The Coke Machine: The Dirty Truth Behind the World's Favorite Soft Drink

by Michael Blanding, George K. Wilson (Narrator)

13 hours 3 minutes

Ever since its "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" commercials from the 1970s, Coca-Cola has billed itself as the world's beverage, uniting all colors and cultures in a mutual love of its caramel-sweet sugar water. The formula has worked incredibly well, making it one of the most profitable companies on the planet and Coca-Cola the world's second-most-recognized word after hello. However, as the company expands its reach into both domestic and foreign markets, an increasing number of the world's citizens are finding the taste of Coke more bitter than sweet.

Journalist Michael Blanding's The Coke Machine probes shocking accusations about the company's global impact, including:


Coca-Cola's history of winning at any cost, even if it meant that its franchisees were making deals with the Nazis and Guatemalan paramilitary squads
How Coke has harmed children's health and contributed to an obesity epidemic through exclusive soda contracts in schools
The horrific environmental impact of Coke bottling plants in India and Mexico, where water supplies have beedecimated while toxic pollution has escalated
That Coke bottlers stand accused of conspiring with paramilitaries to threaten, kidnap, and murder union leaders in their bottling plants in Colombia

A disturbing portrait drawn from an award-winning journalist's daring, in-depth research, The Coke Machine is the first comprehensive probe of the company and its secret formula for greed.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, History, Food, Audiobook, Economics, Health

384 pages, Audiobook - Audible Download

First published September 16, 2010

About the author

Michael Blanding is a Boston-based investigative journalist, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, WIRED, Slate, The Boston Globe Magazine, Boston magazine, and other publications. His newest book, North by Shakespeare: A Rogue Scholar's Search for the Truth Behind the Bard's Work is due out from Hachette Books in March 2021. It tells the true story of a computer-assisted hunt to solve the mystery behind the source of Shakespeare's plays--leading to the enigmatic Elizabethan courtier Thomas North.

Blanding is also of The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps (2014), which was a New York Times bestseller and an NPR Book of the Year; and The Coke Machine: The Dirty Truth Behind the World's Favorite Soft Drink (2010). A former journalism fellow at Brandeis University and Harvard Law School, he has taught feature writing at Tufts University, Emerson College, and GrubStreet Writers.

Reviews

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://killercoke.org/

This is quite a disturbing book and one that will convince you to stop drinking coke for so many reasons. Not least that it will make you healthier but also make you feel so much better about yourself.

There is a very amusing line by a judge that the name of the product was strange because the company denied there was cocaine in their product where there actually was and said that there was cola nut in it, when there wasn’t. The history of the world’s favourite drink is not terribly attractive, but at least it was amusing to hear how the power of marketing can make something as fundamentally silly as a soft-drink – I mean, essentially liquid sugar with bubbles – a ‘life-style choice’. I kept thinking, god, humans really are stupid. Perhaps the fact the planet seems ready to evict us makes more sense than we like to admit.

The first half of this book is about the history of the company in the US and Europe and its various challenges – such as convincing people to keep on drinking coke despite childhood obesity and the kinds of problems with teeth that even dentists don’t like to talk about. Getting coke into schools and taking water-fountains out are the kinds of things we have come to accept as a manifestation of our ‘freedom’. Freedom has its costs and if part of those costs are our own health and wellbeing, well, at least we are free.

Did you know Coke once pretended to be medicine? Now it seeks to present itself as the beverage of choice for all of your instants of hydration.

The second half of this book documents Coke’s somewhat less than union friendly behaviours in third-world countries. This part of the book is very hard to read. Coke is clearly guilty of murder, guilty of essentially poisoning third-world customers (my suggestion is that if you are in India to not drink the stuff – but then, my suggestion is to never drink the stuff anyway, wherever you are) and doing as much as possible to kill off farm land and diminish water-tables. This is a company so lacking in morality, so lacking in basic human feeling, that come the revolution they will be the first against the wall. I know, there is a long list of others who are doing everything in their power to beat Coke to this honour – but Coke executives can be proud of yet another first.

I’m not going to rehearse all of their crimes – although, given corporations in America are also ‘persons’, it is hard to know why they aren’t in gaol for murder. Anyway, I’ve already given the link to Killer Coke and will do so again at the end.

Like I said, a disturbing read. But I am glad I did read it – I am convinced to never buy another product from Coke.

http://killercoke.org/

[Grumpus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently, I have found that I have been the contrarian to these Goodread reviews and have found that disconcerting. For years, I have been able to count on these reviews in helping me identify books I would not have normally read.

I’ve read the anti-Coke reviews of this book and went in with the sneaky suspicion that the author had an agenda and I began reading with that understanding. I believe anyone could pick any company and write a book about them in a similar style.

I have to say as a marketing researcher myself, I found the history of the company extremely compelling and appreciate their marketing and branding from their earliest days. I found it clever the way they thought to get people to drink more Coke. . . bigger bottles. Seems so simple now but back then it was an innovation and now look at the sizes of the sodas we drink today--Big Gulps, Super Big Gulps, etc. It is reminiscent of how toothpaste manufactures got people to use more toothpaste. Think about it, how do you do that? Bigger holes in the tubes! Marketing genius.

So while I enjoyed all of that, I have to say I—with relief, ultimately agree with my fellow Goodreaders and can sum this up by saying, Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be Coke (or any soda for that matter) drinkers for which there are many reasons. The first being health. I still cannot believe that researchers cannot definitively prove there is nothing more than correlation (not causation) between high fructose corn syrup and obesity and/or diabetes. In my mind, the stuff is poison and it is in everything.

Second, I now feel they abuse marketing and show little ethics in this regard. Research shows that infants begin to recognize brands between 6 and 18 months of age. By age 3, children begin requesting brands. Coke manipulates this to their advantage through such marketing campaigns as the cute polar bears and Santa. For the 12 and under cohort, they target such shows as Spongebob Squarepants and for the teen group, they use product placement on shows such as American Idol as well as targeted advertising. While believing in capitalism and the goal of being an industry leader, you must do it responsibly. I don’t think that Coke does this.

Then there are the Coke wars in Mexico and Colombia. We exploit these markets by manufacturing our Coke there where the people become obese through drinking it as Coke drains their water supplies leaving little clean water to drink. The result is the population has to drink the cheap alternative Coke as a water substitute. Coke also overlooks union battles in these countries. These battles ultimately lead to murder in many cases for which Coke assumes no responsibility. Ironically, these two countries ship us their “Coke” but in powered form (cocaine). While one is legal and the other not, the result is unhealthy for all.

It kills me to believe this about one of my favorite brands. While I don’t think I can boycott their products as they are just too ubiquitous, I will severely limit my use of them in my household. C’mon Coke do what’s right and become a good corporate citizen.

[Kinga · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wonder if Michael Blanding’s children drink coke in secret, making sure their father would never know. Just like other kids do when they are DOING coke.

I guess, I don’t like to read anything so obviously and openly biased, even if the author’s goal was good and true. I wouldn’t call it eye-opening either. If you somehow came to whatever age you are, and you still haven’t realised there literally aren’t any limits to what corporations might do in search for profit, then you just have to wake up and smell the coffee, or coke. The main reason behind it is that the corporations weren’t created to benefit the humankind; they were created to make money, so the flaw is in their very reason for existence. You can as much expect them not to think about dollar signs as you can expect a heterosexual fourteen year old boy not to think about boobs. It’s a fact of life.

There is only one way to make the corporations ‘do the right thing’ and it’s to threaten their profits, using either law or customer boycott. I suppose this is what this book is trying to achieve – make people so appalled that they stop drinking coke, using very similar methods that Coca Cola is using to make you drink it. Considering that the Coca Cola Company is 120 years old, I actually find it quite surprising that Blanding barely managed to fill out 290 pages with its sins (the rest are the notes) and that includes a lot of repetitions and all round boring shit.

The case he spends most time on is a murder of some union workers in Colombia and, boy, is that case thin. Even such a biased account of it couldn’t convince me that the Coca Cola as a company is responsible for it. To me it just looked like a case of a rogue manager, and Coca Cola would find it hard to find a person qualified enough to be the manager of a bottling company that’s not involved in any way in what could only be called an ongoing civil war. This is what any investor in Colombia has to come to terms with it, there is no way around it. You can’t jump into the mud and expect to come out clean. The company didn’t start the war and they weren’t there to do end it. Some activists pointed out that the only ethical thing to do would be to close the shop and go home but that’s hardly when the Union wanted, was it?

Even Blanding himself had to admit that other companies behaved worse in Colombia, and that in fact there was no proof for the connection between Coca Cola and the murders. But then he quickly adds:
“Whether the company colluded with the violence against the union or just benefited from it […]”. Well, it hardly benefited from it, considering the PR disaster it all caused, non?

The other argument he uses is, of course, the fact that Coke like any other sugary drink makes people fat (and, for your information, that includes juices which might have more nutritious value but usually around just as many calories). Let’s be honest here for a little bit – if something is sweet, it is because it either has a lot of sugar in it or aspartame or some other crap you shouldn’t be putting in your body.

I think the bit that shocked me most was the chapter about how schools in the USA signed exclusive contracts with Coca Cola which forbid them to sell any other drinks on the premises. And mind you, it’s not the company’s behaviour that shocked me, after all let’s remember they are like the 14 year old boys, it’s the schools! It’s the school responsibility to do what’s best for the children.
As for the accusations about depleting scarce water resources in some poorer parts of the world, without getting into finer details of specific cases, I think it is plain sad that any water, as precious as it is, should be wasted on making hectoliters of something that is generally unhealthy. Nonetheless, I’m not entirely convinced in Coca Cola’s crucial role in the water crisis, as it’s, unfortunately, the agriculture that should take the worse blame for the situation. Most of those countries have been experiencing droughts all over for the last few years, Coke or not.

The most laughable part of the book is when Balding criticise Coca Cola’s advertising strategy, first that they claimed that Coke soothes the nerves, and then that invigorated. But then when Coke moved from advertising specific properties of the drink to selling it more as a lifestyle idea, he complains as well. What’s the poor Coke to do to satisfy Balding’s need for ‘honest advertising’? Just say “Coca Cola is a sweet drink. Drink it so we can make money”?

And I like how Balding discovers Coca Cola dreadful secret of how to handle setbacks: “Lobby furiously behind the scenes, give in gracefully when the cause is lost, and be sure to associate the product with the highest national interest.” Yes, truly shocking. Basically: “Play to win, if you can’t win, lose gracefully and use it to your benefit”. I bet no one used that one before. Balding also resents Coca Cola because even when they involves themselves in charitable work, they always have profit in mind. Well, no kidding, Einstein. If they didn’t, they would go bust and would not be able to involve themselves in any charitable work this way or another.

Of course, Coca Cola is selling itself as a pure American dream in a bottle. And it’s working. As a child in a communist country I dreamt of drinking Coca Cola. Some places sold Pepsi and I drank it on special occasions but deep inside we knew it was only the next best thing.

Make no mistake though, I might be playing a bit of devil’s advocate here but I’m not defending coke. That shit is foul and will make your rot inside. Don’t drink it. And for God’s sake don’t buy bottled water unless you absolutely must. There is absolutely no point to it. And corporations are bad, very bad. You can always suspect the worst of them. As a matter of fact, I would be hardly surprised if it turned out that this book was paid for by PepsiCo.

While researching what to cook to accompany this recipe I came across this page: http://www.cookingwithcoke.com/ Ha ha. Apparently cooking meat in coke yields delicious results. Here is my garlic cola chicken, very loosely based on this recipe (http://www.recipelion.com/Chicken-Rec...#) accompanied with corn (corn, America – corn syrup, get it?). It was actually pretty fantastic, I recommend you try basting meat in coke. But for the love of God, use Pepsi!

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holy cow that book took me forever to finish!

(Audiobooked).

The book was 1/3 mundane history, 2/3 infuriating (because of the details it shared about Coke. Corporations literally get away with murder), and 2/3 boring.

I know, that’s 4/3. Think of it more like a Venn diagram. The boring overlaps with the mundane and a bit of the infuriating parts as well. Every time the book shifted to a new country, it started to fee like, “let me guess, murder, environmental destruction, political and legal bullying?” It became quite predictable.

I burned through the first half or so rather quickly. Then I started losing interest, but I’d already invested like 7 hours in the book and I wanted to see it through.

I am also sad to admit I drank more Coke while reading this book than I have in years. I hated myself for it, but they just kept bringing up how goddamned refreshing it was, and I was like, “sonufabitch it is good!”

But they are among the worst of corporate scum.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 2 out of 5]

До 50-та страница: злоба и ��редубеждение във всяко изречение, хаотично и избирателно поднасяне на откъслечни общоизвестни факти, стремеж към бомбастични генерализации. Неприкрито желание за сензация, без да е подплатено с балансиран и изчерпателен анализ. Зле написана и зле обоснована, жалко.

Edit: Все пак имаше полезни напомняния за неконтролираното изчерпване на водоизточниците, случаи за неконтролирано замърсяване на водата с тежки метали, вредата от газираното и от пластмасовите опаковки, както и честите случаи, когато питейната вода е далеч по-добрият избор от бутилираната. Само затова закръглям на 2 звезди, но авторът или не е имал възможности за добро проучване, или е твърде предубеден, или не може да пише, или и трите.

[Kat A · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard not to read this title and think that it is stating the obvious, but the details of just how badly this corporation are screwing everyone are still quite shocking. From killing workers who are fighting for a better wage in Columbia, to outright stealing water from poor farmers in India, to overt and relentless marketing to children in North America and Western Europe, this company this company is unbelievable in their dedication to the bottom line and to it's shareholders. Its efforts to "do good" are laughable, especially at the moment, with its pledge to donate 5 million over 5 years (a mere drop in the profit bucket) to polar bear conservation (an icon adopted to promote the brand, albeit a fuzzy CGI version) without actually addressing its contribution to the climate change that is causing the issue in the first place! Augh. And the worst part is, it's impossible to avoid drinking its products, especially since there have been a large number of acquisitions over the last couple of decades. It was a very good read and written by a very reputable journalist, so if you can keep your anger in check, then give it a go.

[Pietro Maximoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

the subject material is interesting but Blanding presents it in such a way that it reads like a manual

[Emīls K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this book. From the history side of things, and from a more business side. And getting sone insight in a big companies plans, processes etc., is always interesting to me. A great reading, specialy if you love biography type books!!! :)

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanders off narrative, occasionally more interesting as a result. Hyper critical, approaches crusade levels at times which diminishes the impact of some very valid criticism.

[Satwika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku ini mengupas tuduhan-tuduhan yang pernah dilayangkan terhadap Coca-Cola Company, sebagai produsen minuman ringan terkenal di seluruh dunia. Pada masa sekarang, rasanya sulit ditemukan seseorang di muka bumi ini yang belum pernah sama sekali mengecap minuman Coca-Cola.

Racikan Coca-Cola merupakan salah satu rahasia terbesar yang pernah ada di muka bumi. Meski begitu, asal usul Coca-Cola masih bisa ditelusuri. Hasil penelusuran mengindikasikan bahwa Coca-Cola tercipta pertama kali sebagai ramuan obat. Pada masa itu masyarakat Amerika masih jauh dari kesejahteraan yang tampak sekarang dan perang saudara pecah di mana-mana. Jatuh sakit menjadi momok yang sangat dihindari karena itu berarti pengeluaran tambahan. Bagi mereka yang telanjur jatuh sakit, mereka lebih suka untuk mencari obat-obat alternatif yang banyak dijual secara bebas. Kondisi ini menjadi sebuah tren, dan profesi tukang obat (baik meracik dan menjualnya) menjadi profesi yang menjanjikan di wilayah Atlanta, Georgia.

Salah satu yang tertarik memanfaatkan kondisi ini adalah John Pemberton. Dia meracik obat cair yang diklaim bisa menyembuhkan sakit kepala. Racikan inilah yang kemudian berevolusi menjadi minuman yang kita kenal sekarang. Selain rahasia racikan yang terjaga ketat, strategi marketing Coca-Cola lah yang membuat dirinya menjadi seterkenal sekarang.

--

Ini adalah buku pertama yang bikin gue gak ngerasa lagi kerja. Selama menggarap buku ini, gue beneran menikmati membacanya, as if ya itu tadi.. Gak lagi kerja. Buku ini beneran informatif sekaligus provokatif. Meskipun di setiap cerita dan tuduhan, pihak Coca-Cola Company selalu berhasil mengatasi keadaan, justru itu cenderung bikin gue makin percaya kalau Coca-Cola Company udah begitu berkuasanya sehingga bisa menggenggam pelanggannya dengan erat.

Di satu sisi, itu emang jadi kekuatan Coca-Cola Company, yaitu membuat orang tidak bisa hidup tanpanya. Coba deh, hari gini, bayangin akan jadi apa kemasyarakatan dunia tanpa minuman bersoda macem Coca-Cola? Intinya, secara isi, buku ini keren banget. Gue menemukan sebuah resensi yang mengatakan buku ini berat sebelah, jadi kayak black campaign melawan Coca-Cola Company. Tapi menurut gue, buku ini justru netral. Penulis menjabarkan semua kisah-kisah tuduhan terhadap Coca-Cola yang pernah terjadi, sekaligus dengan mewawancarai pihak-pihak yang terlibat. Penulis juga menyatakan bahwa dia selalu berusaha mencoba menghubungi pihak Coca-Cola Company untuk mendapat kedua sisi cerita. Tapi ya gitu deh... Baca aja sendiri di bukunya, apa jawaban yang sering diterima penulis dari Coca-Cola Company.

Menurut gue, penulis berhasil menerbitkan buku ini tanpa dituntut atau "diguna-guna" Coca-Cola Company aja udah bagus, deh. Trus manfaat membacanya apa? Ya selain jadi lebih tahu, kalo gue sih jadi makin ilfil minum Coca-Cola. Berhubung emang kalo dari segi kesehatan udah banyak anjuran untuk mengurangi asupan minuman berkarbonasi, berarti kan bagus donk, kalo gue ilfil sampe gak mau minum coca-cola lagi. Huehehheehhe...

[Rob Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at unsavory parts of Coke, but the author seemed to have an agenda that his facts insufficiently backed, and leapt to outrage at the non-outrageous. News flash: junk food makes you fat. We know that. People have known that for years. I don't believe companies have any responsibility to make sure customers eat in a healthy manner. People buy and consume what they want.

Coke is a marketing machine and has great advertising. They pay mightily for pushing their brand. They're good at it. So what. Also, if people want to overpay for tap water, that's their fault.

The murders in Colombia are terrible, but linking them to the Coca-Cola company seemed tenuous at best. My impression of Colombia is that, like many parts of the world, corruption reigns. Coke doesn't have the ability nor responsibility to fix that.

One part of the book that really piqued my interest, however, was the section on pollution and water depletion in India. If Coke is causing those things, they should fix them. As I read the book, however, I couldn't understand whether Coke really is to blame. Why, for example, does bottling Coke in India cause pollution, yet doesn't in other parts of the world? Are they doing something different, or are they starting with pollution and pushing it along? The book doesn't say. Also, the book doesn't definitively answer whether Coke is depleting the water, or if drought and farming are more to blame. The opinions expressed differ, and the "evidence" seems to depend on chronology, not any demonstrated fact.

The book presents some interesting arguments, and provides ample background information on Coke. It seems to be positioned in today's anti-big-corporation movement, which in my opinion is sadly misguided. Corporations, whatever the size, aren't evil, and we rely on them far more than we realize for our lifestyles. Some corporate leaders definitely do wrong, and we rely on exposes like these to find and fix the wrongdoing. I think, though, that this book was determined to find wrongdoing, whether or not there was any to find.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do not shy away from this book if you live in Atlanta, the home of Coca-Cola. Do not shy away from this book if you are a loyal supporter and drinker of Coca-Cola. There are things in this book that everyone should know.

The book starts out with a history of Coca-Cola that is both interesting and questionable. If you go to the "World of Coca-Cola" in Atlanta the tour guides will give you the Coca-Cola version of their history. According to Michael Blanding that version leaves out some important facts concerning the rise of Coca-Cola into a multinational corporation.

Coca-Cola, for all its success, seems to have a seemier side that Michael Blanding brings to the reader. Many questionable business practices went unnoticed because they occurred when little if any laws were in place to control big business.

The real problem for Coca-Cola came about in foreign countries.

In Mexico, where Coke is King, action to stop unionization of their plants, has led to possible murder.

In India, where rain is at a premium, Coke has been accused of depleting the fragile water supply and of causing mass pollution.

In Coke's defense, they have been exonerated of any wrong doing in these matters, however, many believe that Coke is guilty because they did not take action when they could have used their influence to prevent these problems.

The reader will also get a look at Coke and childhood obesityh and soda contracts with schools.

It is important to keep in mind that the problems that Coca-Cola has and is going through can be seen in many of the multinational companies in the world today.

[Ajay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it hard to believe that one of the world's largest and most beloved corporations has systematically torpedoed health, environmental, and labor standards internationally. No not at all, from Halliburton to Exxon that much is obvious. But is Coca-Cola a culprit with equal culpability?

That is Michael Blandings premise in this book, and what we get isn't an in-depth investigation of the inner machine that has wilfully engaged in such crimes as the casual cost of influence, growth, and fortune. Instead, this book is a journalistic piece on Coca-Cola's marketing, scandles, and campaigns that focuses on the cyncical truths of modern day Corporate Social Responsibility and the difficulties of achieving justice through activism and the courts.

What was done in Colombia, the hiring of paramilitary forces associated with the account intimidate and later kill union leaders at Coca-Cola's bottler who were trying to negotiate for better labor rights and livable wages, is a tragedy. What was done in India in terms of ecological damage to groundwater reservoirs and pollution of rivers is neglectful to the extreme. And the inadequate responses of Coca-Cola to clean up it act, be transparent about it's failures, and take responsibility for it's crimes -- are all something to be deplored and criticized.

For all those who engaged in this struggle both directly and indirectly, thank you for your service.

[Add · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up this book I knew that the Coca Cola corporation had done some shady things in the past, but i did not know what was in store for me. The details of what this corporation has done to families and the environment is excrusinatly annoying. From killing workers who are fighting for a better wage in Columbia, to outright stealing water from poor farmers in India. Also targeting children as young as infants for marketing in North America and Europe. I found a very good quote in a separate review that states what happened exactly. "Its efforts to "do good" are laughable, especially at the moment, with its pledge to donate 5 million over 5 years (a mere drop in the profit bucket) to polar bear conservation (an icon adopted to promote the brand, albeit a fuzzy CGI version) without actually addressing its contribution to the climate change that is causing the issue in the first place!"- I myself have stopped drinking soda long ago because of its high-suger high-calorie drink. But after reading this book its hard not to go around trying to spread the word to innocent consumers buying coke each day.

[Bcoghill Coghill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I knew all of this, having read the newspapers and magazines for the past 50 years. But, I guess it is good to have in one place... I guess.
I drink diet-pepsi and it probably aggravates my acid reflux, but if I was an alcoholic or smoked tobacco that would probably be worse, eh?
Do I contribute to killing union members in third-world countries - probably thru my shoe and IT purchases. What is a body to do in the evil world?

[Vinit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I anyway had stopped drinking Coke since long. This book opened my eyes to the narcissist activities the organization did to achieve their profits and business goals. The way Coke sucked water out of land in India, they way Coke sold chemicals under the name of fertizilers, the way Coke killed people in name of business...too much. I think all of us should read this book and understand the negative effects companies like Coke are spreading across the earth.

[Alberto Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit on the yellow side, this book showcases the lengthy history of Coca Cola under a very dark light. The lesson I get from it is that along their way to growth and not just after they have arrived, companies must truly care about all stake holders or risk jeopardizing what they have built. I can't help but dislike Coke after this book. Finally, the book is not for the faint of heart.

[Kelly Kilcrease · Rating 3 out of 5]

The explanation and details about the Columbia murder gets a little long winded. I would have liked to have seen more emphasis toward the health risks associated with Coke.

[Jay Budzilowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
First half of the book (dealing with Coke history) was 4 stars. The second half was a trudge to get through.

[Jasmine's · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opens your eyes to the harm these big companies are doing to our planet. You won't be able to drink Coke again without thinking about who they have hurt or worse!!!!!
A MUST read.

[Glen Cowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve seen the occasional dismissive review of this book on here, but I wonder how many of those votes were Coke sponsored sock puppets? The counter claim against Balding’s book is either 1) it’s unbalanced or 2) you must be naive to not know that corporations exist to make money. I answer to that with 1) there is such a thing as false equivalence. Not every argument has a compelling counter argument, and I believe that the book isn’t the unreasonable excoriation that negative reviewers make out. And 2) this is a naked appeal to nihilism and apathy. Balding contends that Coke realistically does have a vested stake in protecting its brand, and doesn’t hope that Coke will magically have an epiphany and overhaul its entire corporate philosophy.
Instead, in chapter 8 and earlier look at different means, both legislative and civic society based, that brought pressure to bear on the corporation. These entities are like piñatas, they’ll only give something up if you hit them with a stick.
A very thorough delve into the history of Coke and its dodgy associations overseas. They of course aren’t the only company that has given a poor account of themselves (United Fruit/Chiquita played a key role in the Arbenz overthrow of 1954, AT&T were pressing the Nixon admin to counter the newly elected Allende government, Mossadegh/Iran/BP and so forth), but the ‘Cocolonization’ that the French feared after WW2 may have had more behind it than anticipated. While Coca Cola through it’s bottling arrangements can’t be accused of directly intervening in places like Colombia, Guatemala and India (though it did in Guatemala eventually), this six degrees of separation is mostly by design it would seem.
Personally, I found the stuff on areas like the early founding of Coke, it’s origins in the patent medicine business, the ‘lifestyle branding’ of its advertising a good look into modern Western consumer culture. Ultimately, we all like eating the sausage. We just don’t want to know what goes into it. Just bear this in mind when reading ‘The Coke Machine’.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find the reviews on this one quite confusing. I don't understand why it's getting 1 and 2 stars while people are agreeing with most of what he says, or saying they don't like that it's biasedly against Coke - what did you expect when you read that title? Even then, the biased nature of the book decreases if you can see the proper information to pick out. He doesn't just say 'coke is bad' he also tells you that a car company was sued for offering discounts to it's customers instead of putting that money into dividends for the stock holders - and lays out how coke is bad but literally they can't be anything else.

People's opinions on the Columbia mishap are questionable at times. The claim that Coke can't be held responsible because they own just 49% of the responsible bottling companies is laughable. I couldn't help but read the really low views with the expectation that some were paid reviews intended to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the information in this book.

I listened to the audio book and felt quite happy that I don't drink pop anymore. I also found myself trusting all of my pre-made foods considerably less. As consumers we make purchases and just blindly assume that there are regulations, and the FDA, and additives are tested for safety, and surely no one is allowed to sell anything that could be bad for your health beyond calories, sugar, salt, and fat - basic things you can monitor. Nope, nope, nope! This book (for me) builds on previous episodes of Gastropod (the podcast) about food additives and the fact that they super duper basically aren't regulated, and new ones are not tested unless there's a reason to assume they're doing harm. Forget about dropping coke, you've got to drop packaged goods and move right on over to whole foods.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book about 8 years after I bought it. i don’t actually remember buying it, but I finished it in an attempt to read books I had purchased in the past but had never finished.

This is really two books. The first (and most interesting) part talks about the history of coke from a patent medicine elixir laced with cocaine to an industry dominating corporation. Nothing here will be news to anybody who knows Coke’s history—a company that whitewashes the embarrassing parts of its history and has used strong arm tactics to sell its products around the world and has been very successful. Their products are not good for people when consumed at high volumes.

The second half is about worker safety and violence against labor organizers at bottling plants in various parts of the world. While legitimate concerns are raised, my main criticism about this part of the book is it is very dry and boring. Also left me with some questions about the motivation driving some of the activist investors disrupting the shareholder meetings.

Also, the fact that I read this book almost a decade after it was written made me wonder what has changed since the book was published. Total soda consumption has fallen to historically low levels.

[Sophie Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

only read parts of it for a class but it was very good. would give four stars but despite being written really well i think it was editorialized a bit too much. the focus of the book was all the terrible things coke does around the world and sections addressing this were really good and had a lot of info, but in the beginning it sort of went through the history of its ingredients and the patent process, and i thought that this section was sort of weird. coke does so many terrible things that i don’t think it was necessary to focus on whether or not they admit to including cocaine in the recipe in the past (especially since the author makes claims about the tours at the coke factory in atlanta that i don’t think are true)

[Justin Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely written with a bias, but lots of referencing and sourcing for credibility. Nothing new here, but corporations are bad and tend to take advantage of third world countries. The high probability that Coke is involved in shady murders in other countries was shocking and new, though. Surprisingly easy read and made me think about the connectedness of everything. Makes my recent push to cut soda from my diet much easier!!

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and far-reaching. The Coke Machine is expansive, covering the ruthless advertising history of Coca Cola to the environmental, social, and physiological devastation wreaked by Coca Cola throughout the world. It is extremely detailed and at points quite dry, but I think this is an important read for anyone interested in how corporations (particularly coke) have such a negative impact on our lives.

[Sebastian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting at first, but as you keep reading it just seems as the author was desperate to make the book longer and just kept on and on repeating the same arguments or even telling stories that have little to nothing to do with the title of the book. I had an idea that it would be something interesting and eye-opening but it was just a biased book of an angry parent. Not really recommendable.

[MasterSal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non-fiction - the bane of my reading / reviewing existence. It can date so fast and I tend to use “learning scale” instead of an “enjoyment” scale given that some of the subjects I read are not really enjoyable.

But then this book pops up where I enjoyed it (confirmation bias here) but didn’t learn too much as I was familiar with most of the incidents and history in the book. It does make a difference seeing all of it put together and writing helps.

The premise of the book is to lare bare the “true story” behind one of the most powerful brands in the world - see:

“...In this era of cynicism, it’s standard practice to believe corporations ... capable of every form of evil, trained by the profit drive of capitalism to turn a blind eye to the worst consequences of their actions. The Coca-Cola Company, however, represents a special case – at once a quintessential example of a giant American multinational corporation and a beloved pop culture symbol ..”

I suppose - but I don’t think Coke stands along here - see Nike, Disney (especially Disney), Amazon (which to be fair wouldn't have been so big when the book was written). You name the MNC and there will be some skeletons that will need to be buried. That itself, makes this book quite depressing as a meta narrative. In 2021, Coke remains one of the most valuable brands in the world with a market capitalization of $225bn in March 2021. Coke (and Nestle) “...Reign Supreme Dominating Food & Drink Sector”(https://brandirectory.com/reports/foo...). This makes me wonder what is the point of this book - other than increasing my coke caving.

Appropriately, I also have Coke Studio playing in the background (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCOKy...) which makes writing this review an odd duck - as I don't think this book has successfully dented Coke’s hegemony at all.

If a book which is meant to function as an expose does not manage to do that - then is a successful book? Or the position of hindsight shouldn’t impact the rating?

Who knows …

As a book this is still worth picking up IMHO even though it has dated as discussed above. It was interesting to see some of this history compiled and put into a thesis. It was a little short and could have used a little more on Coke’s environmental record (though perhaps again I am biased given the company’s recent launch of “zero waste” - which I will believe when it happens and not before). I could have used more on the union chapters as well as those chapters had a large “cast of characters” who could have used more space to tell their stories.

Generally I thought it was well done even though it took me a long time to read it. It wasn’t that it was depressing - just that it all felt futile. And perhaps that sense of fatalism keeps me from being engaged with the book. Did I learn from it - well not a lot. Except for the South American murders most of this stuff I was familiar with so on my rating scale I don’t think it’s a 4.

For that I am tending towards 3 stars and I am glad I finally got to it 10 years later.

Will I cut my Coke consumption - hmmm….

🥺🥺🥺

-----

Feb 2021:

So I've been putting this book off for years if only because (a) because Coke is my go to drink indulgence when I need a beverage which is an alternative to alcohol - because you'd be surprised as how many bars will look at you funny if you ask for water (just charge me for it people) and (b) Coke Studio is one of my favourite music programs of all time and I am sure this book will make me feel bad.

Ah well - if 2020 taught me anything - it was put my head out of the sand (unfortunately only sometimes) and look around.

Time to do this ... even if this story is about 10 years old already.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book and it very closely resembles Citizen Coke except it exposes that Coca-Cola allegedly engaged and engages in murder and murder for hire to prevent the spread of unions in their plants outside of the USA.

The book is long though for all of the environmentalists this book is necessary to truly understand how much water Coca-Cola and their bottlers are robbing from the municipalities in the United States and other countries too.

I highly recommend this book.