Coca-Cola sales in the Middle East and Asia have significantly declined this summer as part of the movement to boycott corporations that have ties to "Israel" amid the ongoing ten-month genocide in Gaza.

In an attempt to boost sales, the soda company's Bangladesh franchise released an expensive advertising campaign starring a famous South Asian actor, Sharaf Ahmed Jibon, renowned for his role in soap operas and reality TV shows. 

Although the advertisement intended to undermine the company's Israeli connection and highlight its ties to Muslim communities, the campaign received backlash for producing inaccurate and misleading information.

'Even Palestine has a Coke factory'

The scene is set in a hot marketplace in Bangladesh with Jibon's shopkeeper character tackling the allegations of the company's link to "Israel," stating “Listen, guys, Coke is not at all from ‘that place,’” without explicitly mentioning the regime, aiming to distance the company from the Israeli political affiliations.

"Even Palestine has a Coke factory," the shopkeeper continued telling a group of boys who dropped their political objections and consumed the soda. 

The advertisement received immediate criticism since the referenced Coke factory is located and operates in an Israeli-occupied settlement in al-Quds, which is considered illegal under international law. The company promptly pulled the video from all platforms, including social media accounts and television markets. 

“As a global brand, we partner with local franchises to serve local communities. We acknowledge that the recent video missed the mark, and we apologize,” Coca-Cola's Vice President of Global Strategic Communication Scott Leith said, adding, “The video has been removed from all platforms.”

Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, explained that the boycotting of Coca-Cola is due to its parent company, the Central Bottling Company, operating in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone in occupied al-Quds. Concerning the advertisement, Barghouti said he found the promotion of a Palestinian factory particularly galling.

Backlash from Bangladesh and the international community

Multiple activists and people from the set of the advertisement made comments on the controversial video, highlighting the consequential effect of imposing further boycotts on the brand. 

“It added fuel to the boycott, and the actors involved in the advertisement received death threats,” Bangladeshi writer and director Sadia Islam said in an interview.

Shimul Sharma, one of the actors in the advertisement, issued a public apology stating he would only take on future projects that respect "human rights," while Jibon issued a statement undermining the video as "only a part" of his "professional work," asserting that he has never supported the occupation in any way and "never will."

“Coca-Cola was not strong enough in terms of pulling this advertisement as soon as they saw it, and they were way too slow in getting an apology out,” Paul Argenti, corporate communication professor at Dartmouth, said. “Those are sins that a company like Coca-Cola, which is one of the best companies in the world, should not be able to get away with.”

The power of boycotting

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Since the beginning of "Israel's" genocidal aggression on Gaza on October 7, multiple mega-brand companies have been boycotted for their alleged funding or association with the occupation.

“People are refusing to drink Coca-Cola, and local brands like Jordan’s Matrix Cola and Saudi Arabia’s Kinza have seen a surge in sales,” said Will Todman, a Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, highlighting that the only people he has seen drinking the beverage in the Middle East are tourists.

McDonald's is undergoing targetted boycotting due to its Israeli franchise distributing thousands of free meals to members of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), while Starbucks became part of the boycott list after suing its own union for posting a message of solidarity with Palestinians on X under the company's logo.

“Many citizens in the Arab world who are boycotting may not have detailed information about the companies’ exact ties to Israel,” Todman said. “Instead, I think people boycott the companies because they represent the United States and they oppose U.S. support for Israel.”

Western brands in desperate straits amid Muslim nations boycotts

Boycotts of Western food and beverage brands in Muslim-majority nations, including Coca-Cola, KFC, Starbucks, Mondelez, and Pizza Hut, considerably impacted their profitability.

The boycotts, which are motivated by their support for "Israel", have been widespread and severe, aggravating the impact of a worldwide consumer downturn. 

Some multinational corporations have been careful in attempting to minimize its significance while others, such as Mondelez and L'Oréal, have documented particular detrimental consequences on their Middle East sales.

The boycotts are driven by social media and BDS groups and have resulted in significant sales decreases for several businesses like Coca-Cola in Pakistan and Starbucks in Malaysia. 

Companies are attempting to handle the issue by lowering their profiles and avoiding more controversy.

The boycotts come when Western companies are competing with local alternatives and customer tastes shifting toward local items. 

Amarpal Sandhu, chief executive of Americana Restaurants, which operates brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Krispy Kreme across the Middle East and Kazakhstan, cited that the event was "unprecedented."

Luca Zaramella, chief financial officer of food producer Mondelez, said the boycotts "remained a headwind," slowing Middle East sales growth by 2% in the second quarter. L'Oréal also said that boycotts hampered growth in the first half of the year by 2% points.

In late July, the Financial Times reported that McDonald's saw its first global sales decrease since 2020.

Recently, it reported a fall in sales in several Middle Eastern nations, as well as Indonesia and Malaysia. Sales were also down in China and France.

In April, McDonald's announced plans to acquire all of its restaurants franchised by the Alonyal group in "Israel".

Americana outlets, which is controlled by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and Dubai-based billionaire Mohamed Alabbar, said on July 30 that its second-quarter profits fell 40% compared to the same period last year, despite launching 81 outlets in the first half of the year.

In Pakistan, the government committed in July to organize a committee to identify and boycott items from firms that "directly or indirectly" support "Israel" or its army.

Coca-Cola İçecek, the bottler of Coca-Cola in Pakistan, claimed sales volumes in the nation declined roughly a quarter year on year in the first three months of 2024, which it blamed on "macroeconomic headwinds" without citing consequences from the boycotts.

In Egypt, PepsiCo television commercials using celebrities such as singer Amr Diab and Egyptian Liverpool player Mo Salah garnered widespread condemnation from social media users.