Craven Coke Caves To Anti-Voter ID Intimidation Campaign

Loud, but representing nowhere near the majority

The Blogocracy has the disappointing story:

The recent push for Voter ID laws has become a pet peeve of the Left. Knowing that it will be harder to pull off fraud, they are mounting a campaign of resistance. They have targeted Coca Cola and Walmart because of their association with American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC focused mostly on food and beverages taxes. They were also supporting Voter ID laws. Coca Cola has discontinued its association because of the Democratic boycott threat.

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In caving into the economic threat by liberals against a pro-voter ID law group, Coke issue this statement Wednesday afternoon: “The Coca-Cola Company has elected to discontinue its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).  Our involvement with ALEC was focused on efforts to oppose discriminatory food and beverage taxes, not on issues that have no direct bearing on our business.  We have a long-standing policy of only taking positions on issues that impact our Company and industry.”

And here, I had always considered Coke to be the freedom-loving American’s alternative to the grody fetal stem cell soda of choice for the Obama generation.

Coke  allowed itself to be cowed by a maybe a couple dozen Dem party operatives who probably look like this.

They could have learned from Mark Stevens’ experience. When his company, MSCO, was targeted by the organized left, he decided to double down.

MSCO was now being targeted because it was an advertiser on The Rush Limbaugh Show. The calls and now an increasing volume of hostile e-mail were pouring into MSCO.

Mark Stevens is a smart guy — and he quickly realized he was being targeted by somebody using a highly skilled, highly organized campaign that was deliberately designed to make the target feel besieged. When in fact marketing expert Stevens understood he was on the receiving end of a campaign involving a tiny handful of people extremely skilled in making others think dozens were tens of thousands.

Mark was right.

Stevens could have taken a cowardly, crouching posture – he could have dropped Rush so the bad phone calls and emails would go away. But, instead, he stood up.

Which in 21st century America means he accepted an invitation to appear on Stuart Varney’s Fox Business show, Varney and Company.

Sitting calmly in the television lights he let it rip. This wasn’t a boycott, he said, this was “an organized terrorist attack.” Part of “the war on business.” He recounted tales of being told he and his company were “under surveillance.” With “every move” being watched. There had been threats of physical violence. The attacks — coming from all over the country to a company that advertised in the New York media — were “insidious” and, tellingly, they were “all the damn same.” “You hate women,” they said to the man whose female employees out-numbered males. He kept going: “I’m saying here publicly, if you’re a liberal and don’t want to do business with my company — MSCO — please don’t. Don’t .”

Then he laid down his response. Mark Stevens was not simply going to continue advertising on The Rush Limbaugh Show. No not after this. No, now Mark Stevens was going to “…double down…triple down.”

Now, the public had heard. Furious Americans got it. The lid blew off a political pressure cooker, and Mark Stevens was inundated with support from Americans around the country.

He had received tens of thousands of e-mails.

Emails of support, Coke. Americans who are paying attention, see through the left’s squalid intimidation campaigns. They could have had your back, too.

Asked about advertisers who had pulled their ads, he said that “I think the failing to take a stand in defense of America” is a mistake. He had no sense he was going to be swept up in the middle of this firestorm, but now that he was, he said: “Bring on the buses!” He was going to advertise more heavily, and he was going to stand his ground to try and be a bulwark against the bullies.

Stevens, humbled by the outpouring of support he received from Americans, sent a statement to Jeffrey Lord:

Subject line: The Battle for America

Ever since I appeared on the Stuart Varney show in response to the “terrorism” — Rush Limbaugh advertising boycott — directed at me and my company, my team and my clients, it has set off a chain reaction of emails being sent to me from citizens across the country:

* Seals have volunteered to protect our offices.

* Retired police officers are asking if they can help in anyway.

* Citizens want to play a role, join the stand and contribute to the cause. They are thanking me for having the courage to stand up for free speech and for the American Dream.

Stevens told Stuart Varney that his company has done very well advertising on Rush’s Show, even after the boycott. His business has not taken a hit, at all.

That’s what makes this so disappointing.

Whether or not Coke supports voter integrity laws, (and why wouldn’t they?), there was no reason why they should have allowed the Stalinists to intimidate them into discontinuing their association with a group that does. When you stand up to the bullies, they lose.

UPDATE:

Legal Insurrection:Conservatives better wake up to anti-conservative boycott movements:

There has been a determined effort by left-wing groups in the past couple of years to demonize ALEC, and Color of Change seized on the issue of voter identification laws.

Here’s how it works.  An issue which is neutral, such as voter i.d. laws, is portrayed as racist and hostile to minorities.  The advertiser then is confronted with a flood of social media contracts threatening, sometimes implicitly and sometimes explicitly, with a boycott for supporting “racist” laws.

There are few corporations, not even ones as large as Coca-Cola, which can risk being labeled “racist” or as “supporting racism” regardless of how inaccurate and outlandish the accusations.  It is toxic, and groups like Media Matters and Color of Change know it.

Faced with the accusation and thousands or tens of thousands of people who are willing to spread the lie, the corporation caves in to the pressure and withdraws the advertising or sponsorship.

This is exactly what happened when Color of Change a organized a massive social media campaign against Coca Cola on April 4:

Keep reading – they even managed to work  Trayvon Martin  into their message.

Coke, you let Van Jones’ commie thugs at the Color of change scare you into ditching a fine organization?

For shame.

 

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