Coca-Cola blames ad agency for map showing Crimea as part of Russia

U.S. drinks firm Coca-Cola on Wednesday blamed a marketing agency for a map used in an online advertising campaign that showed Crimea to be part of Russia and which drew protests and threats of a boycott from angry Ukrainians.

Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014, leading to condemnation from Western governments which imposed sanctions on Russia in response. Only a handful of countries have recognised Crimea’s incorporation into Russia.

In a statement on Wednesday, Coca-Cola said: “We, as a company, don’t support any political movements. The company has removed the post and apologises for the situation that occurred.”

Coca-Cola said that the map, which appeared on December 30 on Coca-Cola’s page on VKontakte, a Russian social networking site similar to Facebook, had been changed by an advertising agency without Coca-Cola’s approval. Furious Ukrainians took to social media to vent their anger against Coca-Cola, and some threatened to boycott the company’s products.

Ukraine’s embassy in the United States said in a statement on its Facebook page that it had expressed concerns to the company and to the U.S. State Department.

“The Embassy emphasised that Coca-Cola’s actions violate the official U.S. position condemning Russia’s illegal occupation of Crimea, which is and has always been an integral part of Ukraine,” the statement said.