The Coalition speaks!

Well, not really. More like "The Coalition sends an email that really doesn't say anything!"

In my last post, I told you that I had sent emails to all the members of the Coalition of Corporate Sponsors asking them to make a statement regarding an incident involving Bounty Killer. To date, only one company has responded to my email.

Maxine Whittingham, the Head of Corporate Relations at Red Stripe had this to say on the matter:

Dear Mr Thomas,

Thank you for your email addressed to our Marketing Communication Manager regarding Bounty Killer's recent endorsement of Stone Crusher.

As a member of the Coalition of Corporate Sponsors we are indeed aligned to the position that as a united force we can in fact influence and, over time, change popular culture to reflect positive, uplifting messages. There are many ways in which this can be achieved. However from our interaction with the dancehall industry, we have come to agree that a confrontational approach is, at best, the least effective.

It is for this reason that you will not always see the Coalition making direct, public statements about issues, but at the same time it should not suggest that the Coalition is doing nothing to make the change.

We appreciate your concern and wish to assure you that as a group of responsible corporate citizens we are indeed 'on the case'.

Thank you.


Maxine Whittingham
Head of Corporate Relations
Red Stripe, a Diageo Company
214 Spanish Town Road
Kingston 11



To which I replied:

Dear Ms. Whittingham,

Thanks for taking the time out to answer.

I can understand that one may not always want to take a confrontational approach but "justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done".
I applaud the fact that you are "on the case", as you put it, and I think that the wider public would be more appreciative of your efforts if something was said publicly. As it stands now, the public generally views the Coalition as a bunch of corporate hypocrites and this may make your campaign less effective.

Thanks again for your time.

Nigel Thomas


Let's see who else answers. Keep those emails going.