"No sugar, no prejudice" - Coca Cola hits hard in Hungary with gay and lesbian support
The revolution of love...
Starting today, the spectacular Sziget music festival takes place in Budapest, Hungary. The festival is generally very progressive and bases its promotion on the fact that it offers "an environment where no one can be discriminated against or offended on the basis of skin colour, religion or sexual identity," and its main theme this year is "Love Revolution."
The Coca-Cola company has decided to take advantage of this by putting up posters in a number of public places (train stations, bus stops) depicting same-sex couples holding Coca-Cola and with the subtitle "Zero Sugar, Zero Prejudice"... And it has hit prejudice hard.
Although the positive message may seem clear at first glance, the campaign infuriated many Hungarians. In addition to the fact that a petition fighting for the removal of the posters has already been created (signed by around 50,000 people), a member of parliament from the ruling (since 2010) Hungarian conservative right-wing Fidesz party has called on everyone to boycott the brand's drinks. "Until Coca Cola removes its provocative posters from Hungary, I will not consume its products. I call on everyone else to do the same," Boldog István wrote on Facebook.
No more homosexual lobby!
While Coca-Cola stands its ground and has responded to the criticism only by stating that it is a "long-time supporter of the LGBT community" and a company spokesperson told CNN that "Coca Cola is committed to diversity, inclusion and equality not only in its business but in society as a whole, and therefore believes that everyone has the right to love the person they choose," many Hungarians feel that the company is taking on the homosexual lobby. "We are launching a boycott of Coca-Cola. Through our petition, we ask for help to remove the posters as soon as possible and to curb the homosexual lobby targeting children, families and society as a whole," the authors of the protest say. According to them, this advertisement is only the beginning, movies, rainbow products will follow and it will be impossible to stop the homosexual content...
Although Hungarian legislation has allowed same-sex couples to enter into registered partnerships since 2009, it does not grant them the same rights as married heterosexuals (as it does here). Same-sex marriage is then openly rejected by the Fidesz party, led by its leader Viktor Orbán - and is in open conflict with EU leaders not only on LGBT minority rights but also on gender equality. What is also paradoxical about the whole situation is that opinion polls indicate that more and more Hungarians support LGBT rights. According to a 2017 survey, more than 60% of the country's population believes that all people - regardless of their sexual orientation - should be granted the same rights.
The enemy: LGBT people
Although Boldog did gain many supporters for his boycott (and some ultra-right-wing media outlets picked up on his call), the Fidesz party ultimately preferred to keep their hands off the issue, saying that Hungarians are free to choose whether or not to drink Coca-Cola. According to Tamás Dobmos, a Hungarian activist, this is a pragmatic move - although the government is homophobic, it is aware that LGBT people are increasingly accepted in society. "The whole government propaganda is built on conflict, but in that you have to have enemies. After the EU, migrants, NGOs and even the homeless, it can now be LGBT people," the activist summarised.
