The Coca-Cola Company is being accused of hypocrisy for being heavily critical of Georgia’s new election reform laws, as the company itself required photo identification at its shareholder meeting last year.
Georgia Republicans were under intense pressure to make reforms to the state’s voting laws following the 2020 election cycle, when President Joe Biden won the state’s 16 electoral votes.
This resulted in the creation of SB 202, an election integrity law aimed at making state elections safer and more reliable.
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“At the entrance to the meeting, we will verify your registration and request to see your admission ticket and a valid form of photo identification, such as a driver’s license or passport,” Coca-Cola wrote last year prior to the shareholder’s meeting, Fox Business reported.
Seemingly oblivious to his company’s past actions, the Atlanta-based soda brand’s CEO and chairman James Quincey released a statement on Wednesday condemning the new changes to Georgia voting practices.
“Voting is a foundational right in America, and we have long championed efforts to make it easier to vote,” Quincey said.
“We want to be crystal clear and state unambiguously that we are disappointed in the outcome of the Georgia voting legislation. Throughout Georgia’s legislative session, we provided feedback to members of both legislative chambers and political parties, opposing measures in the bills that would diminish or deter access to voting,” he continued.
Other companies and leagues that situationally require identification have also released statements, such as American Airlines and Major League Baseball. Even taking it a step further than Coca-Cola, MLB announced that the 2021 All-Star Game will be played in Denver, as opposed to Atlanta, as a result of the new Georgia legislation. MLB unsurprisingly requires photo identification to pick up tickets from will call, adding fuel to the fire of hypocrisy these businesses and associations have started. It is, unfortunately, becoming increasingly common practice for corporations to release statements about controversial pieces of legislation, in hopes that it will make them come across as socially conscious to consumers — but it often results in a fierce backlash, as Americans point out the obvious double standard.
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