Resolved clauseShareholders request that the Coca-Cola Board of Directors prepare and publish a report at least six months prior to the next Annual General Meeting, at reasonable expense, analyzing the negative impacts to our brand image, culture, customer base, and shareholder value of associating our brand with politically divisive events that contravene our publicly stated goals and public commitments.
Whereas clauseOn September 13, 2024, Coca-Cola’s CEO, Director of Corporate Governance, VP & Head of Investor Relations, and Associate General Counsel & Corporate Secretary received a letter signed by investors with over $63 billion in assets.[1] The letter inquired as to why Coca-Cola was sponsoring a conference featuring keynote speaker Chris Rufo, a high-pro?le, right-wing radical activist who has been leading attacks against marginalized communities, ?rst by weaponizing a distorted version of “critical race theory” and then by linking LGBTQ-inclusive education practices to pedophilic “grooming.”[2]
Shareholders want to be con?dent that our Board of Directors and executives are focused on ensuring that our brand will attract the best and brightest employees, the most loyal customers, and long-term shareholders. The decision to sponsor the Canada Strong and Free event on September 21, 2024, featuring Chris Rufo associates our brand with divisiveness, homophobia, hate speech, and far-right radical activism. These associations diminish our brand equity and goodwill, alienate many of our customers, and harm our ability to retain top talent.
Coca-Cola’s DEI webpage is titled: “Creating a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.” It continues, “Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our values and our growth strategy and play an important part in our company's success. We leverage the remarkable diversity of people across the world to achieve our purpose of refreshing the world and making a difference. Our aspiration is not only to mirror the diversity of the communities where we operate, but also to lead and advocate for a better shared future.”[3]
The sponsorship of this conference, with Chris Rufo as a keynote speaker, is fundamentally misaligned with the Company’s stated goals and values related to diversity, inclusion, and civil rights.
The end result of our Company’s logo on Canada Strong’s website is that we have seen media coverage calling out Coca-Cola’s hypocrisy including stories in Forbes, Popular Information, as well as a video posted on X that asks, “Why is Coca-Cola associating itself with divisiveness and homophobia?”[4] The video contrasts Chris Rufo’s racist statements with Coca-Cola’s declaration that: “We do not tolerate racism or discrimination of any kind. Coca-Cola has always stood for optimism, diversity and inclusion.” The video ends by asking Coca-Cola to choose “Harmony” over “Harm.”[5]
Supporting statementShareholders recommend, at Board and management discretion, that the report outline policies that can be put in place to avoid such risks in the future.