Indian photographer Faces Lawsuit over Displaying Water Shortage juxtaposed with Coke Ad on Billboard

An well-known photographer Sharad Haksar has been threatened with legal action by beverage giant Coca-Cola Co. for displaying one of his photographs - depicting water shortages against a backdrop of the company’s ubiquitous logo - on a giant billboard. Truth hurts!

The wholly-owned Indian subsidiary of the Atlanta based company has asked Sharad Haksar to remove the billboard and make an unconditional apology or face a legal suit and damages claim of 2 million rupees ($46,000). What a way to intimidate for showing the truth. So now coke decides to clamp on artistic expressions too?

The billboard, which is 20 feet by 30 feet in size, shows a line of plastic pots under a dry hand pump, a common scene in Indian villages and towns, where water is scarce. In the background is the familiar Coke logo with tagline, ‘Drink Coca-Cola.’

Haksar, who rents a billboard on a busy arterial road in the southern city of Chennai to showcase his work by often highlighting a social issue, said he would not remove the billboard and will go to court if necessary.

“I am not going to apologize as I haven’t done anything wrong. It’s my visual interpretation of the water shortage in Madras,” said Haksar, who has worked on advertisement campaigns for Coke and plans a book on international brands in ironic Indian situations.

Several local environmental groups and activists have jumped on the spat as further evidence of the growing opposition to the manufacturing and trade practices of the world’s biggest soft drinks maker in India.

“Haksar’s billboard highlights the severe water shortages being experienced by communities that live around Coca-Cola’s bottling plants across India,” said a release from India Resource Center.

“We appreciate Haksar’s efforts and condemn Coca-Cola’s attempts to silence a public discourse on the issues.”

I have stayed in Chennai for over nine months last year and I can tell you the water situation is absolutely horrible. We had to rely on bottled water for our daily needs. It is a coastal city and yet there is absolute scarcity. It is well known that coke bottling plants contribute to severe water scarcity in several locations in India.

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