Coca-Cola and Karma (cartoon)

Why do soft drinks use bubbly soda? It is the only way to make that much sugar palatable. Sugar ends up being more toxic and addictive than the little cocaine once used.

  

Former exec regrets Coke's marketing campaign

Text: Nola.com/Newsflash, The Washington Post News Service, with Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON - Todd Putman stepped up to a podium Thursday ready to break with his past.

   

Spread before him was a ballroom full of public health officials and community activists, gathered for a "National Soda Summit" on how to loosen the soda industry's grip on the American appetite.

   

The conference marked the latest salvo in a barrage of recent attacks on makers of unhealthy food and beverages, especially soda.

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New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, I, announced plans to ban super-size sodas from his city's restaurants, movie theaters, sports arenas, and bodegas. Disney will no longer run junk-food ads with its children's programming. First lady Michelle's book about the White House vegetable garden, released Tuesday, notes that the only drinks offered during family meals at home are milk and water.

  

The logic behind these moves has been repeated so often it is practically a mantra: The nation is in the throes of an obesity crisis, and sodas account for an outsize share of the sugar pouring into American bellies.

   

Putman, 51, shares that view. But he is also driven by another motive: From 1997 to mid-2000, he was a top marketing executive at Coca-Cola.

   

"It took me 10 years to figure out that I have a large karmic debt to pay for the number of Cokes I sold across this country," he said. On Thursday, he came to settle it.

   

He wanted to give an inside account of what he contends has been a drive by Coca-Cola to replace not just its direct competitors but all beverages in the American diet -- a campaign for what the company called "share of stomach." He wanted to warn about the industry's focus on young people and minorities.

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But mostly he wanted to level the playing field.

   

"I'm not against soft drinks per se," he began carefully. "What I am for is balance of power. And I think the power has shifted in the wrong direction. The resources, the scale, the intelligence, the strategy these companies use is intense.

   

"We need to take all that thinking...all that strategy and convert it -- jujitsu it -- to healthy products."

   

Such a mission would have been inconceivable to the man who joined Coca-Cola back in 1997, Putman said during an interview before the speech. More

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Samsara: In a Bag!!

As a guy who breaks out in hives at the very thought of shopping, I don't have a problem equating samsara with handbags/purses and/or shopping!! However, I think the makers of Samsara handbags weren't thinking of torment and suffering when they set out to market their product. Sadly, their research department left them, "holding the bag" so to speak (Sorry, about the pun; I couldn't resist. If you're wondering what "holding the bag" means, just click here for an explanation). That's because according to the products website, "Matt and Nat" the phrase samsara is Sanskrit for "rebirth."

This, however, is only partially true. I'm not an expert on Sanskrit but what I believe the term Samsara means something along the lines of "perpetual flow." Meaning, the cycle of life, death, rebirth. Taken by itself, the idea of "renewal" after death can sound appealing but Buddhist teachings go deeper with the concept by showing that this cycle isn't something to desire. It's like a roller coaster that looks like a good time at an amusement park but once you get on it you find out that the coaster has no brakes!! The fun would disappear like a fart in the wind after about the 3rd, 4th or 10th time you vomited from the endless looping. And by the 1 millionth time it would become full-blown torture right out of the Medieval period.

That's, true samsara. Yes, rebirth is apart of it but rebirth isn't the ideal because it's only a brief respite. Once you are born again you're plopped right back into the same mess of greed, desire, delusion and suffering that was there in the last lifetime. So, rebirth is less of a goal than it is a "do-over" card. It's like the teacher saying you failed a course but the good news is that you get to retake it. It's nice that you get another chance, but do you really want to spend the rest of eternity retaking that same course? So, in Buddhism samsara is something to free ourselves from--not desire. We practice Buddhism to liberate ourselves from the consequences of our past karma that keeps us locked into the incessant cycle.

As with many fashion products, the makers of this handbag are looking to cash in on the latest fad in pop-culture; to incorporate anything Buddhist into marketing a product. I'm sure they mean well but the cynic in me has to chuckle a bit at the idea of using the phrase "samsara" to sell products that don't bring lasting happiness; and thus, keep us locked in samsara!!

At least they are donating some of the money to charity; and it is made from non-leather products. But, overall this handbag is a good reminder to how the desiring mind feeds off of marketing signals in our modern consumer culture. How many times have we bought something that just sounded essential to our wardrobe or lifestyle, yet realized a bit later that the product no longer satisfies us? The longer time passes we realize that we have too much stuff!! At that point the mind feels frustration on how to get rid of it!! Thus, the cycle of suffering from materialism continues. I'm certainly no saint when it comes to materialism. I try to be conscious in my purchases but I don't always resist that urge to splurge. Still, it's worth trying because over-consumption can lead to a nasty hangover.

P.S. - Yes, I do see the irony that in raising this topic I'm giving this company free advertising and thus propelling consumerism. However, the only people that can avoid total consumption are monks in monasteries. Yet, even then they still have to buy things for up-keep of the monastery. So, I think the key is to be conscious of what we buy and learn not to attach to those products; because clearly we can't live in this world and never buy anything.

PHOTO CREDIT: Matt and Nat

~Peace to all beings~

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