Medical Aid Via Coke & Facebook

Simon Berry was impressed by Coca Cola’s widespread distribution network in Africa. Though, he found it shocking that remote communities had access to all the Coke they could ever need, but not to life saving medicine. Taking matters into his own hands he started a Facebook group, campaigning to have Coke dedicate some of their distribution infrastructure to help ship medicine to areas that need it. The group grew quickly and generated a lot of positive publicity. Coke’s management took notice, and is now looking into taking part in the campaign.

Worldchanging reports:

At first, Berry’s ideas fell on deaf ears; after all he was the only recruit in a one-man army. Now, a modest Facebook publicity campaign has catapulted Berry’s message into the Coca-Cola boardroom. Salvatore Gabola, global head of stakeholder relations for the beverage giant, took notice of the social networking momentum and has invited Berry to Coca-Cola’s European headquarters to discuss his idea…

The size of the campaign’s Facebook following – 3,811 at our last visit – is still tiny relative to Coca-Cola’s consumer base. But the viral, self-publicizing nature of Berry’s campaign is nothing to sneeze at when you’re an executive of a company like Coca-Cola, facing significant skepticism from the kinds of creative-minded, marketer-wary users who populate Facebook and other sites like it. If Coca-Cola can indeed facilitate a medical supply network, the company stands to gain enormous approval from some tougher consumers. I, for one, hope Coke decides (for any reason) to act on Berry’s suggestion. Allying the social conscience of global multinationals with a worthy cause may prove to be an important first step towards a better world.

[via Worldchanging]