Coca Cola announces recall after complaints of "Offensive Packaging"

Atlanta, GA - A spokeswoman for the Coca Cola company (NYSE: KO) issued an apology for their "offensive" logo design after a public outcry and boycott.

"Our goal was never to offend anyone," said spokeswoman Martha Green. "We are very sorry for our lack of oversight and will do everything we can to prevent this from happening again. All offending products will be recalled and we will redesign the logo and all of our packaging."

The offensive content is the Spencerian Script font, a common style of writing from 1850 to 1925 and used by the company since 1885. Complaints first arose two weeks ago after a Facebook post criticized the design of the world famous corporate icon.

"Look at th[e] curves on the 'C'. It looks like arab[ic]. Coco [sic] Cola is a front f[o]r Islamists and there [sic] jeehad [sic] against the west!1!" read the Facebook posting.

The controversy soon spread online and has recently gained national and international media attention.

The American Freedom Defense Initiative and the Stop Islamisation of Europe organizations have all called for a boycott of Coca Cola and their "pro-Muslim/Jihad" agenda. One Million Moms voiced their concern as well on their webpage, "Coca Cola's endorsement of Extremist Muslim views contradicts ours and America's core Judeo-Christian values. They are anti-American and pro-Arabic and all like-minded people should boycott their products."

In the most recent Republican debate in Iowa, frontrunner and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called for the immediate arrest and execution of the CEO's of Coca Cola and was met with wild applause from the audience. Michelle Bachmann, Rick Satorum, and Rick Perry all agreed with Gingrich's statements. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul were booed offstage as they tried to respond.

The recall, destruction, and redesign of all coke products will cost the company billions of dollars, causing their stock prices to fall 80 percent as soon as the markets opened on Monday. The company also announced it will be forced to cut back on its workforce and employee benefits in order to pay for the recall.

Sources:

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-719248?hpt=hp_t3

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/photos/pepsican.asp

http://investing.money.msn.com/investments/stock-price/?symbol=US%3AKO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencerian_Script