Coca-Cola ad sparks outrage in Bangladesh for denying ties to Israel

A Coca-Cola advertisement in Bangladesh is garnering widespread criticism over its attempt to distance itself from its perceived ties with Israel amid the ongoing assault on Gaza.

The 60-second commercial, which aired on television and social media, is being called out for its insensitive response to the ongoing boycott in Bangladesh.

Calls for boycotts of companies believed to have ties with the Israeli military or government have surged in many Muslim-majority countries since October 7, including Bangladesh. This has led to a significant decline in sales for Coca-Cola in these regions, with local media reporting a 23 per cent drop in sales in Bangladesh.

According to Al Jazeera, Coca-Cola amped up its advertising efforts in Bangladesh to counter this decline. This includes full-page newspaper ads and prominent ad placements on news websites. The latest advertisement aimed to dispel what the company described as “misinformation” about Coca-Cola being an Israeli product.

The controversial ad

The advertisement, which debuted during the highly anticipated Pakistan-India T20 World Cup match in the US, opens with a scene in a market on a hot day. A young man named Sohail approaches a middle-aged shopkeeper he calls Bablu bhai.

The shopkeeper, watching a music video for a Coke Studio Bangladesh song, offers Sohail a bottle of Coke, which he refuses, saying, “No Bablu bhai, I am not drinking this stuff any more.” When the shopkeeper asks why, Sohail says, “This stuff is from ‘that place’.” He does not name the “place” but it soon becomes clear that he is referring to Israel.

Bablu then attempts to reassure Sohail and his friends that Coca-Cola is not an Israeli product, highlighting its global presence in 190 countries over 138 years, including in places like Turkey, Spain, Dubai — and even Palestine.

However, the ad’s claim that “even Palestine has a Coke factory” was met with harsh criticism. The Coca-Cola factory in question is located in the Atarot industrial zone in the occupied West Bank, an illegal Israeli settlement under international law.

Coca-Cola removes and then reuploads ad

Following the backlash, Coca-Cola Bangladesh temporarily removed the advertisement from its YouTube and Facebook pages for about five hours, though it was later reinstated with the comments section disabled. Despite the online outrage, the commercial continues to air on television.

A PR disaster

The main actor featured in the ad issued a statement on social media defending his stance as a staunch supporter of “humanity” and clarifying that his involvement was a strictly “professional” engagement.

X users, however, are not convinced. “Well it’s surprising to see a company actively worsen its PR game. The recent Coca-Cola Bangladesh advertisement is disturbingly off-putting. Gross. However, it appears the boycott is beginning to have an impact. A more fitting tagline would be: ‘Always leaving a bad taste’,” one user wrote.

The micro-blogging platform has been flooded with similar reactions.

People believed the ad has resulted in a renewed boycott.

Some Bangladeshi businesses have also responded to the Coca-Cola advertisement. An online shoe shop in Bangladesh released an ad showing a Coke bottle being kicked by a pair of their shoes.

Omar Nasif Abdullah, a lecturer of marketing at North-South University in Dhaka, criticised Coca-Cola for failing to understand the sentiments of the people. He described the new PR campaign as having the “wrong message and wrong approach,” calling it an unforgivable mistake in the competitive world of marketing, according to Al Jazeera.