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  • WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31 2007 4:00 PM

Congratulations, You're the Biggest International Corporate Assholes

Submitted by Rahodeb

Edited by erin_broadley



Consumers International revealed the winners of its International Bad Product Awards this week, and recipients included Coca Cola, Kellog's, Mattel, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. My two favorites are Coke and Takeda. Let's start with the drugs. In case you're not familiar, Takeda Pharmaceuticals manufactures the sleeping pill Rozerem. Most likely you've seen their televised advertisements, which feature a sleep-deprived dude chatting with Abe Lincoln and a beaver in his kitchen.



Apparently Takeda ran a different ad last year, which was accused of marketing the sleep aid to children.

The ad says: “Rozerem would like to remind you that it’s back to school season.” Then you see pictures of chalk boards, school books, a school bus, and kids with backpacks. And the ad suggests asking “your doctor if Rozerem is right for you.” The tagline: ‘Back To School.’

There’s just one problem: Rozerem was never approved for kids.

Accused of advertising that was "one step removed from dealing drugs near a school," Takeda pulled the ad after receiving a letter from the FDA warning them to "cease the dissemination of promotional materials for the drug featuring school children."

They also had to scrap an ad they had slated which featured a mother asking her elementary-aged children if they had brushed their teeth, washed their faces, and taken their pills. Back to the beaver, I guess.

Next up is Coca Cola, specifically for their marketing of Dasani bottled water. Bottled water is one of my favorite scams ever. By favorite, I mean most hated, and by scam, I mean you're a sucker if you buy and drink it. Dasani is way up there at the heights of said bottled water scaminess.

See, while they may market it as "pure," it's really just tap water. From local reservoirs.

Another award went to drinks giant Coca-Cola for pushing marketing "into the realms of the ridiculous" in the United States and South America with its Dasani bottled water which is sourced from the same reservoirs as local tap water.

Uh, yeah. Congratulations, Takeda and Coke. You're two of this years biggest corporate a-holes.



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Comments
Clidna

Clidna

Canada
January 2005

OCT 31, 2007 11:18 PM

herbancowboy said:
Dasani is everywhere, even on Mars. Good luck escaping that tidal wave.

FreakPirate said:
Coke isn't really doing anything wrong apart from taking advantage of stupid people.

...and killing union organizers at their plants in Colombia and sucking all the water out of farmland in India before they poison it.

There was a spoof ad in Adbusters a few years ago with a glass of water and the slogan "Can't beat the real thing." Google image search has failed me. Can we add them to the list?


shapeshifter23 said:
Think so? Read this...


Do you think perhaps FreakPirate was referring to what was discussed in this article, not what Coke does to the world at large? whatever

Tallboy66

Tallboy66

Chicago, IL
January 2005

OCT 31, 2007 11:21 PM

Clidna said:

imclever said:
Horrorflick.

Come up with an alternative that does not use plastic bottles, and is more environmentally friendly.

Rather than sitting there whining about the way it is, change something.

This is what pisses me off about 99.9% of people that are rabid environmentalists. All they can do is complain and look down on everyone else. They never do a goddamn thing.


Doesn't anyone just use a glass for their water anymore? Or am I old school in that regard?



I'm not big on glass but I have quite the collection of ceramic mugs.
I like the handle thing.

imclever

imclever

Kent, WA
February 2007

OCT 31, 2007 11:52 PM

Roethke said:


He just gave you an alternative. By a purifier yourself, and refill your bottle, instead of going through a different bottle each day. Did you just get too upset to read his whole post?



In between the insults, I read every word.

Oh, I reuse as many bottles as I can. Just because I occasionally BUY bottled water doesn't mean I empty them and toss them on the side of the road.

That would be irresponsible.

Oh, and my home tap water tastes great. Thanks.

imclever

imclever

Kent, WA
February 2007

OCT 31, 2007 11:53 PM

herbancowboy said:

imclever said:
This is what pisses me off about 99.9% of people that are rabid environmentalists. All they can do is complain and look down on everyone else. They never do a goddamn thing.


Can you point to a study that supports your analysis? What are you basing this on? How many "rabid environmentalists" have you surveyed?




That was from www.statsoutofmyass.com


DevilsReject

DevilsReject

Cleveland, OH
February 2007

OCT 31, 2007 11:59 PM

Tallboy66 said:




Holden_Caulfield said:


I drink tap water here as well as bottled water. Ann Arbor even has a program to recycle water bottles, so I do not feel the least bit guilty about drinking it.



The thing is being from the Great Lakes area (THE LARGEST FRESH WATER BODIES IN THE WORLD) it's silly to drink bottled tap, (filtered) water, lets try keeping the lakes clean enough to drink.
Now I got sucked into the whole energy/vitamin water thing but at least that has taste and It's slightly better for you than pop.



if you even lived near the lakes and heard half the horror stories about what is in the lakes, you'd be weary of even being near the lake, let alone drink the water.

Around Cleveland they shut beaches down because "the lake is too polluted to swim in".

Not exactly something i want to drink.

We have a water filter on our fridge, so the ice and the water feed are filtered.

the main tap we drink out of has a britanic filtration system on it.

Doyl

Doyl

I'm lost
April 2007

NOV 01, 2007 12:14 AM

Somebody might have said this already, but there some places, like the bush villages up here in Alaska, where bottled water is the cleanest water you can get.

I'd rather drink purified tapwater than the cesspools that they get their natural water out of. There are some places up here that literally, the ponds are the toilets due to no plumbing whatsoever.

USD1

USD1

Hilo, HI
January 2004

NOV 01, 2007 01:56 AM



The ad says: "Rozerem would like to remind you that it's back to school season." Then you see pictures of chalk boards, school books, a school bus, and kids with backpacks. And the ad suggests asking "your doctor if Rozerem is right for you." The tagline: 'Back To School.'

There's just one problem: Rozerem was never approved for kids.



Fairly sure anyone with any skills in inference can figure out that its the parents that need the rozerem because their kids are back in school, and not the kids.

Gringo

Gringo

Spokane, WA
May 2006

NOV 01, 2007 03:11 AM

Rahodeb said:
Another award went to drinks giant Coca-Cola for pushing marketing "into the realms of the ridiculous" in the United States and South America with its Dasani bottled water which is sourced from the same reservoirs as local tap water.

Actually, the websites for Coke's Dasani and Pepsi's Aquafina both disclose that their water is from public sources and filtered.

From Dasani:

To create Dasani, Coca-Cola bottlers start with the local water supply, which is then filtered for purity using a state-of-the-art process called reverse osmosis.

The purified water is then enhanced with a special blend of minerals for a pure, crisp, fresh taste.



From Aquafina:

Aquafina is purified water. It originates from public water sources and is then purified through a rigorous, seven-step purification process called HydRO-7. This is a state-of-the-art process that includes reverse osmosis and other filtering methods. Our unique HydRO-7 process removes things like chlorides, salts and other substances that can affect a water's taste.



So I guess they are both evil for stating quite clearly that they use public water sources?


MrCrisp

MrCrisp

I'm lost
August 2004

NOV 01, 2007 03:22 AM

Horrorflick said:
I've thought for a long time that people who drink bottled water are pussies and idiots. What a tragic waste of only marginally recyclable plastic. People really are fucking morons...



i wish i could drag a sink around with me everywhere.

Gringo

Gringo

Spokane, WA
May 2006

NOV 01, 2007 03:23 AM

Holden_Caulfield said:
Comparing Dasani water, which is processed through reverse osmosis, to Brita water, which is filtered through carbon, I believe is inaccurate. Reverse osmosis is a more complicated and more thorough process.


Yep, I've never heard of anyone attempting a water change on their reef tank using a Brita filter over an RO/DI system. That would be one way to lose corals and fish. biggrin

Pheme

Pheme

USA
August 2007

NOV 01, 2007 04:14 AM

Beaver?
I thought that was a gopher.
Has anyone ever seen it's tail?

imclever

imclever

Kent, WA
February 2007

NOV 01, 2007 04:42 AM

Pheme said:
Beaver?
I thought that was a gopher.
Has anyone ever seen it's tail?



Gophers don't play chess. They are better at Parcheesi.

BRussu

BRussu

Brunswick, OH
April 2004

NOV 01, 2007 05:49 AM

Evian backward = Naive

ki1

ki1

Ireland
September 2007

NOV 01, 2007 05:58 AM

jesus. most of you are looking down your noses at people who buy bottled water. as i'm sipping from my cold bottle of ballygowan, i'm going to tell you why i drink bottled water. the irish government puts chemicals in out tap water. and i dont want to drink water with added shit in it. fluoride. i can get in my toothpaste. ireland is the only country in europe where that craps put into the water system by law. so boo hoo. i will still be drinking bottled water. (but i recycle the plastic).

StarBelliedBoy

StarBelliedBoy

Philadelphia, PA
December 2003

NOV 01, 2007 06:32 AM

ki1 said:
jesus. most of you are looking down your noses at people who buy bottled water. as i'm sipping from my cold bottle of ballygowan, i'm going to tell you why i drink bottled water. the irish government puts chemicals in out tap water. and i dont want to drink water with added shit in it. fluoride. i can get in my toothpaste. ireland is the only country in europe where that craps put into the water system by law. so boo hoo. i will still be drinking bottled water. (but i recycle the plastic).



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