An ill-advised partnership

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

The American Academy of Family Physicians, which represents more than 94,600 doctors nationwide, goes about the business of promoting good health. Coca-Cola is a major company that makes money from soft drinks that have been linked to obesity and other health risks.

That is why it is unsettling that the academy and the soda company have agreed to join forces to promote educational information about soft drinks on the academy’s Web site.

As reported Thursday by the Associated Press, academy CEO Dr. Douglas Henley said the six-figure financing from Coca-Cola will not influence the organization’s public health messages. Henley also said the company will have no control over the content of the posted information, including the relationship of soft drinks to obesity and tips on sugar-free alternatives.

But some doctors have quit the academy over the deal and the organization has been justly criticized for the partnership with Coca-Cola because of the mixed messages it sends. As Dr. Walter Willett, a Harvard University nutrition expert, told the AP: “Coca-Cola, like other sodas, causes enormous suffering and premature death by increasing the risks of obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, gout and cavities.”

From a public relations perspective, the partnership is a bad idea for the academy because it allows Coca-Cola to boast that it is connected with a credible medical association. It doesn’t matter whether the information on the Web site is legitimate. The perception will be that the academy endorses Coca-Cola, which is not the message family physicians should be sending to the public.

Coca-Cola has the financial wherewithal to fund its own research and education campaign, and can post that information on its own Web site. Other companies do this all the time. It is up to readers to decide whether information they glean from a company Web site is valid.

The academy should be encouraged to disseminate research-backed health care information, but it should steer clear of sponsors that are motivated by profit to sway public opinion.