AKAs Awarded 1st Place in Sprite Step Off; Coca Cola Cites ‘Scoring Discrepancy’

You made your voices heard and coca Cola responded.

In a controversial decision today, Coca Cola cited “scoring discrepancies” in its decision to name both the Tau Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha and Epsilon Chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha as 1st place winners in the Ryan Cameron/Sprite Step Off Finals held in Atlanta last weekend.

As you recall, the all-white Epsilon chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha out of Arkansas, took 1st place in the majority black competition at the Atlanta civic Center.

This video sparked a storm of controversy as soon as it hit the nets. Black sorors complained bitterly that MTV (and their sponsor, Coca Cola which distributes Sprite) wanted a step crew that was more in line with their targeted demographics.

It was whispered in certain circles that the decision had already been made about the winner before the competition had even began.

Well, to quiet such rumors (and to appease the media who began making inquiries), Coca-Cola announced that due to a scoring discrepancy in the sorority results, the second place winners, the Tau Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. from Indiana University, would be recognized as co-winners and awarded the same $100,000 prize as Zeta Tau Alpha.

I don’t have to tell you that the Alpha Kappa Alpha girls are black.

Here’s my take on the subject: Coca-Cola shouldn’t have caved in to the pressure. The Zeta Tau Alpha girls should have been the sole winners because they stayed true to the historical traditions of stepping and call & response, while the AKA chicks acted like the Step Off was a dance competition.

Check out the AKA’s “Rhythm Nation” inspired routine after the break.