press release (june 2004)
exhibition opens at the Foundry wednesday 9 June 7.00
Continues until Sunday 20 June
Opening times 4.30-11 tues-fri 2.30-11 sat sun
closed mondays
free entry
COCA COLA'S NAZI ADVERTS - ART EXHIBITION
Curated by Mark Thomas and Tracey Sanders-Wood
http://www.mtcp.co.uk/coca-cola/
This exhibition is done without the consent of Coca Cola. The works are not the original adverts used by Coke in Nazi Germany, well one or two might be Coke ads but they have been bastardised and willfully changed.
in the United States, people consume more soft drinks than any other liquid- including ordinary tap water. If we take full advantage of our opportunities someday, not too many years into our second century, we will see the same wave catching on in market after market, until, eventually, the number one beverage on earth will not be tea or coffee or wine or beer, It will be our soft drinks-our soft drinks.
R.Giozueta, ex CEO of Coca Cola.
Coca Cola GmbH (Germany) collaborated with the Nazis. The company advertised in Nazi papers financially assisting the regime. They opened up bottling plants in Sudetenland shortly after the Nazis had invaded. They exhibited at Nazi trade fairs. And in 1941 when Coca Cola GmbH could no longer get the syrup to make Coke from America they created a new drink out of the ingredients they had available to them. That drink created for the Nazi soft drink market was Fanta.
Fanta is the drink of Nazis.
The excellent Book by Mark Pendergrast "For God Country and Coca Cola" describes the CEO of Coke GmbH standing under Coca Cola banners and swastikas at a Coke rally before leading the audience in the Seig Heils for Hitler. Pendergrast also points to the near certainty that Coke used forced labour in the bottling plants, considering that 1/5 of the workforce was forced labour by 1945 it is perhaps not surprising.
Today the mighty Coca Cola empire is rapidly becoming a pariah company. It dominates the world of sporting sponsorship, while selling a drink that is basically sugared water and is linked with childhood obesity. In Kerala, Southern India, thousands have suffered from lack of water. The company, they claim, has used their groundwater and over exploited it. So while some villagers had to walk 7kms for fresh water Coke was merrily trucking out bottles in front of them.
In Colombia the Coca Cola bottlers are accused of hiring or conspiring with paramilitaries to kill, torture, kidnap and disappear trade unionists working for the company. Eight trade unionists have been killed so far. A few weeks ago close family members of a prominent trade unionist working for Coke were attacked by paramilitaries. Gabriel and Fanny Remolina were shot dead; their son Robinson died the next day. There are 2 surviving children.
A billion minutes ago Christianity appeared. A billion seconds ago the Beatles changed music forever. A billion Coca Colas ago was yesterday morning.
R. Goizueta ex CEO of Coca Cola.
The artists who have contributed to the exhibition have become involved through word of mouth, Mark talking to people at his shows and Tracey grabbing the artist community. It has been a truly democratic experience with professional artists, keen amateurs and school children participating. Originally we intended to merely try and recreate some of the images of the Nazi era, but once the artists got going they did what they wanted.
This is the first Coco Cola Nazi Adverts Art Exhibition, others are planned. Indeed we might even franchise the idea, with people creating their own exhibitions, a sort of McCoca Cola Nazi Adverts.
Mark Thomas and Tracey Sanders-Wood.
Special thanks to Jeff, PK, Winjer, Sam, Tony, Bev, Bex, Linda, Neil, Richard, Yonze, Ed, Matt and all the artists.
The website: Coca Cola Nazi Advert ChallengeSimon Cauty'sCoke Warz
The Coca-Cola Company Under The Nazis
Coke Takes Life
Coca Cola Goes To War
SINALTRAINAL Killer Coke site
Corpwatch India
Columbia Solidarity Campaign
Cokewatch
No laughing matter: comedian advertises Coca-Cola's 'Nazi' past
By Ciar Byrne, Media Correspondent
Independent 26 May 2004
Coca-Cola adverts are to be found in the farthest corners of the globe promoting a happy, wholesome image, but now they are the subject of a new exhibition which links the soft drinks giant with Nazi Germany.
The comedian Mark Thomas and the artist Tracey Sanders-Wood, who curated the art show Coca-Cola's Nazi Adverts, which opened in central London yesterday, say the company advertised in Nazi papers, exhibited at Nazi trade fairs and opened bottling plants in Sudetenland shortly after the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia.
Coca-Cola has rejected any suggestion that it sympathised with the Nazi regime, although it admits it operated in Germany while Hitler was in power.
Artists and members of the public with artistic aspirations were invited to contribute to the exhibition. Their brief was to imagine Coca-Cola's adverts in Nazi Germany. Mr. Thomas said: "Coke exists through advertising. That's why people drink the stuff. You can't escape it. What we wanted to do was to create an exhibition which made people think again every time they reached for a Coke.
"It's a very democratic exhibition. I mentioned it after gigs and we set up a website. If a work is submitted, it will be exhibited."
Images in the exhibition, which will include more than 400 pieces when it moves to the Foundry in east London next month, feature Coca-Cola symbols - the company's slogan and the Coke bottle - combined with Nazi slogans, propaganda and pictures of Adolf Hitler.
Predictably, it has not gone down well at Coca-Cola. "We reject out of hand the suggestion that as a company Coca-Cola ever sympathised in any way with the abhorrent acts or policies of the Nazi regime in Germany," said Tim Wilkinson, communications director for Coca-Cola Great Britain. "That is an unwarranted insult toward every person working for our company."
Coca-Cola has donated money to help those who were involved in forced labour during the Nazi years in Austria and Germany, but Mr. Wilkinson said this was good corporate practice and not an admission of guilt.
Richard Niman, whose sculpture portraying Hitler as a little girl holding a doll has been on display at the Imperial War Museum in London since 1990, is involved with the project. He believes that focusing on Coca-Cola's past gives the show wider appeal. "You have to pick something big to make it have a more universal context. Hopefully it will embarrass Coca-Cola," he said.
Thomas, known for his attacks on the Government and on corporate Britain, has been compared with the American Michael Moore. He uses stand-up gigs and his Channel 4 show to decry miscarriages of justice and oppression.
He has forced the former armed forces minister Nicholas Soames to display a family heirloom, a mahogany three-tier buffet, at Christie's in London, under a law that made works of art available to the nation in lieu of inheritance tax, and has driven a tank into a McDonald's "drive-thru" restaurant.
He has also has set up an exhibition of contaminated sea- gull droppings at the Sellafield nuclear centre, and went to the Athens arms fair in 1998 posing as a PR consultant and encouraging dealers to put on a media-friendly spin.
Thanks to our artists: 9thplanet design Alan Haigh Alan Rutherford Alan Schechner Alex Lenehan Amble Skramble Amy Andrew Ainscough Andrew Brandse Andrew Denmead Andrew Dobbie Andrew Lamberton Andy Andy Jones Andy Rogers Arofish Banksy B B Beau Bo D'Or Bewildered Bill Pollard Billy Canpuffcorn BlunkettÕs Dog Bobbie Bukkake Brian Reed Brian Weiss Cath Charlotte Mills Chris Barker Chris Barralet Chris Edge Chris Emerson Chris Gibbons Chris Hough Chris Johnson Chris Mcallister Chris Rollinson The Church of the Subgenius Claire Swallow D Smout Dai Marzipan Dandy Dimbot Daniel Castrogiovanni Danny Rodgers Dave Barton Dave Greenstreet Dave Johnson Dave Lee Dave Tickle David Allcutt David Hamblin David Kenyon David Sydenham Dean Perry Dean Whitbread / Mark Crook, Funk Inc. Deborah Lewis DJ Rich Donna Dr John Duncan Dunstan Bruce Ed McCarthy Edd aka LeChat Emma Price Emma Scotney Espira Eyejack Fiona Ferguson Fran Anderton Gareth Kelly Gary Millea Gary Noble genXploitation Geoff and Caroline Castle George Carr George Dubya Gordon McHarg Graham Haslehurst Grassy Noel Hadyn Isaac Humpo IdeoPraxist Jack Morgan Jacky Sawdon James Loach Jason Synott Jaydubberyou Jaz 5 Jeff Parry Jeffrey Bryant Jimmy Cauty Jo Selwood Joe Smith Johanna Hanley John Gardner Jon Bounds Jonny Spencer Karina Schulte Katie McGettigan Katy Mills Kelly Broad Kev G Kris Fox Laura Antonucci Layla Evans and Max Delderfield Laura Norder Lee Wallis Leon Reed Linda Bush Lorna Sankey Lucy Schorn & Dan Sutton Lynn Abery Mad Manc Bastard Maggie Bremner Marc Abraham Marc Phillipps Mark Clews Mark James Mark Miller Mark Olden Mark Shepherd Martin Martin taylor Marus Bowes Mat Simpson Mata H* Matt Windle Melanie Shaw Michael Corkery Michael Miller Mike J Glenholmes Mike Trinder Miss J Selwood Moira Minguella Mr Kipling Neil Hepburn Nick Read Nick Reynolds Nigel Goldsmith Not Mark Thomas Oliver Mills Paul Tompsett Paul Paul Bauer Paul Couling Paul harckham Paul Harper Paul Jamrozy Paul Jones Peter Healey Plucker Pommiegeo Printmeister Ray Rogers Rebecca Martin (Bex) Redbull Richard Cole Richard Guy Richard Knights Richard Niman Richard Porter Robbie Lesiuk Robert Saunders Robert Sharp Robin Metcalfe Romayne Phoenix Rosie Holtom Ryan Holder Ryan kidd Sam Turner Schoolkids Sean Liquorish Sean Rawles Seb Hunt Sebastian Jespersen Simon Browne Simon Cauty Simon Nicholson Simon Paris Simon Strutt Sioux Quinn Smallbrainfield SputnikJonny Steve Steve Loach Stuart Clary Syncubus Terri Sturman Tim Hale Tim Ireland Tim Yates Thomas Hardwidge Tom Johnson Tony Traynor Tracey Sanders-Wood Tricky Universal Racket Press Warren Dobson Westy Winjer Witty Ditty Zodiac Mindwarp Zoning