This story was absolutely planted in the NYT by the Honest Tea people terrified that Coke would make this change - among others - when they complete the acquisition next year when Coke can do anything it wants with the company.
Or planted by the Honest Tea/Coke people as a bit of awesome PR for a brand they've invested in.
I have friends who are brand managers at Coke. There's absolutely no way this came from them. They're neither organizationally smart enough nor culturally astute enough to pull this off. Everything at KO is looked at through the lens of "how does this affect the Coca-Cola brand?"
I think it's safe to call them "ex friends" if they read this ;-)
If they read Hacker News, I think it's safe to say they're the outliers.
:D That's how I read it first, but the second and third sentences likely refer to Coke as an organization, not his friends at Coke. (Or, at least that's how I would spin it if I'm wrong.)