There are two possible things happening in the article and neither are explored (yay NYT!). Case A: the school already had this research happening. Coke saw t

There are two possible things happening in the article and neither are explored (yay NYT!). Case A: the school already had this research happening. Coke saw the research could help their arguments and decided to pay them to do more of their already existing projects. Case B: Coke started from a marketing perspective, interviewed scientists at different universities, then commissioned the studies and created the departments themselves using the "shadow funding."