7. The Company Was Criticised For Allegedly Running An "H2NO Campaign"... To Convince People To Order Coca-Cola Products And Not Tap Water In Restaurants
In 2001 the Coca-Cola Company got itself caught up in a negative publicity storm that did it no favours - after it allegedly attempted to dissuade customers from ordering tap water and instead encourage them to purchase their own products. Supposedly Coca-Cola had enjoyed success with such a policy at Olive Garden Italian restaurants, and was contemplating rolling out the scheme across the USA before the nation's media caught hold of the story. A campaign - entitled "H2NO" - aimed to attack the Coca-Cola company's supposed decision to train staff to convince customers to say "No" to "H20", the chemical formula for water. Coca-Cola claimed the story might be misinterpreted by "folks who aren't in a sales-related business", and the scheme was dropped.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
