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Stories from the Inside Coca-Cola Annual Meeting 2006 The spring season marks many corporations' annual meetings--one of the most important times of the year for corporations to try to impress the media, financial analysts, and employees. For years we have successfully used this opportunity to directly challenge corporate abuses. At the Coca-Cola shareholders' meeting in Wilmington, DE, Anil, Sudha, Sister Nancy and Karinkumar represented people across the U.S. and around the world when they addressed top executives and shareholders, demanding Coke end its irresponsible and dangerous actions around the world. Here are a few stories from inside this year's Coca-Cola Annual Shareholders' Meeting in Wilmington, DE on April 19th.
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Corporate Accountability International organizer Sudha Nandagopal challenged the explosive growth of bottled water markets fueled by misleading advertising. In response to Sudha's concerns, CEO Neville Isdell talked about consumer choice and how Coke offers bottled water as an alternative that provides a level of security that tap water can't always provide. Isdell apparently failed to recognize that his response to concerns about Coke's misleading promotion of bottled water was itself undermining confidence in the public water system. 
Sister Nancy MacDermott, a sister of Notre Dame, traveled from Cleveland, OH to talk about her community's efforts to educate people of faith about the human right to water. Sr. Nancy and her congregation gathered more than 700 of the thousands of "Think Outside the Bottle" post cards we delivered to Coke's management. Though Sr. Nancy sought recognition throughout the meeting, she was not called upon to speak. Undeterred she approached Coke's Corporate Secretary, Carol Crofoot Hayes, after the meeting to talk about the Sisters of Notre Dame's concerns and asked Ms. Hayes to accept the cards. She agreed. The only problem was that Coke's security personnel had been ordered to block any campaign materials from entering the meeting room. Security officers were confused by the order to let nothing in and Coke's official countermanding order. So, with a trail of security officers following, Sister Nancy presented six boxes of post cards to Carol Crofoot Hayes, bringing thousands of additional people's voices into the meeting hall. 
University of Pennsylvania student Anil Venkatesh first heard of Corporate Accountability International's work in March at a Tap Water Challenge on his campus. He delivered a stirring message of concern on behalf of the thousands of students active in our "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign. 
Karinkumar Vissa, an activist from Maryland, delivered a powerful statement urging Coke to shut down its plants in Indian communities like Plachimada and Mehdiganj, which are demanding the corporation's departure. Karin also noted that by Coke's own admission its rainwater collection program collected less than 10% of the amount of water used by Coke in India. 