Dive Brief:
- Coca-Cola is the sole sponsor of a nationwide tour of college campuses for the movie "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom." Free screenings will be held in eight cities.
- The movie from the Weinstein Co. tells the story of the man who endured 27 years in prison before becoming the first freely elected president of South Africa.
- Coke's decision to link its brand to the movie makes for an extraordinarily powerful marketing force. By some accounts Mandela is the second-most recognized "brand" on earth, trailing only Coca-Cola.
Dive Insight:
Every once in awhile, after you reach a certain age, you come to notice that life has a way of falling perfectly into place. For us, this is one of those moments. Here's why: In 1986, in the midst of the anti-apartheid movement, Coca-Cola decided to end its businesses in South Africa and sell its assets to black investors. It was a major victory for the divestiture movement, which had held protests at college campuses across the world for many years. One company frequently cited in those protests was Coke. And one campus where such protests were frequent in the years leading to Coke's divestment was Fordham University in New York City. We know, because we were there.
Tonight, at 6 pm., the first screening of the Mandela movie will be held in New York. And students from Fordham, who weren't yet born when an earlier generation of Fordham students built a "shantytown" on campus to call attention to conditions in South Africa, are on the guest list. Because life has a way, after time, of falling perfectly into place.
