Chippewa-Dasani water wars: Minneapolis park board contracts create catch-22

The Minneapolis park board’s conflicting corporate obligations put vendors at its bike tour event in an impossible catch-22. Under the parks’ current beverage contract, vendors at Minneapolis parks can serve only Coke-brand Dasani water—but the bike event’s sponsorship rules mandate only Chippewa water. In fact, vendors will get kicked out for serving the brand of bottled water that the Coke contract obliges them to serve.

It’s only the latest example of Minneapolis and St. Paul city governments getting caught in their own corporate-contract crossfire.

St. Paul to Ford: That’s tough

In late winter, both Minneapolis and St. Paul agreed to promote Toyota’s biggest carbon-footprint truck, the Tundra, in return for cash and leased vehicle fleets. That appeared to conflict with the cities’ stated desire to set an example for the public by driving eco-friendly vehicles. Even worse, it put Minneapolis and particularly St. Paul in the awkward position of endorsing pickup trucks that directly compete with the trucks Ford employs nearly 1,000 local workers to manufacture at its St. Paul plant. Ford’s recent decision to keep the plant open into 2011 means St. Paul and Minneapolis are obligated to promote Toyota trucks for the full remainder of Ford’s local operations.

Minneapolis to Home Depot: Bend Lowe

In the spring, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board entered a promotional deal with Lowe’s, a home-improvement chain that doesn’t even have stores in the city. Signs extolling Lowe’s hang inside and out at select park facilities—with no apparent regard for Lowe’s competitor Home Depot, who had provided funds and volunteers for Arbor Day tree plantings in the parks for two years running.

Minneapolis to Coke: Red Bull has wings

This summer, the Minneapolis park board appears to have violated its own five-year, $440,000-plus beverage contract with Coca-Cola when it rented out the Stone Arch Bridge to Red Bull, an energy drink company in direct competition with Coke brand drinks such as Full Throttle. Park outlets, including park board headquarters, also sold drinks from Coke arch-rival Pepsi.

The Chippewa-Dasani Catch-22 at the Minneapolis Bike Tour next month highlights how local governments’ speed-dating with major corporate sponsors put small, local businesses in impossible positions. Not to mention conflicts with broad city goals like tamping demand for bottled water in favor of tap water.