Educational Media Reviews Online

Coke on the Rocks? questions the sustainability of the Coca-Cola Company’s business model and its long-term dynamism. Coke is losing sales to a health conscious population and is shown to be slow to respond to competitors’ innovations. This film extensively addresses the near-worldwide call to eliminate the sale of Coke and other soft drinks in schools, stifling the company’s reach to the next generation of consumers. The once untouchable Coke brand is now suffering from anti-globalization sentiment and niche competitors abroad. The film goes on to a sharp-edged analysis of the company’s business model, pointing out that Pepsi is a food and beverage company whereas Coke has exclusively remained a beverage company. Coke on the Rocks? raises serious doubts about the company’s strategies, citing its missed opportunities in the snack food, sports drink, and bottled water markets. The film skillfully probes a handful of the company’s commercials as evidence of the company’s struggles.

This documentary is a terse denunciation of Coca Cola, leaving room however for the viewer to ponder the company’s future. The chief concern about this documentary is its potential to become out-dated. The film is very current, addressing specific recent events, but can be easily out-dated with a movement in the company or its markets. That aside, the film remains as a quality piece of work on the movement to remove soft drinks from schools. This film comes highly recommended for its rough but fair treatment of Coca Cola and the soft drink industry.