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| Coca-Cola severed its relationship with ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, after an advocacy group threatened a boycott. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images / April 6, 2012) |
Coca-Cola
Co. and Kraft Foods Inc. bowed to consumer pressure this week and cut ties with
the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative lobbying group that
has recently backed controversial voter ID and so-called “stand your ground”
laws.
Within
hours of advocacy group Color of Change launching a boycott against Coca-Cola
for its participation on ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board, the soft drink giant
issued a statement saying that it had “elected to discontinue its membership.”
But the
company blamed ALEC’s support of “discriminatory food and beverage taxes”
instead of “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,”Coca-Colasaid.
Kraft
followed late Thursday, saying in a statement that it has “made the decision
not to renew” its ALEC membership, which is expiring. The company was opaque in
its reasoning, citing “limited resources” and saying that its involvement with
ALEC “has been strictly limited to discussions about economic growth and
development, transportation and tax policy.”
Still, the
withdrawals pleased ALEC detractors, which includes the Center for Media and
Democracy. The liberal-leaning nonprofit said it had launched a protest
campaign in tandem with Color of Change opposing what it said were ALEC’s
efforts to deny climate change, undermine public schools and encourage laws
that would require voters to present various forms of identification before
voting.
Critics of
the policies, which have already been implemented in several states, say that
they are more likely to shut out minorities, the poor, the elderly and even
college students.
Draft
legislation from ALEC has also helped fan the debate over “stand your ground” laws, which have played a central role in the February shooting of unarmed
Florida teen Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
Color of
Change, an African American advocacy group co-founded by James Rucker and Van
Jones, issued a statement saying that the group would direct its sights at
other companies associated with ALEC.
ALEC helps
corporations and individuals draft model legislation to send to politicians.
Its website says that the group’s mission is “to advance the Jeffersonian
principles of free markets, limited government, federalism and individual
liberty.”
Other members
of ALEC’s Enterprise Board include executives from Wal-Mart, Johnson &
Johnson, Kraft Foods, Pfizer, AT&T, UPS and ExxonMobil. In January,
PepsiCo quietly pulled itself off the board.
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