NUS busybodies clash over Coca Cola boycott
Some people really don’t want to be stuck drinking Pepsi
NUS fun-sponges wasted no time descending into in-fighting at their first meeting of the year, with a proposed boycott of Coca Cola causing thirsty SU officers to revolt the only way they know how: by writing an open letter.
The chaos surrounds the recent decision to have Coca Cola sponsor the NUS’s annual awards night/love-in.
Newly-elected President Megan Dunn has faced criticism for forgetting the NUS had already voted to boycott companies such as Coca Cola in a vain but honourable attempt to pressurise Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government into recognising the rights of Palestinians.
Understandably, the blue-sky thinkers behind this ambitious enterprise felt Coca Cola’s presence at their end-of-year festival of self-love left a bad taste in mouth, and they expressed their unhappiness by submitting a motion to the first national executive committee of the year.
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This humiliating Motion 11 requested Megan and vice-president Richard Brooks “publish a formal apology stating it was a mistake to accept Coca Cola’s sponsorship” and that all ties with Coca Cola be cut.
Faced with a future where SU bars can only stock Pepsi, 50 student unions and 150 officers have put their foot down and revolted against Motion 11 by publishing an open letter criticising the decision to ban Coca Cola products.
Through their extremely political gesture, the open letter’s signatories accuse the people behind Motion 11 of “seeking to play politics and undermine the National President”, rather than focusing on what everyone actually wants them to do: namely, secure us all an ASOS discount and free cheeseburgers.
They also claim the controversy really killed the mood at what was otherwise a cracking awards night as “new officers were intimidated and shouted at as they attempted to enter”, behaviour which “isn’t reflective of the values of our NUS”.
Keele SU, one of the student groups to sign the letter, said in a statement: “We understand opinion will be split within the student body as to whether or not a boycott of Coca Cola is something that we wish to be a part of.
“We believe all students should have the opportunity to boycott Coca Cola if they wish to do so, however, we do not believe it is our place to enforce a boycott on all of our students.”
At the time of writing, it remains unclear what this means for the soft drinks you can expect at your SU bar this coming year. Fortunately, lemonade has so far emerged unscathed.