Just Chew It: Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Company sells 1.7 billion drinks every day worldwide, or one for every 4 people in the world. It spends a colossal $2.7 billion a year on advertising and $5 billion on marketing and promotion outside the USA.

Ad spend Australia $13.7 million

Sports: Coca-Cola is everywhere. It is a Gold Sponsor of Cricket Australia and a major partner of the AFL and NRL. Its also pumps money into 17 AFL clubs and 11 Rugby League clubs (including the Broncos, Panthers and Sea Eagles), as well as 5 state cricket teams, 4 top rugby union teams and 5 top basketball teams like the Melbourne Tigers and Sydney Kings. Coca-Cola’s deal with the NRL is worth around $1 million a year—with another $1 million from the clubs. Its deal with Cricket Australia is also around $1 million, with extra from the states. Deals with the AFL clubs appear to be worth $100,000 to $250,000 each, totaling maybe $2 million to $3 million a year. All up, it’s probably spending $10 million a year—before any ads.

Stars: AFL stars Chris Judd and Israel Folau, NRL star Timana Tahu. Greg Chappell and the Australian Test cricket team.

Targeting kids: Coca-Cola has a policy not to market to children, but its TV ads for Kirks feature pre-teen kids and it certainly targets teenagers. It has the Coca Challenge Cup for U13 schoolboy rugby league, while its Powerade brand sponsors U-10 junior soccer, U-12 junior cricket, U-13 rugby league, junior basketball (with the Pacific Coast Slam), and junior AFL (with the Powerade Star Search).

The ads: This summer, Coca-Cola ran Kirks Lemonade ads in Nine’s cricket broadcasts.

It also runs this Powerade ad on YouTube.

Food Facts: A 375ml can of Kirks Lemonade contains nearly 10 teaspoonfuls (41 grams) of sugar. Powerade has less sugar per litre but uses bigger bottles, so a 600ml Powerade Isotonic still has nearly 9 teaspoons (36 grams) of the sweet stuff.

Expert verdict: ‘Kirks has nearly 10 teaspoons of sugar in every can. That’s almost half the adult recommended daily maximum. What parent would dissolve 10 cubes of sugar in a big glass of water and not expect big bills from their dentist?’ Kathy Chapman, NSW Cancer Council nutritionist.