Coca-Cola’s Santa Claus, along with the Christmas caravans he leads, has been expelled from three states where he intended to arrive with all his paraphernalia to promote the consumption of Coca-Cola, using the capture and kidnapping he has carried out of Christmas, its characters and all its symbols.
In Puebla, Tabasco and Chiapas – the latter considered the territory with the highest Coca-Cola consumption in the world – the cancellations of the Coca-Cola Christmas caravans have been announced. The first was the municipality of the city of Puebla, which announced its cancellation without further explanation of the causes. The second was Tabasco, which through its Ministry of Tourism indicated that, following the recommendations of the federal Ministry of Health, the Coca-Cola caravan was canceled because it was an event that promotes the consumption of an unhealthy product for children. And the third was Chiapas, where the cancellation of the event was announced by an official from the soft drink company.
The Coca-Cola Christmas Caravan was held in Querétaro. The Secretary of Tourism of the state, counterpart of that of Tabasco, declared the opposite: that it was not an advertising event, but, on the contrary, a community event, without making any reference to the health damage of the product and the impact of these events on children. The case of Querétaro can be exemplary of the impact that governments, whether municipal, state or federal, accept donations, agreements and/or joint projects with soft drink companies. Days before the caravan took place, through a statement from FEMSA – the main Coca-Cola bottler in Mexico and the world – the four new spaces created with the support of Fundación FEMSA, OXXO and Coca-Cola FEMSA, dedicated to children’s recreation, were announced: one in the city of Querétaro and three more in San Juan del Río, in the same state. These spaces were adapted in recent weeks, days before the caravans.
It must be remembered that FEMSA is being asked to pay more than two thousand 800 million pesos that it owes in taxes since 2011. In the past it had to pay a multimillion-dollar fine for non-payment of taxes. Enough money to buy the will of various governments, which allow themselves to be seduced, through small projects like those of Querétaro, sacrificing the still weak regulations of their products. Mirrors, like slides, in exchange for the health of girls and boys. There are multiple examples of these practices.
Let’s go to what the law in Mexico says about this type of advertising. In accordance with article 24 Bis of the Regulations of the General Health Law on Advertising, no product with a warning seal or legend may use elements aimed at girls, boys and adolescents. Otherwise, the company must be sanctioned and its advertising must be canceled. In the caravans we see how Coca-Cola products are advertised and advertising elements for children are used indiscriminately, such as the figure and character of Santa Claus, Christmas reindeer, Coca-Cola bears, Christmas lights, elves and other striking characters for children. This is prohibited by law.
The use of characters and symbols attractive to children has been recognized for more than 20 years by the WHO, UNICEF and hundreds of studies as the most effective form of advertising aimed at children, since these elements generate a relationship of affection and attraction on the part of girls and boys towards the characters, which translates into an affinity towards the consumption of the product. In this way, Coca-Cola Christmas Caravans are considered one of the most persuasive and affective ways to advertise an unhealthy product for children, since they manage to associate the characters and symbols of Christmas with the Coca-Cola product and its consumption. In the analyzes that have been carried out on this event, four characteristics are distinguished:
- They capture Christmas. They insert their logo, brand and product into Christmas symbols such as polar bears, reindeer, elves, Santa Claus and the Christmas tree, to associate the holiday with the consumption of their soft drink.
- Maximum persuasion. Being more gullible, children respond more easily to stimuli such as colors, music and characters, creating lifelong consumers.
- False emotional fantasy. They create a powerful association between the brand and Christmas, linking the brand and product to feelings of belonging, social validation, fun and togetherness.
- They legitimize and normalize. By authorizing these events and supporting them with security, road planning and post-event cleaning, governments not only violate the law, they legitimize the Caravans and collaborate with the brand to project a positive image that hides damage to health, they help the company to dress up all the values of Christmas, especially in front of children.
Coca-Cola consumption in Mexico is the highest in the world. Our childhoods have one of the highest consumption levels, which is associated with the epidemics of obesity and diabetes that we experience. The consumption of sugary drinks is responsible for 230,000 new cases of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases each year in Mexico, and it is estimated that one in two children will develop diabetes throughout their lives if we do not act. Advertising has a very strong impact on consumer habits, which is greatest during childhood.
For all these reasons, the Coca-Cola Caravans have been the subject of complaints since 2023, among which are those presented to the state Human Rights commissions, complaints to the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) and the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (PROFECO), as well as various amparo lawsuits.
The Coca-Cola company itself has committed since 2008 to not advertising aimed at children under 12 years of age; However, it does not comply with its commitments and now violates the law in Mexico, without the authority, COFEPRIS, applying the law and without several states and municipalities doing so. There is hope that communications will soon arrive from the Ministry of Health and that several states and municipalities will begin to respond.
The best example has been given by Tabasco, with the announcement that they will carry out their caravan, but without Coca-Cola and without advertising. That is what should be done: turn this event into a community event, where the community participates in the organization and development.