Orthodox residents of Nizhny Novgorod found Coca-Cola advertising offensive

A group of residents of Nizhny Novgorod sent an appeal to the governor, regional prosecutor, Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas Georgy with a demand to initiate a criminal case against the Coca-Cola company on the fact of desecration of shrines, the images of which were used in Coca-Cola advertising.

"The company filled the entire city of Nizhny Novgorod with refrigerators depicting Orthodox crosses and domes dear to every Russian heart, a monument to the Great Patriots of the Russian land - Minin and Pozharsky, an alarm bell installed in Nizhny Novgorod next to the Church of John the Baptist, views of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, "- the letter says. - All images in the manufacture of advertising are deliberately arranged in such a way that they are visually perceived inside the bottle of Coca-Cola. There are also inverted images - Orthodox crosses and domes are not only inside the bottle, but also pasted with crosses down."

The Orthodox saw this as an insult to religious feelings and a humiliation of national dignity.

"We have not yet forgotten how the Americans destroyed Orthodox churches in Serbia, but in our country they started from something else - from the desecration of shrines. We are deeply outraged by the fact that the American company is mocking the Orthodox, national shrines of the Russian people," the appeal reads, signed by put 440 people.

The press secretary of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese, priest Igor Pchelintsev, told Kommersant that the diocese is not the initiator of the appeal to the prosecutor's office, but will "morally support" the applicants.

The Nizhny Novgorod representative office of Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia assured that "by placing types of objects of architecture and art on its commercial equipment and on product packaging, the company demonstrates its position on the preservation of cultural heritage."

On January 14, 2008, the Coca-Cola Company decided to withdraw an advertisement that had caused discontent among the Orthodox in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Street refrigerators with inverted crosses and Orthodox churches will be dismantled.

The prosecutor's office decides whether to initiate a criminal case, and the Federal Antimonopoly Service decides on a fine for violating the law "On Advertising". A board meeting on the matter has been scheduled for January 17.

In early January, Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia decided to replace its product advertisement with images of Nizhny Novgorod temples due to the dissatisfaction of believers. Yana Guskova, a spokeswoman for the company, did not disclose the amount of the company's losses associated with the replacement of images. It has not yet been decided which images will be placed on replacement refrigeration equipment.

removing images of churches and historical monuments from the promotional equipment of the Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia company . recommended On January 17 , the expert council at the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Nizhny Novgorod Region

The representative of the company Yana Guskova noted that equipment with the same advertising is in several other Russian cities, for example, in Ufa. Their company will not be dismantled because there have been no complaints from the public.

Sources

• A group of Nizhny Novgorod residents accused Coca-Cola of defiling national traditions // IA REGNUM. 2007. December 18.
• Kryazhev R. Coca-cola ringing // Kommersant. 2007. December 19.
• The Coca-Cola Company has decided to withdraw an advertisement that caused indignation among the Orthodox in the Nizhny Novgorod region // Portal-Credo.ru. 2008. January 14.
• Lyubov Kovaleva The Expert Council of the Nizhny Novgorod OFAS on January 17 will assess the advertising message of Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia using religious symbols for violation of the Federal Law "On Advertising" // NIA "Nizhny Novgorod. 2008. January 15.
• Chichurina E. Coca-Cola erases monuments // Vedomosti. 2008. January 18.