Coca-Cola is a virtually omnipresent product, and as such has endured its fair share of both acceptance and resistance. In one instance, Coca-Cola was the target of a snowballing global campaign by NGOs that has cost the company millions of dollars. While Coke has tried to collaborate with certain environmental NGOs, the company is still mainly involved in conflictual corporate–NGO relationships.

Coke has had particular trouble in India, where it has been accused of creating water shortages, polluting groundwater and soil, and exposing its customers to toxic waste and pesticides. Activist Amit Srivastava, who runs a California-based NGO known as Global Resistance, toured American college campuses in 2005 spreading the message that, “[Coke] is destroying lives, it is destroying livelihoods and it is destroying communities all across India.” Srivastava is rallying American and European college students against Coca-Cola. In response, colleges such as Bard College in New York, Carleton College in Minnesota and Oberlin College in Ohio have banned Coke products on campus. Srivastava's website, www.indiaresource.org, is a global stage and means of communication for activists and protesters, drawing about 20,000 visitors a month. On the other hand, www.cokefacts.org, designed by Coke to counter NGO allegations, only draws 800 visitors a month. Coca-Cola has been struggling against a number of global, activist NGOs to protect its reputation.