Africa Is a Country

Coke and cynicism

Coke and cynicism

By
Sean Jacobs

I won’t bother to unpack this commercial, but this is exhibit A for the case against uncritical boosterism and identity politics. Coca Cola Kenya hijacks “the Africa is booming” discourse to sell more soft drinks. Here’s their cynical sales pitch:

There are close to 1 billion people in Africa each with a reason to believe. Because Coca-Cola knows, understands, lives and breathes AFRICA, ONLY COCA-COLA can influence positive attitudes amongst AFRICANS by claiming its role AS the ICON OF HAPPINESS and the BEACON OF OPTIMISM.

Further Reading

Writing while black

The film adaptation of Percival Everett’s novel ‘Erasure’ leaves little room to explore Black middle-class complicity in commodifying the traumas of Black working-class lives.

The Mogadishu analogy

In Gaza and Haiti, the specter of another Mogadishu is being raised to alert on-lookers and policymakers of unfolding tragedies. But we have to be careful when making comparisons.

Kwame Nkrumah today

New documents looking at British and American involvement in overthrowing Kwame Nkrumah give us pause to reflect on his legacy, and its resonances today.