Olympic Legacy Gets 18,000 Canadian Teens More Active

Coca-Cola and Sogo Active Challenge Youth to Get Moving

Vancouver, British Columbia – Feb. 11, 2011 – More than 18,000 of Canada’s youth and 1,500 community host organizations across Canada have made the commitment to get up and get active in a physical activity program called Sogo Active (www.sogoactive.com).Sogo is a youth physical activity initiative, sponsored by Coca-Cola Canada, and is created and managed by ParticipACTION, the national voice of physical activity and sport participation. Through its sponsorship of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, Coca-Cola awarded more than 1,000 torchbearer spots to teenagers who joined Sogo Active and demonstrated a commitment to adopting an active lifestyle.

Since its launch, a growing number of youth have registered to participate. With only 12 per cent of Canadian teenagers logging the recommended minimum 90 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per dayi ii, Sogo Active is a program created as a direct response to combat inactivity among our young generation.

“Coca-Cola Canada understands the benefits that active healthy living offers young Canadians and leveraged their Olympic sponsorship to help bring Sogo Active to life,” says Kelly Murumets, president and CEO of ParticipACTION. “This is a program designed by youth for youth and has inspired thousands of teens to join the challenge to incorporate physical activity into their day-to-day lives.”

“The Olympic Torch Relay and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games were the perfect platforms to launch this active living program. The one-year anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate the legacy of the Olympic spirit with a program that encourages Canada’s youth to get up and get active,” says Bobby Brittain, Vice President for Coca-Cola Canada.

In Sogo Active’s second phase, a contest was launched to find 12 Sogo Active Ambassadors. The entrants were tasked with encouraging others to engage in a healthy active lifestyle by creating their own physical activity challenge. Each finalist received $5,000 from Coca-Cola Canada towards their education, and a $500 grant to support physical activity in their community.

The 12 finalists span the country with five residing in British Columbia. These five ambassadors alone recruited 145 of their peers in challenges ranging from hiking up Mount Erskin on Salt Spring Island, to walking their school grounds collecting recyclables, to hosting a night moves challenge in Centennial Park.

“My generation is facing an inactivity crisis and it’s our responsibility to encourage each other to get active,” says Sogo Active Ambassador Kathryn Purdon, Saanichton, BC. “The Sogo Active Ambassador program has empowered me to do this by creating fun challenges that promote physical activity within my community – we all recognize the benefit this brings.”

Sogo Active, a $5 million, five-year program, is unlike any other physical activity initiative because it gives young Canadians the tools to design, change and control their own individual get active plan. The program was initiated after intensive consultation with leading Canadian physical activity experts, teenagers and a broad network of provincial, territorial, aboriginal and community-based organizations.

For more information on the program, please visit www.sogoactive.com.

To learn more about Coca-Cola Canada’s Live Positively platform and to download the 2009-2010 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CRS) Report in its entirety, visit www.cocacola.ca.

i Active Healthy Kids Canada. Healthy Habits Start Earlier than you Think. 2010 Active healthy Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. 2010; Toronto, ON
ii Canadian Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth. Available at:http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/hl-mvs/pag-gap/cy-ej/index-eng.php. Accessed June 20, 2010.

About Coca-Cola in Canada

Coca-Cola in Canada operates in all ten provinces, employs 6,300 people in more than 50 facilities, including seven production facilities across Canada. We offer a wide variety of non-alcoholic brands, many of which come in no-calorie and low-calorie options. These beverages include sparkling soft drinks, still waters, juices and fruit beverages, sports drinks, energy drinks, coffees and ready-to-drink teas. We’re proud to offer some of the most popular brands in Canada including Coca-Cola®, Diet Coke®, Coke Zero®, Sprite®, Fanta®, Nestea®, PowerAde®, Minute Maid®, Dasani® and vitaminwater®. Coca-Cola in Canada is represented by Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada and Coca-Cola Ltd.

To schedule an interview, please see contact information below.

For more information, please contact

DI Vancouver
Lindsay Marett
604-689-5559 or Cell: 778-388-3151
[email protected]
or

Coca-Cola Canada
David Moran
Cell: 416-716-8044
www.cocacola.ca