Earlier today I let up a trial balloon, and it soared immediately, receiving thousands of hits an hour.
As expected several people aimed their BB-guns, attempting to shoot it down.
I also learned that the idea isn't new. Max Keizer formulated it beautifully back in 2009. Max has already reached out to me in support of #occupycoke. Great. Max brings credibility and great insight.
This is a followup post to the OccupyCoke project. It is a message to the #OccupyWallStreet movement.
Take a look at this flag. It was posted by Adbusters, the originators of the #Occupy movement. It symbolizes the problem:
Corporations own the Politicians. Wall Street is the pimp.
If the 99% want to really show their power, then you have to get their attention.
Financial markets is the scoreboard. Just look at how much hoopla surrounds a new product release from Apple, people track the stock price like hawks.
If the "99%" can make markets move, if only on one major stock, the Corporations, Politicians and most certainly Wall Street will listen.
#OccupyCoke is designed to do just that. Companies listen to their customers, so do the analysts that follow their growth, as do the politicians who receive funding from them.
Move the stock, everyone notices.
Its the kind of power in numbers that will give the movement leverage. A big bargaining chip.
To rebutt a common criticism, moving a company's stock down 20 points won't put thousands of people out of work over night, nor will it bankrupt it. But it will disrupt the lifeblood of the system. Value, and thus cash flows.
Coca Cola is the perfect target for this type of action. Unlike Apple and Facebook, no one actually needs to drink coca cola. You can live without it for a month. It's logo is recognized globally, so signage is easy. And best of all, everyone can participate. How many times have we seen people turn their facebook icons and twitter avatars black, or green in protest of something? This time it will actually have an effect. Corporations don't like negative PR.
Best of all, when the stupid media comes around asking what you stand for you can repeat this simple mantra:
Corporations own the Politicians. Wall Street is the pimp. #OccupyCoke stops the funding of the 1%
Last night we were having dinner with some friends and I hatched a simple plan that may provide real action that anyone who sympathises with the global occupy movement can participate in. You don't even have to make a sign or camp outside!
The premise is simple: use our power as consumers to take down one of the largest, most profitable, influential and unnecessary corporations in the world.
By doing this, we will show real power. Power that can be repeated. Power so great that it will have corporations, governments and financial markets trembling in their boots.
I've registered a domain and set up a mini-manifesto at occupycoke.com