Maybe Soda is NOT so Good?

I know...in this day and age it's not an incredible new or earth shattering question.

But it TASTES so good!
And if you look at brands like Bacon Freak and Blumer's Premium you will see flavours you never heard of before, but probably want to TRY!!

That being said, this infographic from  a U.K. pharmacist named Niraj Naik has apparently gone viral, and that might leave some soda drinkers concerned.  Or curious.

I've blogged previously about healthy sodas...sodas that do not have such a high sugar content.
Zevia makes a pretty good Ginger Ale.   and a good Cream Soda, too!

What I think the info graphic is lacking, however, is the fact that this information is being given in a vacuum.. What if you ate a lot earlier?  What if you have a high tolerance for sugar spike?  What if you traditionally have a LOW blood sugar count?

Is this the results of one can of Coke "always"...or for folks who usually don't drink soda...or for folks who drink it daily??

Remember...anything in moderation is OK.

Except rudeness.   ;)

The Return of Stop Killer Coke

All the way back in 2008 I learned about a campaign called Stop Killer Coke.
I even blogged about it, although at the time I took it somewhat lightly. I didn't exactly blog an in-depth history of the campaign.

There does not seem to be a real plethora of press on the issue since, so while I feel I was slightly negligent, I dont think I missed out on (or misrepresented) a major news topic. Maybe a few articles from 2010 show up on Google.


But the Stop Killer Coke website IS still active.

And I noticed that after 2 years of inactivity, the Stop Killer Coke Twitter Account started rolling again in late June.
(the Twitter feed does not seem to be exclusive to the South American Murders, but rather to the negativity of Coke/soda in general)

Ironically, this past September Mexico was introduced to Coca Cola Life ...which is being positioned as a "healthy" soda given that it has half the calories of a 'regular' can of Coke.
 

Further ironic (is there an expression for THREE items all contradictory?) is that Mexico has since instituted a Soda Tax as a way to compensate for the effort to fight obesity in-country.

South South America has a push-pull relationship with Soda, in several directions!

I'll cover Mexico's love for soda and the corresponding soda tax in later blog posts, but I originally put these thoughts together as I looked back into whether the Stop Killer Coke campaign took on any global traction.

It appears, at least based on my quick research, it hasnt come to much here in the states.


 

Personalized Coke Bottles

So, I lurk around Twitter.
You'll never find me...because you won't know how to look for me.
But I'm there.

I follow all KIND of folks.
Successful Power Brokers....high school seniors....Pro Wrestlers....
My tastes are wide.

Today I saw a tweet from Mark Benioff
You know - the Sultan of Salesforce.

He shared this tweet and this pic:

A trade show as big as Dreamforce should indeed feature personalized Coke bottles, right?
SUPER choice of a sponsor.
(Unless, of course, you're a Pepsi drinker)

But someone right away asked where THEY can get personalized Coke bottles.

So I thought I'd share the answer:
Simply click here and you are on your way to having YOUR name or event on Coke bottles.

Suddenly, Coke is sponsoring YOU.
(or you, them, if you think about it....)

Not going Back in Blak?

The article on MSN was called 10 foods we'll never get to eat again and somewhere in the middle of the article was a reference to Coca Cola BlāK.

This variation on Coke was flavored like coffee, but it didn't last long. In fact, it only had a public life of two years: 2006 to 2008. 

(Blak was first introduced in France, but by Spring of 2006 it launched the United States and by Summer in Canada.)

So what was Blak about? 

Blak was a coffee-flavored cola.

And it only lasted 2 years?!

Here we are in 2014 and you'd think a coffee-flavored beverage would FLY off the shelves.

(Pun not intended).

I mean, aren't there all KINDS of iced-coffee beverages in cans and bottles in YOUR grocery store?

Sleek looking bottle, popular flavor, mega-powerful manufacturer/distributor...wouldn't you think Blak should be back?

Cola that isn't Soda

I like all kinds of Soda, but I seem to gravitate towards 'cola' when I order one.

Not necessarily "coca" cola....but a cola nonetheless.

But COLA stands for other things and has interests outside of soda.
(Why anyone would have interests outside of Soda is beyond me...)

COLA also stands for Cost of Living Adjustment.
Yeah, you used to get a raise every year just to keep up with the cost of living.
(Can you believe it?! Where I can I get me one of those?!)
The military still honors this yearly increase.
See the table here.

COLA also stands for the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere.
No, I don't see the point, either.
They coulda' just called it the 'Center About Studying Earth" (CASE).
Or how about the "Center Underscoring Studies of Stuff." (CUSS).
COLAS's website is here, if you are interested.

Seattle has non-profit website built around COLA.
But not soda...and not for grunge music either!
This one is for Dogs. Yeah, really.
It's the Citizens for Off Leash Areas.


Further research shows that you can find all KINDS of definitions for COLA.

But I say we stick to Soda.
That's what I'm about...

You Can't get a Pepsi at McDonald's

Really, you can't.

McDonald's carries Coca Cola products, so the idea of the 'other' brand showing up within the Golden arches is nil.

The Minnesota Twins only serve Pepsi in their Target Stadium.
No Coke to be found there.

But certainly no one chooses their Fast Food restaurant or favorite ball team by the soda they serve, or don't serve.

Cola, despite millions of dollars on branding, is unfortunately indistinguishable amongst the masses. Sure, when they are side-by-side you can tell the difference in a taste test, but the difference is NOT so drastic that it would ruin your meal.

A waitress at a diner I frequent recently insisted that she has had customers walk out of the establishment because they wanted a Coke and was served a Pepsi.

Even my favorite China Buffet serves soda in tall red glasses that have the Pepsi logo on them.
(surely you can see the irony...why not Blue glasses?!)

In fact, when I order a 'Coke with no ice, lemon' with my meal, the waitress will ask me if Pepsi is "OK" if that's all they serve. (Surely they are concerned that I'll make a fuss like the before-mentioned senior citizen did...). No need to worry. I can tell the difference, but it wont ruin my meal.

Do folks in Atlanta feel pretty strong about the flavor differences? I understand they do more so there than elsewhere. Atlanta prides itself on being the home to Coca Cola, and has been drinking the product for over a century. Those taste buds are pretty well tuned in.

But when Average Joe makes a stink in a New Jersey restaurant because he wants a Coca Cola and not a Pepsi, I'm confused.

Or maybe I'm just so in love with soda that it's made me more accepting?
Hell, don't we always accept the flaws and short comings of those we love?
I'm a huge fan of contact sports, even though I know it's violent and sometimes bloody.

But alas, I digress...

Coca Cola and Pepsi are smart to form agreements with fast food chains and other establishments, but I don't think it's an issue of 'conversion'. If you can only get Pepsi at Taco Bell, and you eat at Taco Bell once a week, it doesn't mean you'll in short time stop drinking Coca Cola because you are 'conditioned' to.

No, in fact the smartest part of the exclusivity arrangements is that it ensures you 'x' cases of soda will be sold each week...because a LOT of people order a soda with the meal! So why give the customer a chance to NOT buy YOUR soda? Keep the competition the hell outta there!

Soda exclusivity in fast food restaurants.
Score one for good business, score none of cornering the market of one's mouth.


Footnote - my thanks to Seth Godin for the title. His recent blog post inspired me to write the article, even though it wasn't the basis of HIS thesis.

Third Anniversary Coke vs. Pepsi Top 7 Stories

Happy Belated Birthday!

Coke vs. Pepsi turned '3' last week...and like any bad Father I completely missed it's birthday because I was preoccupied with other things.

But like any GOOD Father, I acknowledged it as soon as I noticed it, drank a cold glass of cola and sat down to research the Top 7 Coke Versus Pepsi stories.

The Top 7 Stories is based on the number of times each page has been visited.
I can confirm fro first-hand experience that a few spammers have found 2 specific blog entries that they like to comment more than others...but a win is a win. There must be a reason why they picked THOSE entries (I'd like to think it was the great writing, gripping stories, fascinating content and witty catch-phrases I use. But who knows...?)

So, Happy Birthday Coke vs. Pepsi!
The Top 7 Stories this blog hosts are:


#7) Coke or Pepsi? Smart or Silly? (5/3/08) - this quick entry talked up 2 other websites that debate the Coke versus Pepsi preference we all have...but we found to be somewhat 'girlie'. I was quite pleased to receive a comment from the site's publisher explaining WHY It was girlie.

#6) History of Coca Cola and Pepsi...and Google! (8/21/07) - this article quantifies and explains the differences of 'Coca Cola' information and 'Pepsi' information when making searches on Google.

#5) Coca Cola Prices Going Up. Pepsi Next? (7/18/08) - and the heels of a price increase, we discuss the options and the consequences of a Cola pricing increase.

#4) 7 Most Relevant Coke vs. Pepsi Stories of the Last Year? (8/20/08) - The debut of our 'Top Stories' list. (yeah, I remembered our FIRST Birthday...every Good Father does!).

#3) Andy Warhol Coca Cola (9/12/08) - Would-be SPAMmers love this entry, which makes me happy and sad. I'd happy that whatever content I shared here gets enough public visibility that SPAMmers think it's worth commenting on. But I was hoping for a higher-brow audience.

#2) Pepsi and Coca Cola Sales Drop Drastically (4/08/09) - There seems to be a correlation between Cola blog traffic and articles about Cola Pricing. Which would speak to the higher-brow audience I alluded to in the above comment.

And the #1 most Relevant Coke vs. Pepsi blog entry as of this writing is.....

#1) The History of Coca Cola Prices (9/29/08) - High-brow audience wins again!!! Glad to see the most visited blog entry was something that didn't have the word 'MILF' or 'Dude' in the title!

I always enjoy compiling this list each year and looking back on how much traffic this blog gets.
Sure, it would have been nice for some '2010' posts to get on the list, but it's been a busy year and perhaps I just need to put more thought into future posts this year.

Next post should be titled "The History of Coca Cola Pricing Increases and the Google Searches about Pepsi Sales Decreasing that are equally Relevant"

...or something...!

Taco Bell puts 16 sodas in 1 Machine

Occasionally I blog about Coca-Cola's attempt to offer a machine that produces almost 100 flavors of soda in 1 concise place. It's called the Freestyle, and I've last written about it here.

Today I wandered into my local Taco Bell, and what do you know?
The soda machine, featuring Pepsi products, has SIXTEEN soda buttons!

It's true.
There are 4 'spouts' in the machine, and each spout has 4 buttons above it.

Now, in fairness, there were 2 opportunities to select "Pepsi"...but Water, Iced Tea, Mountain Dew, Cherry Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Mug Root Beer made an appearance, also. (I'm sure there was a Pink Lemonade button, too. I'm doing this from memory because I left my cellphone-with-camera in the car when I went in to buy lunch).

I can tell you that I eat in a LOT of Taco Bells, and this is the first time I've seen said machine.

So one has to ask...is this Pepsi's subtle way of getting a multi-soda machine on the market before Coca Cola does...or just a short-scale coincidence?



Learn more about the Coke versus Pepsi battle of the ages at www.Squidoo.com/CokevsPepsi

Coca Cola accused of using Porn in marketing campaign

MAN! All you need is one small person to make 1 small mistake and you have 1 BIIIG problem on your hands.

Unless you are Coca-Cola.

A recent marketing campaign in England combined Facebook and some naughty little minds.
Apparently, a mommy was none-too-pleased by a passing comment and went into a rage.
And now it's news.

You can read the story here.
I WILL forewarn you that this is another case of a small instance getting blown up into a big issue.

And remember...there is no 'bad' press when you are a multi-million dollar company envoking marketing ideas!

Mello Yello and the Seasick Fisherman

This past weekend, my 9 year old son was invited to go fishing with his best buddy. His father has a small boat that we've been on once before, and I while I'm not much of a fishing fanatic I thought it would be nice for the boys.

All I had to do was wake up at 6 in the morning, buy lunch for me and my son, and arrive at Bob's house for 7:00. Simple right?

Ughghg. I HATE waking up early.
But it's for my son...

So I find out that none of the grocery stores are open before 7:00AM.
This is bad because I want to be at his HOUSE at 7:00am.
So instead I'm off to Wawa to buy some sandwiches and sodas.

First, the good news: Despite being a 'convenience store', they had a well stocked deli and I was treated to 2 sandwiches for under $5.00 TOTAL.

Next, the SODA news: while my son was treated to a Coca Cola, I found a bottle of MELLO YELLO on the shelf. AND...it was 'marked down' from $1.59 to .99! SODA ON SALE! Who'da thought?! I took it!

Last, the bad news: for the first time in my life, I got sea sick.
I appears that fishing on the ocean is MUCH different than crabbing in the bay!

So once again, I could not enjoy my Mello Yello to the fullest.
In fact, I barely made it through my sandwich!

You'll recall from earlier posts that Mello Yello became a bane of my existence in the past. I was REALLY hoping this time it would be different. It wasn't. Sorry, Mello Yello...I don't think we can be friends anymore! :(

Update on Coke's most interesting soda machine

Are you familiar with the Freestyle?

Not freestyle rapping.
Not freestyle swimming.
I'm talking about the Freestyle soda machine from Coca Cola.

Almost a year ago I wrote a blog post about this new technology. While inventive and potentially a sales-increaser, it appears to have had a slow start.

Today's article in Newsmax accentuates the point.
The machine costs 30% more than a traditional soda fountain machine...and has only debuted in a handful of stores.

Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent is undeterred.
His experience has been that anyone who has used the machine has been completely satisfied...and has come back for more!

Clearly the machine makes it easier for the consumer to try new (or obscure) flavors without investing in a 12-pack of the goods...and clearly it makes it easier for Coca Cola to test market flavours and track the results.

But the question becomes how much more soda will it sell...and will the fast food restaurants that employ the technology be able to sell enough soda to easily cover the cost?

Soda stock prices...Invest in Coke, Invest in Pepsi

The Cola War is as deeply rooted as the rivalries between Republicans and Democrats, Wrestling Fans and people who hate pro wrestling, Rock Musicians and the PRMC...ok, maybe I digress...

But the Cola Wars seems to have no end in sight. Perhaps you can profit form the profits!

My understanding what is happening, financially, with both product lines you can make an educated opinion.

(The views expressed in this article do not express my personal views. In fact, I dont own stock in either company, but I drink a LOT of their products!)

Read a great, recent article (4/19/2010) evaluating current stock prices here.

Coca Cola's recent stock price and company information on Morningstar here.

Morningstar's review of Pepsi's Q4 performance here.

Morningstar's evaluation of Jones Soda here.
JONES SODA?!?!? Well...yeah! They are a creative little bunch and deserved some finanical press!

Of course, LAST year Motley Fool was down on Jones Soda.
See here.

Well look...we cant base our lives around Coke and Pepsi, people!

The bottom line is that you have a lot of options, but you have to do oyour homework.
The stock market looks like a fun place to gamble, but you can actually beat the house better than any poker player if you research carefully and invest on things you understand.

Like soda.

OK Soda from Coca Cola...not really OK, but kinda cool!

How I came across OK Soda, I don't' remember.
But reading about it I learned it was a really interesting concept that just didn't get off the ground.

Wikipedia defines the endeavor as - OK Soda was a soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company in 1993 that aggressively courted the Generation X demographic with unusual advertising tactics, including endorsements and even outright negative publicity.

Any good? Well, the Time website called it #1 on the list of Top 10 Bad Beverage Ideas.

But I think the marketing needs to be explored.
The entire idea behind OK Soda was to come up with something for the Gen X crowd, and marketing to them in a way that ACKNOWLEDGED that they did not want to be marketed to.
They did not want anything that was part of the corporate-culture machine.

This meant unique cans, unique soda machines and self-depreciating marketing slogans.
In fact, Kayfabe.net writes about their marketing efforts (and shows a great pic of an OK Soda soda machine!) here..

Suck.com writes an interesting piece about OK Soda here.

For a really good, in depth review of the story of OK Soda, you have to check out the article from Cavalcade of Awesome. GREAT coverage. (Editor's Note - Cavalcade of Awesome is a website and not a Rock Band.)

I thought I'd take a second to note that it was Roberto Goizuetta's idea to bring back Sergio Zyman to Coke's marketing group (he was fired after the New Coke debacle)...and Sergio's came up with the entire business model for OK Soda. Why do I share this with you? Because I'm a huge Goizuetta fan! :)

While most soda reviews just KILL a product (See yesterday's post about Chocolate Cherry Dr. Pepper) I found it interesting the OK Soda has a Facebook Fansite! Ok...maybe it IS Ok after all!

Soda's ode to Seth Godin

When I was more involved with Marketing, I was a HYOOGE fan of Seth Godin.


I still am a huge fan, but I read him less often because my current position of work has a slightly different scope of work to it than when I was more actively pursuing his (marketing) ideas.





(By the way, I recently joined the gym so I wouldn't REALLY be huge. Well, hang on. I guess if I work really, really hard I COULD be a huge fan...Ok, we'll address that later.)





Anyway, today I was listening to an interview Seth gave, and it occur ed to me: I used to read Seth's blog all the time, I wonder if he's ever read mine?





And more importantly (because I don't cater to my own Self Importance): Does Seth like Soda? Does he think soda is good?

Jumped over to my friend Google and looked into Seth Godin's ideas about Soda:

Seth Godin Mistakes Custom Soda for a Hybrid Car - an author's critique of Seth comparing Jones Soda's marketing to Toyota's marketing of their hybrid vehicle.





Everyone is Clueless - Seth is impressed with how the owner of Galco's Soda Pop Stop actually TURNED DOWN Pepsi as a vendor. Actually, I'm pretty impressed myself...!





By the way, here is the You Tube video that showcases Galco's.
Even though the typed text around the 'screen' is not in English, the commentary absolutely is.

Our sister blog, Coke vs Pepsi, is shown on a platform called Squidoo. (as opposed to Blogger. Follow?) You cannot find much about Seth at Coke vs. Pepsi...but he IS the person who first conceived the idea of the 'Squidoo' platform that CvP is on, and assembled a team that brought it to life!

Seth Godin is one of the most insightful and thought provoking marketer I've ever read. I highly encourage you to pour yourself a tall glass of Cola and read the first book of his you can find!

Seeking Proof that Soda is Good

Gosh I love this blog! I love writing it, I love reading it.
I love when others read it...

Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper and many more...

Of course, we know that Soda is not good 'for' you...but it's GOOD!
It tastes good; and that's good.
We share laughs over a soda or two, and that's good.
It goes great with whatever you are eating; and THAT's good!

So today I went to Google and looked to see what would happen if I sought out 'Soda is Good'.

(Disclaimer - I had to ignore any post that talked about BAKING Soda is good for you. I don't care if BAKING soda is good for you! It doesn't taste good, it doesn't go great with whatever you are eating and it's not exactly a medium for sharing laughs and good times!)

So the top pieces of Google Evidence to prove that Soda is Good:
1) Soda is Good on Hub Pages
2) DIET Soda is NOT good for you. Bummer :(
3) Jones Soda is the coolest, but NOT a great investment per Motley Fool. Another Bummer. Dang...
4) CHEAP Soda is good for you. YAAAAAAAY!!!!
5) New York Times says Soda: It's Good for You.
6) Soda is Good For You on Flickr!
7) VIDEO: Grape Soda is good s--t

Decided to add #7 for TWO reasons.
1 - always leave on a high note.
2 - because my ORIGINAL idea for this post was my periodic update on the Purple Beverage company. (You may think that I am unfairly hard on Purple, but I try to be objective.) Anyway, I nixed the idea, but when I saw a PURPLE Beverage (Grape Soda) I could not resist. It's like Kharma. Really.



For MORE evidence that Soda is Good, visit our friends at www.Squidoo.com/CokevsPepsi

Social Butterfly talks up ColaLife

Now and again I talk up Simon Berry's ColaLife project.
It's simple and brilliant at the same time!

ColaLife is a non-profit organization that strives to get CocaCola to leverage it's distribution strength to bring aid to the malnourished Third World nations in Africa.

In other words, if they can bring Coca Cola into Africa, then they should be able to easily bring water and medicine as well.

While I pride myself on keeping the world updated on Simon's work, I found a GREAT article about ColaLife in a recent Social Butterfly post here. (Be sure to click on the video. It's very cute, despite the grave message).

Social marketing is being used to get the public on board with products. But it's just as powerful a tool for sharing valuable 'non profit' ideas...like saving lives!

Alexandra's blog is fabulous, and the ColaLife article is concise and thorough at the same time!
Be sure to check it out...and then read further into ColaLife's efforts and see if and where you can help!


And for something less "political", don't forget our friends at Coke versus Pepsi!

Coke versus Costco - Greed is not so Good!

It's all over the news. Well, the 'Soda' news.
Costco isn't getting the pricing it wants from Coca Cola, so they've decided to no longer carry their products.

Well...they'll sell out what they have and THEN stop carrying it. The quote in the Associated Press article reads like this:

The wholesale club operator, based in Issaquah, Wash., is not removing products like Coke and Diet Coke from store shelves, but it does not plan to restock them "until the matter is resolved,".

The Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post and Walletpop reported the story also...but both sides of the argument are being rather tight lipped about it all so there isn't much for them to share.

Which products? Apparently ALL of them: Coke, Cherry Coke (Jay-Z's favorite!), Classic Coke, Black Cherry Vanilla Coke (yes, really!), Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Sprite. And Disani water! and Vitamin Water! And Energy Drinks!

But who is really being the price bully here? Have you ever bought soda in a price club? I have NEVER seen brand-name soda at a reasonable price at ANY price club. I don't care if it's Costco, Sam's, BJ's...they all have been consistently higher in price than the grocery chain stores.

How big a discount does the #1 soda distributor have to give a retailer? Soda is like soap...people are going to keep buying it no matter WHAT it costs. This is not to say that it's reasonable to 'price gouge'...but my point is that if the national Grocery Chains can sell soda at a given price, then the wholesale stores should be able to sell 'competitively' as well.

These 'price clubs' have made a career of asking the public to pay a membership fee so that they can buy products in bulk. Sure, you get a good price on Mayonaise...it's because you're buying a 2-gallon jug of it! Less plastic, less glass, less paper labels...lower price.

But maybe Joe Blow doesn't WANT to buy 300 cans of Coca Cola in order to get a good price. He wants to go where he buys his chopped meat and chicken and buy everything for dinner in 1 place. If Costco can't make money selling Coca Cola then they should stick to selling no-name brands at a profit.

Costco is a huge chain, but will Coca Cola suffer dramatically from the loss?
I'm inclined to say 'no'.

Sure, you want every sale you can get...but this might open Coca Cola up to finding some markets they have NOT yet exploited...and tell Costco to get back in line with everyone else and pay what everyone else is paying.

And do you think Costco can find enough no-name substitutes for the brands they are discontinuing? How many people are going to say "Oh look! It's Cola Zero! Sure, it's not COKE Zero, but I'll drink it! And LOOK! They have Dish-ani! Sure, it's not Disani..but I'm sure it's similar!"

Almost none.

Much of the feedback I've seen has been based around "glad to see Costco telling Coke to shove it." As a business man and a Costco customer I say "tough noogies, Costco."

Strange Little Sodas Kept Alive

I found a GREAT article in Fortune magazine that I wanted to share/summarize for you.
It talked about 5 'niche' sodas that have not lived up to their owner's expectations, but will not die due to their cult following.

Which 5 sodas?

1) Moxie - in the 1900's this cola outsold Coke and Pepsi! Now, it's a cult favorite in the NorthEast and a virtual unknown elsewhere in the States.

2) Mr. Pibb - forget the 'MILF' articles I've written about Mr. Pibb, the bigger story is that the Coke-owned answer to "Dr. Pepper' sold 57 million cases last year. Of course, Dr. Pepper sold 586 million. And it has it's own museum.

3) Slice - strongly endorsed by Roger Enrico when he ran PepsiCo, it never achieved the 10% of market that he envisioned.

4) TAB - Owned by Coke, this diet beverage never surpassed competitor Diet Coke. But last year 3 million cases were bought..some dieters SOMEWHERE are drinking it!

5) Fanta - In the U.S., Coke sold 175 million cases of this tasty little beverage. That's about 7 times more than it's 2000 sales.

You can read the Fortune article in it's entirety here.


5 more sodas that deserve to be showcased on Coke vs. Pepsi!

Soda Prices Going Up when New Taxes Kick In?

And now for something political...

I'm doin' the Google Search for a clever soda-term today, and in my travels I come across a few (recent) articles that debate and discuss the idea of a surcharge/tax on Soda!

Some claim it will help in the fight against obesity.
Others see it as just another way to fill the political coffers.
Others see it as an infrigement of their rights and freedoms!
(Ok, settle down there Thomas Jefferson...)

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom likens soda to Tobacco, and wants to tax the retailers who sell it! The American Beverage Association seems to share my view on politics and food. They released a statement that read in part, "If our goal is to address obesity, then educating consumers about the importance of balancing calories consumed from all foods and beverages with the calories expended through physical activity is what matters - not demonizing any one particular food."

CollegeNET Forum further discusses the act here.

A New York Times online article discusses taxing soda in an effort to fight obesity and other health-issues here. It's a very thorough article, and the author does a nice job of showing both sides of the equation.

It opens with an interesting quote. It's attributed to Adam Smith, the economist, and dates back to “The Wealth of Nations,” (1776) where he wrote: “Sugar, rum and tobacco are commodities which are nowhere necessaries of life, which are become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are therefore extremely proper subjects of taxation.”

Thanks, Adam. I like Rum AND Soda. In fact, I think it's called a "Captain and Coke" if I'm not mistaken....

Again, I am opposed hurting people who CAN manage their weight by making them pay (no pun intended) for the follies of those who cannot. But maybe that's just me? I'm not so sure. In fact, I found an interesting on-line article in the Delaware Libertarian where the author does a very nice job of showing the flaw in people's thinking when it comes to accepting such a tax. Very clever article here.


Lastly, when you want information quickly and not with all the New York Times stuffiness, there is always USA Today! Here is there on-line article on the subject of taxing sodas. Sorry, no pie charts in this article!

Remember, when it comes to taxes, you are essentially giving money to the government to do with what they will. It's important that no matter how you vote on such a topic, that you 100% understand the issue from all sides. It's equally important that your Senator/Representative is voting with your best interests in mind...regardless of what you weight, what you earn and what you drink.

Coke vs. Pepsi Second Anniversary Top Stories

It's hard to believe, but Last Thursday (August 20th) marked the second anniversary of this blog. For 2 years I have been chronicling the soda wars, and everything else "soda" to go with it.

Hit rates have risen steadily until earlier this Summer (apparently swimmers and sun soakers have less time to read blogs) but the Top Stories remain the top stories. In fact, of the Top 7 most read blog entries from August 2008 to August 2009, more than half of them were written in 2008.

The #7 most read story this year was "This MILF likes Mr. Pibb" (March 2009)
Sure, it embarrassing to kick off this blog with a MILF reference...it's the only MILF reference in 2 years of blogging. But I put it out there to see what kind of response it got...and it's make it to #7 out of HUNDREDS of entries, so I guess sex DOES sell!

The #6 most read story this year was "Energy Drinks...Kicking Soda's Ass" (June 2008)
Certainly any story about an ass kicking is good reading! A year later, this one is still relevant and action packed! Energy drinks are taking over the beverage market with rapidity, so of course this was an article about the relevance of the industry and not a way to snare the UFC fan base. Really.

The #5 most read story this year was "Cola Please -No More Mello Yello" (September 2008)
This one had it all...irony, tragedy, sacrifice, friendship...and the tasty yellow beverage that you can't get 'just anywhere'! A great story 11 months later!

The #4 most read story this year was "Coca Cola Prices Going Up. Pepsi prices going up Next?"
(July 2008) Finally readers move away from MILFs, ass-kickings and sarcastic humour to read about something relevant and economical. Well, I mean it has to do with Economics. You know what I mean.

The #3 most read story this year was "Andy Warhol Coca Cola" (September 2008).
A great month for Top Stories! It used to really amaze me how popular this entry was, but the more I read it the more I can see it. Pop art, pop icons and Coca Cola are cornerstones of American culture, and this article covers all three. Maybe a pile of Coca Cola does not look like are to some (to ME, especially!), but it seems to ring true with a good portion of the audience.

The #2 most read story this year was "The History of Coca Cola Prices" (September 2008)
Trifecta! My birthday month yields my most creative work! Again, soda and pricing in the same story makes for a heavily read topic. Americans like their soda, and don't want to pay a lot. Any news about soda pricing is relevant.

The #1 most read story this year was "Pepsi and Coca Cola Sales Drop Drastically" (April 2009)
The most relevant story was also a recent one! Not so much a 'pricing' issue, but a story of economics and cultural tastes. (Literately!) Why are soda sales plummeting? Is it due to Energy Drinks (as mentioned above)? The current Health Kick? Pricing? If you drink beverages, this article speaks to you and your pallet.

So there are your Top 7, and as always I appreciate your readership!
Be sure to check out the Cola Wars on Squidoo: www.Squidoo.com/Cokevspepsi