Coca-Cola Co is dropping its membership in a conservative national advocacy group that supports "Stand Your Ground" laws such as the one being used as a defence in the Florida killing of an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin. The move by Coke follows a similar one by PepsiCo and comes as corporate America faces increased scrutiny from consumers and shareholder activists over lobbying and political spending.
In a statement on Thursday, Coca-Cola made no direct mention of the controversial self-defense law pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council. The law provides shooters with wide latitude for claiming self defense when they perceive a threat. "The Coca-Cola Company has elected to discontinue its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)," the statement said.
"Our involvement with ALEC was focused on efforts to oppose discriminatory food and beverage taxes, not on 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."
Trayvon Martin, 17, was killed on February 26 in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, 28, a white and hispanic neighbourhood watch volunteer who has claimed he acted in self defence and has not been charged with a crime. At a rally in Sanford on Saturday, civil rights leaders said they were considering economic boycotts of national companieshisp that support "Stand Your Ground" laws.
Coca-Cola and other ALEC member companies were targeted last year by the civil rights group ColorOfChange for their support of ALEC, which also is behind what ColorOfChange Executive Director Rashad Robinson calls "voter suppression laws" in many states. Since the killing of Martin, Robinson said, ColorOfChange has let the corporations know that ALEC was behind a push for states to adopt legislation modeled after Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law. Robinson declined to name which other companies the group is pursuing, saying their strategy is to give corporations a chance to pull out before they escalate the issue publicly.
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