Coca Cola

Spotify is hoping that Coke will teach the world to click its play button. The Swedish digital music service on Wednesday announced a broad-ranging marketing deal withCoca-Cola Co.that could help turbocharge the number of people who are exposed to, and ultimately sign up for, Spotify. Although the partnership does not involve any money changing hands, both parties describe it as invaluable to their efforts to market their products. For Spotify, the burgeoning music-streaming service that launched in the United States in July, getting access to Coca-Cola's formidable global marketing engine will come in handy as it expands its international footprint.

Olympian McKayla Maroney is about as well known for her endlessly memed unimpressed smirk as she is for her powerhouse performance on the vault. So will she be recognizable wearing a smile in a new advertising campaign this month for Dr Pepper Snapple Group? The 17-year-old gymnast is the new face for the company's collection of 10-calorie sodas, known as Ten. The endorsement deal covers Ten beverages for brands such as 7Up, A&W, Sunkist, Canada Dry and RC. Quiz: How well do you know fast food?

Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest soft-drink maker, plans to spend a total of $7 billion on India through 2020 as it attempts to take advantage of the country's changing consumer tastes. The company will add a $3 billion investment to the $2 billion plan it announced in November, Chairman and Chief Executive Muhtar Kent said Tuesday . Coca-Cola has already put more than $2 billion into its India operations since re-entering the country in 1993. To compare, $7 billion is the same amount that R. Allen Stanford was convicted of bilking from investors in one of the U.S.'s largest Ponzi schemes . Locally produced foods sold at U.S. farmers markets, roadside stands or by middlemen brought in $7 billion in revenue last year . Last month, the L.A. City Council approved a $7.2 billion budget . Coca-Cola abandoned India in 1977 when government regulations required it to partner with a local company.

A perennial target for critics of sugary drinks, Coca-Cola Co. took to prime-time TV broadcasts to acknowledge its role in the fattening of Americans - and to defend itself. In a two-minute advertisement that was to debut Monday night on cable news channels, the world's top beverage company addressed what it called the "complex challenge of obesity. " In a spot it called "Coming Together" - a similar phrase Starbucks Corp. used in the fall to try to get fiscal cliff negotiations moving - Coca-Cola showcased its efforts to be transparent about the nutritional content of its products and to expand its line of drinks with low or no calories.

Coca-Cola Co. and Kraft Foods Inc. bowed to consumer pressure this week and cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative lobbying group that has recently backed controversial voter ID and so-called “stand your ground” laws. Within hours of advocacy group Color of Change launching a boycott against Coca-Cola for its participation on ALEC's Private Enterprise Board, the soft drink giant issued a statement saying that it had “elected to discontinue its membership.” But the company blamed ALEC's support of “discriminatory food and beverage taxes” instead of “issues that have no direct bearing on our business.” “We have a long-standing policy of only taking positions on issues that impact our company and industry,”Coca-Colasaid.

Coca-Cola Co. said it is not in talks to acquire Corona-based energy drinks maker Monster Beverage Corp., despite rumors to the contrary that caused Monster's stock to spike on Monday. A Wall Street Journal story that said Coca-Cola had its eye on buying Monster caused shares of the smaller company, which have nearly doubled in the last 52 weeks, to spike more than 27% from Friday's $65.53 close to $83.31 around noon in New York. But Monday afternoon, Coca-Cola issued a statement denying the report.

Coca-Cola, the world's top beverage company and perennial target for critics of sugary drinks, is taking an unusually public stance on obesity by defending its health initiatives on prime-time television. In a two-minute advertisement set to debut tonight on cable news channels, the Atlanta company will tackle what it calls the “complex challenge of obesity.” In a spot called “Coming Together” - a name reminiscent of Starbucks' recent effort to get fiscal cliff negotiations moving - Coca-Cola will showcase its efforts to be transparent about the nutritional content of its products while also expanding its lineup of better-for-you beverages with low or no calories.

Coca-Cola Co. said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profit rose 55% as sales grew in China and India. Net income increased to $1.54 billion, or 66 cents a share, from $995 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier, the Atlanta company said. Earnings per share matched analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue increased 5.4% to $7.51 billion, the company said. Sales by case volume grew 29% in China and 20% in India, helping boost global volume 5% and offsetting declines in North America.

The reelection of billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett to Coca-Cola Co.'s board should be opposed by the company's shareholders because his business ties pose a conflict, Institutional Shareholder Services, the biggest advisor to funds on proxy votes, said Monday. "We maintain our position that Mr. Buffett shouldn't serve on the audit committee due to his numerous transactional relationships with the company," ISS said in a statement.

Coca-Cola Co. on Wednesday reported a 79% jump in fourth-quarter profit and maintained its growth targets despite a slowing U.S. economy. The Atlanta-based company said it earned $1.21 billion, or 52 cents a share, for the three months ending Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $678 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier, when the company took a big impairment charge at its largest bottler. Excluding one-time items, Coca-Cola said it earned $1.36 billion, or 58 cents a share, higher than the 55 cents a share analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting.

Spotify has closed a new round of funding for $100 million that would give the streaming music service a valuation of about $3 billion. The popular Swedish music service, which launched in the United States in 2011, has attracted investment from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Fidelity Investments, a person familiar with the situation confirmed. Coca-Cola Co. also took a small stake, the person said. The investments were first reported in the New York Times . Coke and Spotify formed a partnership last April that gave the burgeoning music-streaming service access to Coca-Cola's global marketing engine to help it grow internationally.

Maybe it was the soaring unemployment, or possibly the deep debt crisis. But as Greece struggles with its myriad troubles, its largest company, Coca-Cola Hellenic, is jumping ship to more stable ground. The company, one of the world's largest Coke bottlers, is the biggest Greece-based company by market value, at $7.6 billion. But on Thursday, the company said it is switching its main stock listing from Athens to London and relocating its corporate headquarters to Switzerland as it looks to "enhance liquidity" for shareholders.

Will.i.am, the Black Eyed Peas member and occasional movie star, has a pretty good handle on being cool. And Coca-Cola Co. is betting he can transfer his hipness into a new line of recycled gear. The green-goods industry has been growing in recent years but is still struggling with a perception among many mainstream consumers that recycled products are drab-looking and overpriced. The will.i.am partnership aims to sex up that image with the Ekocycle line, which will attempt to make green living "aspirational yet attainable" with partners such as Dr. Dre and New Era and products such as $349 headphones and $32 hats.

Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest soft-drink maker, plans to spend a total of $7 billion on India through 2020 as it attempts to take advantage of the country's changing consumer tastes. The company will add a $3 billion investment to the $2 billion plan it announced in November, Chairman and Chief Executive Muhtar Kent said Tuesday . Coca-Cola has already put more than $2 billion into its India operations since re-entering the country in 1993. To compare, $7 billion is the same amount that R. Allen Stanford was convicted of bilking from investors in one of the U.S.'s largest Ponzi schemes . Locally produced foods sold at U.S. farmers markets, roadside stands or by middlemen brought in $7 billion in revenue last year . Last month, the L.A. City Council approved a $7.2 billion budget . Coca-Cola abandoned India in 1977 when government regulations required it to partner with a local company.

MEXICO CITY — Adolfo Calero, a former Coca-Cola executive who led the largest anti-Sandinista Contra rebel force in 1980s Nicaragua and served as one of its most articulate lobbyists in Washington, has died. He was 80. Calero died Saturday night in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, of complications from lung disease, an aide told local media. Calero's career mirrored the tumultuous history of Nicaragua as it emerged from a sleepy Central American backwater to the center of the Cold War struggle.

PepsiCo Inc., the maker of Gatorade sports drinks and Tropicana juice, expects its alliance with Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. to lift Chinabeverage volumes from the third quarter. The deal, which was approved byChina'sMinistry of Commerce in March, will see Tingyi's drinks unit become the franchise bottler in China for PepsiCo. The Tingyi unit will partner with current PepsiCo bottlers to make, sell and distribute sodas and Gatorade drinks as the U.S. company invests to narrow the gap withCoca-Cola Co.in the world's second-largest economy.

U.S. District Judge Murray Schwartz of Wilmington, Del., agreed with a group of 40 small Coca-Cola bottlers that the company should divulge the formulas for Coke and other products. The bottlers are suing Coca-Cola over its pricing policies. Coca-Cola vowed that it would not disclose the 99-year-old recipe. The bottlers said they need the formulas to prove that Diet Coke is the same product as Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola Co. said it is not in talks to acquire Corona-based energy drinks maker Monster Beverage Corp., despite rumors to the contrary that caused Monster's stock to spike on Monday. A Wall Street Journal story that said Coca-Cola had its eye on buying Monster caused shares of the smaller company, which have nearly doubled in the last 52 weeks, to spike more than 27% from Friday's $65.53 close to $83.31 around noon in New York. But Monday afternoon, Coca-Cola issued a statement denying the report.