FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 14, 2015

truth® CELEBRATES SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY MOVE TO TOBACCO-FREE

Award-winning Campaign Rallies Students to Start Movements on Their Campuses

Washington, DC – Syracuse University officially became a tobacco-free campus today. The award-winning truth campaign is celebrating this victory in a new online video and launching an online petition to spur more colleges and universities to adopt tobacco-free policies.

Targeting college campuses makes sense: 94 percent of smokers start before age 20 and tobacco-free policies are proven effective tobacco control strategies. Syracuse is not alone in going tobacco-free. The number of colleges and universities with 100% smoke- or tobacco-free policies has tripled in recent years growing from 446 campuses in 2010 to 1,543 campuses in 2015. But there are 6,100 college campuses in the U.S. that have not adopted such policies including University of Southern California, Howard University, Northwestern University, George Mason University, and Texas A&M to name a few.

As part of its Finish It campaign, truth is highlighting Syracuse as an example of an effort to spark youth to use their passion, creativity and influence to push their schools to go tobacco-free.

“The Syracuse Orange experience offers a powerful example of how students can rally together to end tobacco.,” said Robin Koval, CEO and President of Legacy, the national public health foundation that directs and funds truth, and a graduate of Syracuse University. “I’m proud of my alma mater, and I’m proud that truth is using Syracuse’s bold action to encourage other college students and campuses to go tobacco-free.”

The Finish It campaign launched in August 2014 to engage youth and young adults to use their creativity and social influence to end tobacco use for good. “College students have the power to end tobacco use,” said Ritney Castine, Director, Youth Activism at Legacy. “This online effort starts with the premise that any student can start or join a movement on his or her campus, share progress with students elsewhere and contribute to nationwide progress in the fight against the tobacco epidemic.”

Today only 8% of teens smoke – that’s down from 23% in 2000. But tobacco is still the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., which makes tobacco-free policies so important. Any college campus can follow the Syracuse example and any individual can lead the charge on his or her campus. Collectively students can call on their college or university by signing on to the petition at thetruth.com.

In addition to this bold move from Syracuse, truth is highlighting other areas of progress in the effort to make this the generation that ends tobacco use. There are more “progress reports” available online.

About truth
truth® is the most successful and one of the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign. The campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking. truth gives teens facts and information about the tobacco industry and its products, allowing them to make their own informed choices about tobacco use. Research-proven as an effective public health intervention, the campaign is credited with keeping hundreds of thousands of teens from starting to smoke. To learn more, visit http://www.thetruth.com. truth is directed and funded by Legacy, a national public health foundation located in Washington, D.C. Legacy was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. To learn more about Legacy’s life-saving programs, visit www.LegacyForHealth.org.

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Media Contacts:
Sarah Shank
202-454-5561
sshank@legacyforhealth.org

Mickey Chagnon
202-454-5902
mchagnon@legacyforhealth.org

vitaminwater® Announces Project Hustle Finalists

Ten finalists were chosen in a nationwide search, and now it’s up to the public to decide which projects get funded

(New York, New York) July 1, 2015 – Project Hustle, the crowdfunding-inspired program by vitaminwater®, held a nationwide search for aspiring entrepreneurs, artists-in-training, dreamers and future film directors to find the next idea that breaks the status quo, glass-ceiling, or simply, the internet.

Each finalist has the opportunity to see whether their dreams can become reality, and the chance to win up to a total of $500,000 (across ten finalists) to bring them to life. The top ten best and brightest ideas were chosen in the following five categories: music, film, fashion, art and technology.

Beginning July 1, through August 31, vitaminwater will put the power into the public’s hands to decide which of these finalists will potentially have their projects funded up to $50,000 each. Check out all of the finalists’ projects at www.projecthustle.com and www.youtube.com/vitaminwater.

To fund projects, participating vitaminwater and vitaminwater zero™ bottle caps will contain a code that people can enter online at www.projecthustle.com. Each code holds a specific “virtual dollar” value, which can be allocated to one of the ten finalists’ projects. Backers can be choosers, right? No entrepreneur has made it to the top without some help, so as a thank you, every valid code entered wins a prize that is tied to the value of the code.

“Our ten finalists are some of the best and brightest creators in the nation, and we can’t wait to see how their projects come to life,” said vitaminwater Senior Brand Manager, Ryan Robertson. “vitaminwater began as a small start-up in Queens, so we understand that hard work pays off. Project Hustle is our way of supporting these enterprising artists at the beginning of their journey, relentlessly hustling towards and pursuing their dreams.”

To keep up with the excitement of Project Hustle, follow vitaminwater (@vitaminwater) on Twitter and Instagram, and join the conversation at #projecthustle and #hydratethehustle.

This summer, be on the lookout for vitaminwater hustle counters in New York City, Boston and Philadelphia, as we hand out a “million moments of motivation,” to fuel your hustle. Consumers will get a moment of motivation and complimentary vitaminwater.

For official contest rules, prizing information, odds of winning, and more information, please visit: www.projecthustle.com

About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola®, one of the world’s most valuable and recognizable brands, our Company’s portfolio features 20 billion-dollar brands including Diet Coke®, Fanta®, Sprite®, Coca-Cola Zero™, vitaminwater®, Powerade®, Minute Maid®, Simply™, Georgia® and Del Valle®. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world’s largest e beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of 1.9 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world’s top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system associates. For more information, visit Coca-Cola Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo, visit our blog, Coca-Cola Unbottled, at www.coca-colablog.com or find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company.

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Media Contact
TCCC PR:
Emily Johnson
T: 212.545.6144
E: emijohnson@coca-cola.com