No Coke, Pepsi

The 1948 photograph of me at Laguna Beach definitely has me drinking a Pepsi. But I am actually a Coke drinker now, and have been for many years. So why do I have Pepsi logos on my web pages? The reason is simple. Some years back UBC and the AMS cut an exclusive deal with Coca-Cola. Why an institution of higher learning would think this made sense is beyond me, but they did. In keeping with the spirit of the UCLA student in the 1960s who took out a paid ad in the Daily Bruin to protest a contest to see which living unit (dorm, frat or sorority) would buy the most athletic socks in support of a camp fund for under-privileged kids, I didn't support the corporate presence Coca-Cola had at UBC. The UCLA student had no objection to athletic socks, camp for under-privileged kids, or contests. He did object to the prize, which was a person (Donna Michelle) who would come to dinner at the winning living unit. The student felt it was inappropriate for an institution of higher learning to use sex to sell products (even if the products were for charity). I think it is inappropriate for an institution of higher learning to be using itself to self products unless the products are education itself or things that are specific to the institution and its role as a place of learning. Of course Pepsi is not at all above using sex to sell its sugar water, so perhaps all of this is pointless.