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By Dennis Miller, BHC Senior Writer

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) recently announced the addition of a new member to its board: Clyde Tuggle, Senior Vice President of Global Public Affairs and Communications at the Coca-Cola Company. The appointment is just the latest in Coca Cola’s longstanding relationship with CASA, one of the nation’s foremost organizations working to study and combat all types of substance abuse. The Coca-Cola Company was a founding CASA supporter and has contributed over $1 million to the organization since 1992, when it was established by Joseph A. Califano, Jr., former U.S. Secretary For Health, Education and Welfare (today’s Department of Health and Human Services).

Tuggle says he’s excited to be a part of continuing that legacy of support. “CASA is an important and a great organization doing some critical work right now in the area of addiction and substance abuse,” he says. “So the mission of the organization itself was one of the things that attracted me.”

While at first glance, a company like Coca Cola might not seem like a natural fit as a corporate sponsor of anti-substance abuse efforts, Tuggle explains that, in fact, CASA’s work dovetails perfectly with the company’s long tradition of manufacturing non-alcoholic beverages. “We’re a natural fit, I think, to help find some of these solutions because quite frankly — look, we’re a non-alcoholic beverage business,” he says. “So in many ways, we offer through our products and our portfolio a non-alcoholic beverage alternative. And again, from our perspective, it’s a natural and good fit.”

One CASA program in particular that Coca Cola has long played an active role in is Family Day: A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Children. The initiative encourages families to make dinner a time each day for bonding, interaction and communication, based on CASA’s research showing that the more families interact, the less likely children are to smoke, drink or use drugs. Tuggle says that, again, there’s a good fit there for Coca Cola. “The natural connection, obviously, is that we are an important part of the meal experience,” he explains. “Parts of our marketing efforts are obviously to provide beverages — a whole portfolio of beverages — around meals. And so, there’s a good fit there. We could help promote the idea that families get together, they sit around the table, they communicate, they exchange, they increase the bond of the family, and that occurs around a meal and that’s something that we want to be, from a marketing perspective, an important part of. And it’s just a natural fit — an absolute natural fit for Coca-Cola.”

But beyond those natural connections between Coca Cola’s image and the fight against substance abuse, Tuggle says there are far more compelling reasons for a major corporation such as Coca Cola to support organizations such as CASA. “Our business is only as successful as the health of the communities that we serve, he says. “And to the extent that the health of our communities is threatened by issues around alcohol, drug abuse and addiction, then we have a real obligation to those communities to help play a role in finding solutions to the issue.”

To learn more about CASA, click here to visit the website. To listen to our complete interview with Clyde Tuggle of Coca Cola, click on the audio icon above. Or, continue reading for an edited written transcript.

BHC: Tell us first, what attracted you to CASA and led you to decide to take this active role in the organization as a member of its Board of Directors.

CT: Well, first and foremost, as you know, CASA is an important and a great organization doing some critical work right now in the area of addiction and substance abuse. So the mission of the organization itself was one of the things that attracted me.

The other piece is [that] the Coca-Cola Company has a long history of supporting CASA. Don Keough, our Director, Former President, Chief Operating Officer and a longtime Board Member [established] a relationship with CASA over the years and supported some of their efforts. And so, for me, it was really a natural fit and a great way to carry on a legacy of support.

BHC: Can you tell us a little bit more about some of the work that Coca-Cola has done with CASA in the past?

CT: Well, in the past, our support has really fallen into two areas. First, we have provided financial support to the institution and, specifically, helped underwrite some of the research projects that they have undertaken. Second, we have been a supporter of Family Day, which as you know is a great program that CASA has been sponsoring for a number of years. We have been able to activate that sponsorship here in North America through our North America Operating Unit and with the support of our local bottling partners.

BHC: Can you tell us a bit more about the thinking behind that initiative, CASA’s Family Day: A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Children? What’s the connection between that and preventing substance abuse?

CT: I think if you look at the research that CASA has, it is absolutely irrefutable in terms of showing that the frequency with which families connect, and connect primarily around meals, and the dialogue, the discussion and the interaction, the support that occurs around those meals around the table, and the correlation [that exists] between that and the incidence of addiction and substance abuse. So, as you’re probably aware, what they’ve shown is, the more often families are together, they are connecting, they’re talking, they’re communicating, and that occurs around meals, the incidence of addiction and substance abuse goes down.

Now, for Coca-Cola, the natural connection obviously is that we are an important part of the meal experience. Parts of our marketing efforts are obviously to provide beverages — a whole portfolio of beverages — around meals. And so, there’s a good fit there. We could help promote the idea that families get together, they sit around the table, they communicate, they exchange, they increase the bond of the family, and that occurs around a meal and that’s something that we want to be, from a marketing perspective, an important part of. And it’s just a natural fit — an absolute natural fit for Coca-Cola.

BHC: Why is it important for the Coca-Cola Company to work with organizations such as CASA to help fight substance abuse?

CT: Well, Dennis, the numbers — you know the numbers. The incidence of addiction and substance abuse is on the rise in the United States and across other key markets. We know the negative impact that addiction and substance abuse has socially on society. Economically, the impact is significant. It is something that is really continuing to threaten and tear at the very fabric of society. I think that companies are going to have to increasingly play a role to help find the solutions to these issues.

And I think the solutions are going to lie largely in partnerships with NGOs or research organizations or institutions like CASA, and also, I think, in partnership with government entities as well. But to the extent that — and at Coca-Cola we believe this — our business is only as successful as the health of the communities that we serve, and to the extent that the health of our communities is threatened by issues around alcohol, drug abuse and addiction, then we have a real obligation to those communities to help play a role in finding solutions to the issue.

BHC: Do you feel as though other corporations are doing enough to support work in this area?

CT: Well, I think you can say that no one is doing enough. Everyone should be doing more. I think that increasingly, though, corporations — businesses like Coca-Cola — are seeing that they’re going to have to play a role. They’re going to have to come to the table. They’re going to have to provide financial support to the institutions who are trying to find solutions and understand the issues. And again, alcohol, drug addiction, substance abuse — these are only some of the many ills that are impacting negatively the society in which we live.

So I think businesses are going to have to do more and I think business is going to have to continue to find ways to collaborate and cooperate with the nonprofit world, with NGOs and, importantly, with government as well.

BHC: I remember a conversation I had with the director of an organization called NCADD or the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence. They do the Annual Recovery Rally and Bridge to Recovery celebration in New York City. And he was absolutely pleased when A&E decided to become a corporate sponsor. And he said that, to his knowledge, that type of sponsorship is very rare — if indeed it had ever happened before. I’m just wondering if you think the stigma associated with substance abuse and other kinds of mental health disorders might lead some corporations to tend to shy away from this area of philanthropy?

CT: It may with some businesses. Certainly at Coca-Cola, that’s not the case. Again, we are inextricably linked with the communities that we serve. And these are things that are very real and ever-present challenges for our communities. And so, you can’t ignore them. You can’t go and hide under a rock. I think you have to, in order to be a responsible citizen and in order to be committed to the health and well being of the communities, you have to first and foremost acknowledge what the problems are and then stand up and say, “I’m going to be counted among those who are committed to finding solutions.”

At the end of the day, we’re a natural fit, I think, to help find some of these solutions because quite frankly — look — we’re a non-alcoholic beverage business. So in many ways, we offer through our products and our portfolio a non-alcoholic beverage alternative. And again, from our perspective, it’s a natural and good fit.

BHC: Clyde, I know you’re the “new kid on the block” with CASA and I don’t know if you have attended any board meetings so far yet, but any exciting plans you can clue us into at CASA for the coming year?

CT: I attended my first board meeting in the past few weeks and I’ll tell you, it’s a great Board — a committed group of business and community leaders. One of CASA’s great strengths, I think, is the support that it’s receiving from business and corporate leadership. And the commitment.

I can tell you a great year’s ahead but if you want any of the programmatic details, my recommendation is to give the folks at CASA a call and I’m sure they’ll be prepared to give you the appropriate peek into the tent.

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