Why doesn't - say, Coca-Cola - move 1 million cases of water to N.O. now?

[begin_within]

I don't get it - what are the huge corporations with massive amounts of food and water and medical supplies AND the trucks and means to move them get off their asses and MOVE the stuff right now? IF they need a selfish reason to do it, how about the enormous public relations bonus from being able to say "we gave away 24 million bottles of Dasani free to anyone who wanted them in the hurricane disaster zone"?

[blue northern]

1. It's not profitable

The only goal of a corp. is to make profits.

[davepc]

10. How much profit do they turn on the 5 Million they donated yesterday?

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8CBNN487.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db

[Qibing Zero]

2. But their water is special.

It's spring 'grown' in the crisp cool streams of alaska, in other words purified from city water in some factory in houston. But that's not what matters, what matters is they'd be losing that dollar or two they could charge you or me for it.

[NYC Liberal]

3. Just wait for the corporations to take advantage of it

Remember when Starbucks charged rescue workers 100-something bucks for WATER on 9/11?

[politicat]

4. Because nothing can get into the city.

The city is closed. The evacuation is not going well, but the whole point is they are evacuating. Bringing in more people and goods is not going to happen.

As far as other locations are concerned, trucking is currently disrupted because you can't send a truck into a place to drop off a load of water and not have a way for it to get out. Remember, gas is not flowing out of the refineries, and thus, not into the pumps. Further, a lot of the roads are still blocked by downed trees and other detritus. Even semis can't just barrel through....

[physioex]

5. BS....

Excuses, Excuses....I can hear that from Bagdad Bob AKA Du-du Brown. There has to be a way this can be done.

[politicat]

11. I am listening to the live feeds right now... A chem plant just went.

If you want to drive into it, I'd suggest you contact Coca-cola. I'm sure they'd be interested...

You're more than welcome to call me whatever names make you feel better right now, but this is not the type of disaster we are familiar with. Yes, there's a ton of bad implementation and there was no planning of name, but if you can do better, I suggest you get there and start working.

Me? I've got to go back to the Red Cross center here in Denver and answer a few hundred more phone calls from frantic, desperate people.

[sandnsea]

9. Salvation Army is in

They've got 100 canteens set up. And you can truck gas in anyway, it's only ONE refinery that is out. There is no excuse for this, none whatsoever.

[politicat]

12. see post 11.

[tuvor]

6. You know what pisses me off?

I'll tell you anyway.

Wal-Mart--a huge corp if there ever was one--puts $15 million toward helping the hurricane victims.

And then a few holier-than-thou DUers jump up saying "fuck 'em, it's not enough, it's only a drop in the bucket to them."

Any port in a storm, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater...apparently that means little to some folks on DU.

But your point is still a good one. A lot of companies should be proving that they're good corporate citizens about now.

[BQueen]

7. Miller did it and bragged later

I remember seeing the commercials saying that they bottled water instead of beer for some natural disaster. It seemed to be part of a bigger PR campaign for whatever megaconglomeration owns Miller Brewing (is it Kraft?)

[sandnsea]

8. I saw that Walmart has

In Metairie, I think. Walmart trucked in water and ice. Haven't heard about any other places. I just do not understand this. Besides the corporations, where the fuck are the PEOPLE? After 9/11, people just jumped in their trucks and headed to NYC. Why isn't that happening now, at least to Mississippi. I do not understand what is going on.