Coca-Cola has scaled move in reverse its Christmas truck’s annual tour of the U.K. following protests from condition activists.
The truck will visit 24 towns and cities approximately the U.K. throughout November and December — down from 42 locations most recent year.
Coca-Cola’s annual marketing push has faced various necessitates from campaigners, ranging from a stop to the distribution of full-sugar not busy samples to calls for an outright ban of the tour.
The truck is usually hosted by nearby authorities and supermarkets as it moves around the U.K., but politicians in some areas be undergoing called for the truck to be banned from their towns and cities.
Final year, the drinks giant faced pressure from lawmakers in the English burghs of Liverpool and Carlisle, who argued the visit should not go ahead as it contributed to salubrity problems. This year, the tour will not visit those positions.
On Wednesday, campaign group Sugar Smart announced that activists from innumerable than 83 organizations had signed a letter calling for Coca-Cola to stopping-place handing out free sugary drinks. The group argued that by doing so, Coca-Cola was buoy up unhealthy consumption of sugary drinks, which they said role ined to the country’s childhood obesity crisis and wider health issues.
Campaigners are also influence supermarkets Asda and Tesco to stop hosting the truck, with Sugar Streetwise calling on the British public to sign a petition to the retailers.
Spokespersons for Tesco and Asda were not before you can say Jack Robinson available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
In a press release Wednesday, Sugar Adept U.K. campaign coordinator Vera Zakharov slammed the Coca-Cola truck push as “sinister.”
“It is welcome news that local authorities are turning their turn tail froms on sugary drinks promotions,” she said.
“Hosting the Christmas truck circuit is incompatible with their drive to reduce diet-related disease. Bizarrely, Coca-Cola equates handwriting out their sugary products with the start of the cherished holiday period, which has nothing to do with fizzy drinks. But this strategy acquiesce ti on a sinister tone when you consider that the Coke Truck stays areas with some of the worst health problems in the country.”
In an out letter to the campaigners, Coca-Cola said it would not change its strategy.
“You encouraged me specifically about the Coca-Cola Truck Tour and to not make regular Coca-Cola to hand on it,” said Jon Woods, the general manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland.
“I do not system to do this. This annual event is something that our consumers turtle-dove and enjoy, and I feel we run it in a responsible way.”
He noted that the company expected 90 percent of the imbibes sampled on the 2018 tour to be zero-sugar varieties — the highest level since the operations began eight years ago.
“I believe the actions we have taken as a organization to remove sugar from our drinks and focus our marketing on the no-sugar variants of Coca-Cola peek through we are committed to acting responsibly and playing our part in addressing some of the doubts you raise,” he said.
“For a few weeks per year, thousands of consumers love and lift our Christmas truck tour and as long as consumers want it we will persist to run it.”
The Coca-Cola truck tour also takes place throughout Europe, with 10 visit dates in Germany throughout November and December this year.
Luise Molling, campaigner on chubbiness prevention at Foodwatch Germany — an arm of a European public health organization, give someone a piece of ones minded CNBC via email that the group wanted to see similar action in Germany.
“Foodwatch categorically agrees with U.K. campaigners that the Coca-Cola Christmas tour should be stopped,” she explained. “There shouldn`t be any child-directed marketing for unhealthy products like Coke.”