Coca-Cola is being boycotted as people accuse the soda giant of being racist and anti-immigrant. But are the claims true?
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Coca-Cola has branded itself as the drink that brings people together and puts a smile on your face. But people have begun to question the brand as rumors swirl about how they treat employees.
Shopper side-eyes Coca-Cola in the store
In a viral video with more than 250,000 views, content creator Juju (@jujubluebear) shared something she noticed in a dollar store.
As Juju walked the aisles of her local Dollar Tree, she immediately stopped and stared at the Coca-Cola display.
On the shelf with the unrefrigerated drinks was a small sign that read, “Don’t forget the ICE.”
It seems innocuous at first, but then it clicks that Juju thinks this is a reference not to literal ice but to ICE, aka Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Well, well, well, look what we have here. [Expletive] Coca-Cola. Don’t forget the ICE? Yeah, I [expletive] bet Coca-Cola. [Expletive] you,” Juju said.
“U knew damn well what u were doing putting that sign right there,” Juju added in the caption.
Part of why Juju implies that Coca-Cola and Dollar Tree are promoting ICE is because of a rumor that’s swirling about Coke laying off undocumented immigrants en masse and calling ICE on them.
But it could also just be that the store is trying to upsell people to buy ice with their unrefrigerated drinks.
Coca-Cola being boycotted
Last year, people started boycotting companies that donated to President Donald Trump’s campaign. Those boycotts have only grown as numerous big companies—including Target, Meta, Walmart, Amazon, and McDonald’s—rolled back their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
(FYI, Coca-Cola did donate to Trump.)
Coca-Cola was added to this list, not for ending its DEI work, but because of rumors that they fired a slew of Latino workers in Texas and allegedly reported them to ICE, Yahoo reported.
Is Coca-Cola in cahoots with ICE?
Let’s be clear up front: these are all rumors until evidence comes out. And so far, there is no evidence, fact-checker Distractify reported.
If there were, major news outlets would be picking up on this story.
Coca-Cola’s targeting of Latinos could have a huge business impact given that its Latin American division serves about 530 million consumers.
A few other things.
On layoffs: As a publicly traded company, Coca-Cola must disclose specific financial information. While not all layoffs are public record, one of the scales the rumors propose would certainly be included in their SEC filings. So far, there are no recent SEC filings or press releases on the matter.
They did reportedly lay off 75 employees at the Grand Prairie, Texas plant that was closing—but that was in 2021.
On deportations: “If Coca-Cola had thousands of undocumented employees, that would mean the company knowingly hired illegal workers — only to then snitch on itself by calling ICE?” Distractify stated.
“It’s not just unlikely, it’s illogical.”
Viewers speculate on ICE sign
“Love whoever put that sign, cus you know very da.mn well it was intentional to remind everyone!” a top comment read.
“I work at dollar tree those ice signs been there as long as they sold ice bags . pan the video to the right where the Pepsi end cap is. same signs,” a person said.
“Pepsi forever. [Expletive] Coca-Cola,” another wrote.
@jujubluebear u knew damn well what u were doing putting that sign right there @Dollar Tree @Coca-Cola #cocacola #dollartree #sahm #fyp #soda #pop #latina #wtf #cutewinterboots ♬ original sound – jujubluebear
The Daily Dot reached out to Juju for comment via TikTok direct message and comment and to Dollar Tree and Coca-Cola via email.
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