Coke Case Study

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Coca-Cola and BP
Cause
Coca-Cola
In June 1999 children at six schools in Belgium complained of headache, nausea, vomiting and shivering after drinking Coca-Cola 's beverages, leading to their hospitalization. Most of them reported an unusual smell and taste in the drink. The Belgian Health Ministry ordered for all Coca-Cola products to be banned from the market. Several other European countries followed suit. The entire incident left more than 240 children sick (Coca-Cola 's Belgian Crisis, 2004).
BP
In April 2010, a gas release and consequent explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig located in the Gulf of Mexico, which BP was leasing from Transocean, a Swiss company. The explosion killed 11 workers, injured 17 others, and dumped …show more content…

It took Coke’s Chairman and CEO Douglas Ivester seven days to provide a formal apology to Belgian consumers (Schwartz, 1999). Because of Coca-Cola’s delayed response to the crisis, they risked spreading anxiety over its products among its consumers (Abelson, 1999). However, Coca-Cola did cooperate with the Belgian health ministry throughout the crisis to make sure its products were safe. For Coca-Cola’s investors, the lack of preparation and quick response from its CEO may have brought doubt on whether the company could manage growth and future strategy well (Schwartz, …show more content…

The company created a section of its website dedicated to the spill, complete with photos, video, and maps that tracked the cleanup. BP also posted constant updates to its Facebook page and Twitter feed, which allowed people to vent their anger and their frustration. BP was also part of a coalition that created the Deepwaterhorizonresponse.com (Beam, 2010). They replaced CEO Tony Hayward with Bob Dudley, a Mississippian, as spokesperson on the crisis and created an independent $20 billion compensation fund. Furthermore, they ran television ads that featured Gulf Coast natives (BP: A Textbook Example,

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