Drink Coke … Receive Cancer Treatment

Someone I know recently approached me with a plea. The person asked if I could collect as many Coca-Cola product caps as possible for a friend of his/hers who has a daughter suffering from cancer. He/she said (and I quote), “For a thousand bottle caps, the father can receive one cancer treatment for his daughter.” What else could I do but go around areas where bottles are recycled and gather as many caps as possible.

The Coca-Cola Corporation has for the past several years offered people who drink their product a reward of entering codes on the caps of their products. Those who do can accrue points from entering the codes on the inside of caps to enter sweepstakes for prizes or, cash in points for rewards for things like electronics, household appliances, clothing, etc. Coca-Cola can afford to do this as the amount of points is considerable for these products, and for a person to collect the needed points for an item involves large product consumption. The company makes their money, and the truth is, not all who buy Coca-Cola products take part in the rewards as it takes time and patience to enter and amass the needed points for the products or contests that are offered.

There are a couple possibilities as to why this person told me the father needs the Coca-Cola product caps. One is, he/she is lying and just wants me to do the legwork in collecting caps for him/her. They know I collect caps although I have not purchased Coca-Cola products in years. What I do is go around to recycling stations and collect the caps off of bottles and enter the maximum amount week by week. Like I said before, this takes patience and routine in order to gain from the company’s promotion. While I do not support Coca-Cola through purchasing their product, I have no qualms in profiting from their giveaways.   

A second possibility is that the person and the father are not lying but there is some unscrupulous individual at the hospital that is extorting Coca-Cola product caps for cancer treatment. This certainly sounds farfetched but should we dismiss such a possibility when people are more and more focused on material things and are so ingrained in a high consumption society? After all, it is not uncommon to see on the news channels people trampling one another on Black Friday to purchase one product or another. People wait in long lines to purchase iPads and iPhones. It is too soon to dismiss the idea that, informally, people in the health professions are also seeking out free stuff.

I would not be surprised, given peoples’ resistance to universal health care in the United States, we continue in a direction where the Coca-Cola Company eventually offers health care treatments for consuming their product. A simple search on the internet of cancer treatment with Coca-Cola products does not retrieve such offers as ‘trade in your Coke caps for cancer treatment’ (yet), but the constant drinking of Coca-Cola products may lead to such serious health problems like pancreatic, bone and breast cancers. We have a tendency to allow the ‘arsonists to put out the fires’ in our politics … why not with the international corporations that appear so benign as well?

This sick story, whether it was true or a fabrication, has a sad ending. I collected over 250 bottle caps from Coca-Cola products before this person told me not to do it anymore. He/she told me that the father’s daughter passed away. I did not question this person’s story. I only offered my condolences. I leave it up to those who read this Blog whether or not this was a tale of a liar who gained a considerable number of Coca-Cola points or if this is the sad state of affairs we are headed in when it comes to health care in the United States. My advice is to drink no Coca-Cola products but do take part of their giveaways in order to fight the unforeseen cancer known as the international corporation.