Coca-Cola is proudly advertising their $2 million donation to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to help polar bears. The claim made me want to dig a little deeper for context. Here’s some more numbers to consider:

Length of time for complete disbursement of the $2m – 5 years

Actual annual donation  – $400,000 (not including as-yet-unknown polar bear campaign contributions from consumers and matching funds from Coke, which will be capped at $1 million)

Economic ‘value‘ of a polar bear, based upon a report commissioned by Environment Canada: $420,000

Manitoba government’s annual cost for polar bear control in Churchill, Manitoba – $125,000 (1994 figure)

Annual Revenues of WWF (2010)  – Operating revenue totaled $224.2 million

Coca Cola’s net revenue 2010 – $35.1 billion

WWF Member contributions (2010) – $46.4 million

Coke’s polar bear campaign donation expressed as a percentage of WWF annual revenue – 0.18%

Member donations – 20%

So, pardon my cynicism, but based upon the many news reports on the plight of the polar bear, my Christmas wish for them is the hope they find friends with deeper pockets and a stronger commitment to their continued health than the world’s number one seller of sugar water.