(JEWISH GROUP) How Coke's Passover recipe sparked an antisemitic conspiracy theory
The conspiracy theory started, ironically, when an Orthodox rabbi stood in front of a display of Coca-Cola bottles and held up one with a yellow cap to explain Jewish life to roughly 1 million followers on TikTok and Instagram. The demonstration was intended to illustrate a quirk of the Passover season: a version of Coke thats made without high fructose corn syrup.
Instead, the soda is sweetened with cane sugar a switch made to comply with religious dietary rules that prohibit certain grains and legumes during the eight-day Jewish holiday. The video, posted on Tuesday, framed the drink as slightly healthier, perhaps tastier, and available for a limited time.
But within 48 hours, the message was distorted into something else entirely. The video has racked up more than 6 million views after being re-shared by several far-right influencers on X. It has become fuel for an antisemitic conspiracy theory: that Coca-Cola is making a superior version of its product for Jews only. A chosen beverage of the chosen people.
The idea that the Jews are hoarding something knowledge, money, vaccines, in this case soda is hardly new. But the way this specific idea propagated, and the speed with which it did, is deeply contemporary. In the age of TikTok and X, every niche cultural product even Passover Coke can become a political totem. A bottle of soda becomes a flashpoint in a culture war.
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