Coca-Cola: It’s Worse Than You Think
Everybody knows, it’s terrible for you, but, the truth is, Coca-Cola is more terrible than that. For people, the planet and, in particular, Mexico.
“Don’t worry.” I’d said to my Mum, her face pixelating on the screen, overwhelmed communal wifi. “Diabetes kills more people than Narcos each year in Mexico.”
We were told this earlier that day, by our local guide in San Cristóbal de las Casas; a region in Mexico, surrounded by lush forests, mountains, and valleys. It is a region with a high altitude, cooler than the places we’d been to in Mexico previously, with Spanish colonial architecture and pastel washed buildings. It is a hub of indigenous culture, particularly for the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya communities.
We met Maria in front of the Yellow cathedral that comes up when you Google Image search San Cristóbal. Our guide was a woman in her mid-twenties, who was not only intelligent and articulate, even in her second language, but also exceptionally charismatic. 12 or so other tourists and I had no idea what to expect or what we were about to learn.
“You might have noticed, there is Coca-Cola everywhere. We Mexicans love sugar, and we love Coca-Cola.” she pointed around at several Cokes in her eye-line. “See? Coca-Cola is a big part of our culture” As if they were paid actors, a family sat on a bench, each drinking Cokes. “- but we all know that it is not good for you. The Mexican diet is traditionally healthy; it is made up largely of corn and beans, and is one of the healthiest diets in the world. But from colonial influence and globalisation, Type 2 Diabetes is now a huge issue and is the overall biggest killer of Mexicans. You are more likely to be killed by diabetes in Mexico than Narcos. People in Chiapas alone, drink an average of 2.5 litres of coca cola in a day.”
Mine and every other tourist’s jaw-dropped. That’s an average - and she did not misspeak, I Googled it then and there in disbelief. Though there are people that are drinking less than that, there’s also people that are drinking more than that! I could barely comprehend how it was possible. I have always been partial to a fizzy drink, but this felt absurd. How did anybody have any teeth left?
As I thought about it, I had seen an awful lot of dentists since I got to Mexico… Other tidbits of terror were interwoven amongst vivid and fascinating stories of Mexican culture and tradition. Painful truths were covered, from both a patriotic perspective as well as one with a socio-economic awareness.
In 1926 when Coca-Cola entered the Mexican market it was exclusively for the rich but by the 50’s it was a staple for many Mexicans from all different backgrounds. Coca-Cola marketed themselves to align with Mexican family values, the bright red branding easily blended into festivals such as “Día de los Muertos” and Christmas. As time went on, it became more than a beverage, it was a symbol of embracing modern culture.
We were already a week into our trip once we reached San Cristóbal, I had noticed the omnipresence of Coca-Cola everywhere we went. Everyone and their Grandma is drinking it (I am being hyperbolic, but not by very much) and they’re drinking the real stuff. Diet is a rarity. Coca-Cola vans are more common on the streets on any given day than on TV in December. Tiendas are entirely branded in Red Coca-Cola murals. Cafes and restaurants have cold glass bottles on display, they know what they’re doing. It’s salivating to look at.
By the bins, especially those that are overfilled, you see Coca-Cola bottles and cans, alongside insulin debris. It seems like a cognitive dissonance, but it is more sinister than that. Our guide went on to tell us that she can’t imagine her parents or her grandparents without a Coca-Cola in their hand, without bottles in the house. Her Grandmother used to say it was not right to enjoy mole (a delicious, thick sauce made from a variety of ingredients, including chili peppers, spices, chocolate, nuts, and fruits, depending on the region) without a glass of cold Cola.
That is how deeply embedded it is in the culture. For a number of reasons, and with a number of consequences.
The concept of family and its importance is emphasised in Mexican culture; it’s evident everywhere. A sense of familial community that we just don’t have in places like the UK, a level of connectedness a lot of Western communities have lost, so why are they bottle feeding babies brown sugar syrup?
(The following is the only story that can only be corroborated through Maria’s testament; so I have to preface this with allegedly.)
Pox (pronounced posh) is a traditional Mayan drink used in ritual. It is and was used by shamans and healers during ceremonies to promote healing and connection with the divine, it is used as a sacred drink during important cultural events. In some ceremonies, Pox is consumed with the intention to purify the body and release negative spirits. Maria told us that Coca-Cola came over to Mexico and suggested to Mexicans that Pox could not be considered a medicinal drink (as it had been for hundreds of years) because it was alcoholic.
As a solution to this, Coca-Cola offered up their drink as a similarly “medicinal” beverage that could be used as an alternative. The fact that Coca-Cola was non-alcoholic, and becoming more and more accessible, meant that it was widely adopted in rituals. Their vulture swoop into Mexico’s culture was aided by the gassiness given from Coca-Cola’s fizz, with burping believed to be evidence of negative entities being released. Even today, offerings of Coca Cola can be seen outside of a lot of churches in Mexico.
Coca-Cola is a significant economic presence in Mexico, providing jobs in bottling plants and distribution centres. Additionally, small stores in rural and urban areas rely on Coca-Cola sales as a steady source of income. In a place well acquainted with poverty, supporting the company can be seen even by locals, as supporting local employment and the economy.
While Coca-Cola's presence creates jobs and contributes to the economy, the long-term health costs associated with sugary drink consumption outweigh these benefits. The burden on Mexico's healthcare system due to obesity-related illnesses is a major concern. Coca-Cola creates artificial demand for products that harm consumers, creating profit from illness and addiction.
On top of this, Coca-Cola’s water usage is a major point of contention. Approximately 10-12 million people in Mexico do not have reliable access to clean drinking water, which is roughly 8-10% of the population. In water-scarce regions, heavy consumption of Cola leads to the depletion of local water resources. Coca-Cola requires vast amounts of water to produce its products, with estimates suggesting that it takes about three litres of water to produce just one litre of Coca-Cola. (Even just reading that back makes me want to scream!).
Coca-Cola creates a strain on resources, making clean water inaccessible for the poor and marginalised. Essentially, they take the very elixir of life and sell it back, pumped full of sugar and additives. As we walked around the colourful, cobblestone streets of San Cristóbal, we saw several murals depicting this controversy. My favourite: a cartoon Coca-Cola bottle sucking up all of the water through a straw.
The company operates numerous bottling plants, in drought-prone areas like San Cristóbal, locals often having to rely on trucked-in or bottled water. It’s an environmental nightmare but clean water is a non-negotiable necessity. In case you had any disgust left to feel, It only takes turning the plastic water bottles upside down, to find that often, even the water is owned and produced by the Coca-Cola company. Every time I was certain the horrors of deeply rooted exploitation had to end, our guide had something else to tell us.
In rural communities, where access to anything is limited, Coca-Cola remains available. (Little old Abuelas have it delivered to sell amongst their own communities!). Coca-Cola, in owning both the soda and the water, have the power to make Coca-Cola cheaper than the drinking water - and this has damning consequences. Again, disadvantaged communities are continuously and dangerously guided towards Coca-Cola over water, harming their health and creating reliance and addiction. Additionally, Coca-Cola's marketing strategies are aggressive, seeming to specifically target children and low-income communities.
In response to the growing health crisis, the Mexican government introduced a soda tax in 2014, aimed to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks. Coca-Cola lobbied heavily against the tax but could not prevent its implementation. While consumption dropped slightly after the tax, Coca-Cola remains a dominant player in Mexico. Today it remains one of the most popular beverages in Mexico, as delicious and deadly as ever.
Where they fall into a sweet spot is that they have made themselves not only beloved, but also familiar and accessible. Coca-Cola is deeply embedded in many aspects of Mexico, present in all moments of community and culture, parading as a tool bringing people together. The reality is stark though. Far from bringing people together, all Coca-Cola does is separate loved ones from their family before their time.
Written by Liv McCaughey
Liv McCaughey is a UK-based writer, spoken-word artist, and content creator. She is a multi-hyphenate travelling creative. After winning the BBC 2 500 Words competition in 2011, she has since self-published two poetry collections and has put on a one woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe. Liv is currently working on her debut novel between her other crafts and sharing it on TikTok and Instagram as @theunpoeticpoet