Coca-Cola turning off signs for Earth Hour

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2010/03/22/daily56.html

Thursday, March 25, 2010, 9:58am EDT | Modified: Thursday, March 25, 2010, 9:59am
Coca-Cola turning off signs for Earth Hour
Atlanta Business Chronicle

The Coca-Cola Co. will turn off iconic signs and lights at offices and bottling facilities across the world to get behind World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour on March 27.

The Atlanta-based beverage giant (NYSE: KO) said it will darken signs in Times Square in New York, Piccadilly Circus in London, San Pedro Sula in Honduras and Kings Cross in Sydney. In North America, 30 Coca-Cola Digital Network locations will go to black screen and Earth Hour promotions will run on these screens leading up to and following the event.

In Atlanta, the World of Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: CCE) and Coca-Cola North America will go dark, Earth Hour messages will be displayed on lobby monitors and employees will be encouraged to wear black the Friday prior to promote the event.

For Earth Hour, people will turn out their lights for one hour to support action on climate change. This year marks the fourth year of the event, which attracted more than 80 million participants in the U.S. last year, and nearly a billion people around the world, as lights dimmed on such global icons as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sydney’s Opera House, the Great Pyramids of Giza and New York’s Empire State Building.

“Forging real progress toward a cleaner future will require behavioral changes from consumers and business,” said Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola, in a prepared statement. “Earth Hour is an important, symbolic event that demonstrates that even small steps, when taken on a global scale, can make a difference in addressing climate change.”