Khulain khushiyaan ya khule diabetes?

Kids nowadays learn the word ‘Coke’ soon after they gain familiarity with their own names. Knowing this piece of information, one can rightly assume the utter significance this beverage holds within our culture and households. However, given the dire health consequences associated with the drink, a question arises to mind; why do people continue using this and more importantly why do they let their children still consume it? The answer to this lies in the appealing advertisements we have been seeing for as long as we were born.

Coca Cola’s recent marketing campaign involved an advertisement that showed how a family bonded because of their love for the drink and how consumption of the drink further added to their happiness. Not only this, they also included a catch line which said ‘khulain khushiyaan’ as if opening the bottle of coke would allow them to enter into a realm of happiness.

Given the host of problems such as diabetes and obesity which are associated with the consumption of insane amounts of sugar (part and parcel of such drinks), one can rightly question the ethical nature of this advertisement. Are we as a community allowing multi-national companies to get away with brainwashing our public, especially kids, while not educating them about the true consequences of the consumption of such products? If cigarette packs can have ‘smoking kills’ on them, why can’t coke bottles have something similar instead of the ‘khule khushiyaan’ they are so conveniently using?