sick to death of the lefties... and I don't have to take it anymore... I'm FREE!!
20 people like this.
Reply 35 - Posted by:
Strike3 5/5/2021 8:48:54 AM (No. 775866)
Bradley Gayton is Coke's Colin Kaepernick. They paid this little dweeb almost 5 million bucks in 2020 to single-handedly sink their ship and now it's sitting on the bottom with a hull full of Coke. The people do have the power.
21 people like this.
Reply 36 - Posted by:
ARKfamily 5/5/2021 9:02:32 AM (No. 775886)
I do have an additional comment. My stance on businesses apply to Hollywood and some churches as well. I think messages have become so blurred through the years that Hollywood thinks they should be telling American citizens how to think and what to do. Sorry but your business is about tv and movie entertainment. Leave it at that. As for some churches, the message has become blurred there too. We need more people opening up their Bibles and reading His word. It seems that some church Pastors feel they should be telling us how to think and act. That is a slippery slope especially if they are trying to go woke. No, that is God's job. He REALLY does want to work with us on an individual basis!
Thanks to all of the posters commenting about soda. I hardly ever drink coke or pepsi anymore unless there is no choice. I like root beer or white soda. The person mentioning "Shasta" reminded me of some good memories - summer memories. . .
15 people like this.
Reply 37 - Posted by:
Hermoine 5/5/2021 9:03:29 AM (No. 775889)
His signing bonus and separation agreement are literally devilish. Wonder what the average worker at Woke Coke thinks about this guy making so much money in so little time while they toil away doing the "menial" work required to keep the company going.
9 people like this.
Reply 38 - Posted by:
red1066 5/5/2021 9:07:05 AM (No. 775894)
Coke heard from their stockholders and saw their sales fall. This clown didn't resign on his own, he was fired, but told to resign.
9 people like this.
Reply 39 - Posted by:
WD40 5/5/2021 9:18:19 AM (No. 775914)
The dude who resigned gets a $12M/year consulting contract to work for the CEO.
8 people like this.
Reply 40 - Posted by:
Tanker76 5/5/2021 9:19:52 AM (No. 775915)
Store brands are in most cases just rebranded major brands. There is a Coke bottling plant in Elizabethtown, KY. If you tour their museum, one part overlooks the can warehouse - there are more Kroger Big K cans, stacked up on pallets, than Coke cans.
7 people like this.
Reply 41 - Posted by:
bigfatslob 5/5/2021 9:57:05 AM (No. 775952)
I'm going to feel funny at our lodge's bar ordering a Rum and RC Cola. It just has a different ring to it.
I'm with the poster that it's a good opportunity for a competitor to start an ad for their product like, "Drink RC Cola the choice drink of Patriots drink with us and be a patriot". You know it would be a winning stance and be a successful ad.
3 people like this.
Reply 42 - Posted by:
LissaMD 5/5/2021 9:59:57 AM (No. 775956)
Coke has been busted. Make no mistake.....companies all across this nation are altering hiring practices and salary bands in an effort to manufacture a more diverse portfolio . Coke did it very clumsily.....others are taking great care.....but in the end.....this is offensive on every level.
11 people like this.
Reply 43 - Posted by:
formerNYer 5/5/2021 10:13:32 AM (No. 775968)
soda is poison to the body - zero sugar soda is even more so.... I don't drink any soda, stopped years ago... Cokes foolish "be less white..." make me even more glad of my decision not to drink any soda - pepsi has the same wokeness as coke, both own many other brands stay away from all of them.
Coke sales are in the dumpster.
12 people like this.
Reply 44 - Posted by:
jacksin5 5/5/2021 10:57:48 AM (No. 776032)
When the restaurants abandon serving only Coke products in their establishments, then I 'll know we are seriously gaining.
9 people like this.
Reply 45 - Posted by:
Lawsy0 5/5/2021 10:58:13 AM (No. 776033)
FTA: Gayton wrote in his letter. “We have a crisis on our hands and we need to commit ourselves to specific actions that will accelerate the diversity of the legal profession.”
Lookahere, Gayton: I have seen crises, We have one at the US southern border. I see no need to respond to Coca-Cola's faux crises. But if I ever find out that any Coka-Woka bottling company is producing my now-favorite Kroger Diet Cola, I am going to come looking for YOU. #13 is quite right.
5 people like this.
Reply 46 - Posted by:
Freedom1 5/5/2021 12:57:07 PM (No. 776178)
I was seriously addicted to Diet Coke. Then Coke got woke and now, no more Coke. I have already given up Amazon (try it, it's wonderful!), Netflix and several local businesses here in NC. Put your money where your mouth is!
4 people like this.
Reply 47 - Posted by:
antitox 5/5/2021 1:06:23 PM (No. 776194)
The problem with all of this is when these businesses take the woke trail it just strengthens the left grip on the public. The intent is to strong arm everyone into compliance. If the companies didn't do that the left wouldn't be able to put pressure on us.
But these companies are just plain stupid.
2 people like this.
Reply 48 - Posted by:
billegr11 5/5/2021 4:34:04 PM (No. 776324)
I'm so sick of politically correct corporate elites!!
Our household used to buy Diet Coke often.
No More!!!!
1 person likes this.
Delta Airlines, are you paying attention to this?
1 person likes this.
Reply 50 - Posted by:
Mr C 5/22/2021 9:55:06 AM (No. 793455)
Woke Coke dosn't come into the house of us old folk. Period
0 people like this.