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
Showing posts with label free soda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free soda. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Returning to the Valley of Mello Yello
Last year I helped a friend move to South Carolina, and lamented over how much Mello Yello they tried to pour down my throat.
Last WEEK I returned to see my friends in South Carolina, and I'm pleased to report that they did not offer me a single glass of Mello Yello. In fact, we shared a chuckle over the experience and I drank a Coke-with-no-ice with dinner.
During the trip, we went to visit the Freestyle Music amusement park. This was formerly the Hard Rock amusement park, but it went bankrupt and was bought and re-named a year later.
When you have a brand as world recognized as Hard Rock, and you can't make money, you are doing something WRONG! An amusement park called Hard Rock should be able to host a concert every Friday in the Summer with a well recognized pop/rock star. Hell, Sun Tan Lake did it for all of those years!
(The park, by the way, STILL has the giant Hard Rock guitar logo on top of a tower at the edge of the park. You would think the Hard Rock people would try to capitalize on SOME part of this...!)
HOWEVER, before I blast the hard Rock for their failure, let me give you some feedback on the Freestyle Music amusement park.
1) It was very clean and had some very cool roller coasters
2) It was practically empty.
INCREDIBLE! Here it was, July 5th. Great weather. Good prices (Four of us got in for $82.00) and the place was empty. It was like back in the day when Michael Jackson would have an amusement park privatized so he and his little friends could play! We felt like special guests or something. (Yeah -something from Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park!)
In all, we had a great time and I DID drink a soda while I was there.
Hey, after all, an empty amusement park can be good (not for the owners, of course)...and Soda is Good!
Last WEEK I returned to see my friends in South Carolina, and I'm pleased to report that they did not offer me a single glass of Mello Yello. In fact, we shared a chuckle over the experience and I drank a Coke-with-no-ice with dinner.
During the trip, we went to visit the Freestyle Music amusement park. This was formerly the Hard Rock amusement park, but it went bankrupt and was bought and re-named a year later.
When you have a brand as world recognized as Hard Rock, and you can't make money, you are doing something WRONG! An amusement park called Hard Rock should be able to host a concert every Friday in the Summer with a well recognized pop/rock star. Hell, Sun Tan Lake did it for all of those years!
(The park, by the way, STILL has the giant Hard Rock guitar logo on top of a tower at the edge of the park. You would think the Hard Rock people would try to capitalize on SOME part of this...!)
HOWEVER, before I blast the hard Rock for their failure, let me give you some feedback on the Freestyle Music amusement park.
1) It was very clean and had some very cool roller coasters
2) It was practically empty.
INCREDIBLE! Here it was, July 5th. Great weather. Good prices (Four of us got in for $82.00) and the place was empty. It was like back in the day when Michael Jackson would have an amusement park privatized so he and his little friends could play! We felt like special guests or something. (Yeah -something from Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park!)
In all, we had a great time and I DID drink a soda while I was there.
Hey, after all, an empty amusement park can be good (not for the owners, of course)...and Soda is Good!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Easter, Soda and Ham...a recipe for perfection!
I absolutely love a baked, glazed ham. I only really get to cook one twice a year: Christmas and Easter. (and I'm JEWISH! Who'da thunk?!?!?)
This is the time of year to combine my love for soda and my love for ham into tasty recipes to make the left overs as delicious as possible! Recipes like:
Coca Cola Braised Ham
Ham with Orange Soda Sauce
Soda Shop Ham Glaze
and the disgustingly popular Ham Soda from Jones Soda
So this Easter, glaze your ham (15 minutes per pound at 350 degrees) in something yummy and carbonated...but stay away from any ham flavored beverage!
This is the time of year to combine my love for soda and my love for ham into tasty recipes to make the left overs as delicious as possible! Recipes like:
Coca Cola Braised Ham
Ham with Orange Soda Sauce
Soda Shop Ham Glaze
and the disgustingly popular Ham Soda from Jones Soda
So this Easter, glaze your ham (15 minutes per pound at 350 degrees) in something yummy and carbonated...but stay away from any ham flavored beverage!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
This MILF likes Mr. Pibb
Normally I would not use a headline that reads like something you'd see on Hot Horny Moms dot com...but this good looking, married 31 year old woman from Michigan really DOES like Mr. Pibb, and writes about it in her blog. She even titled the entry 'A Soda Story'. *sigh* A girl after my own heart!
(Granted, this young lady is probably about to get 100 hits this week from guys surfing the web and thinking they're gonna see some Large Boobs. Sorry! Look at it this way...I'll get 100 hits from those same guys!)
And while we're on the topic of Mr. Pibb, let's look closer into this Dr. Pepper competitor!
Mr. Pibb is a Coca Cola brand...but it seems to be MUCH more popular in the South than up here in the North. I only comment because Dr. Pepper, it's direct rival, is nationally recognized. (I often see the same disparity between Mountain Dew and Mello Yello)
Chris Houser has built the on-line shrine to Mr. Pibb here.
Mr. Pibb and Dr. Pepper ought to duke it out at the Coke vs. Pepsi lens!
Topix hosted a poll to let you choose a favorite between the two here.
Another debate, on LetsGoPens, broke out here.
(By the way, is it REALLY offensive to call the color Cherokee Red? I never even heard of the term before today!)
In all, I'd like to thank the little lady from Detroit for reminding me how great Mr. Pibb is!
Time to got to lunch....
(Granted, this young lady is probably about to get 100 hits this week from guys surfing the web and thinking they're gonna see some Large Boobs. Sorry! Look at it this way...I'll get 100 hits from those same guys!)
And while we're on the topic of Mr. Pibb, let's look closer into this Dr. Pepper competitor!
Mr. Pibb is a Coca Cola brand...but it seems to be MUCH more popular in the South than up here in the North. I only comment because Dr. Pepper, it's direct rival, is nationally recognized. (I often see the same disparity between Mountain Dew and Mello Yello)
Chris Houser has built the on-line shrine to Mr. Pibb here.
Mr. Pibb and Dr. Pepper ought to duke it out at the Coke vs. Pepsi lens!
Topix hosted a poll to let you choose a favorite between the two here.
Another debate, on LetsGoPens, broke out here.
(By the way, is it REALLY offensive to call the color Cherokee Red? I never even heard of the term before today!)
In all, I'd like to thank the little lady from Detroit for reminding me how great Mr. Pibb is!
Time to got to lunch....
Monday, February 16, 2009
ColaLife vs. Coca Cola: March Meeting in London
Back in July I wrote about Simon Berry and his plan to influence Coca Cola's effect on World Poverty.
Simon and his team have some very strong ideas about how Coca Cola's distribution system can be used to provide water and medicine to impoverished Third World Nations.
The ColaLife ideal: That Coca-Cola use their distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute oral rehydration salts. Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as 'the life saving' compartment?
If you live in/near London (England, that is) you are invited to attend the ColaLife Campaign Planning Meeting on Tuesday March 3rd. (I live in the United States, so I have to pass...). It is here that the team will host a face-to-face meeting to plan the voting campaign for ColaLife''s entry in Google's Project 10^100th ideas competition.
ColaLife's website is here.
Their Facebook Summary is here.
Simon writes: "If we get through to the last 100 in the Google competition on 17 March we will need to mobilise people to vote for us. It's no good waiting until 17/3/09, we need to be ready to roll if we get through."
Simon Cohen of Global Tolerance has agreed to host the event in their offices in north London.
If you have an interest in joining the meeting...or if you'd just like to join the Facebook group and be a part of their activities when they come to YOUR town...please feel free to join up and get involved!
Simon and his team have some very strong ideas about how Coca Cola's distribution system can be used to provide water and medicine to impoverished Third World Nations.
The ColaLife ideal: That Coca-Cola use their distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute oral rehydration salts. Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as 'the life saving' compartment?
If you live in/near London (England, that is) you are invited to attend the ColaLife Campaign Planning Meeting on Tuesday March 3rd. (I live in the United States, so I have to pass...). It is here that the team will host a face-to-face meeting to plan the voting campaign for ColaLife''s entry in Google's Project 10^100th ideas competition.
ColaLife's website is here.
Their Facebook Summary is here.
Simon writes: "If we get through to the last 100 in the Google competition on 17 March we will need to mobilise people to vote for us. It's no good waiting until 17/3/09, we need to be ready to roll if we get through."
Simon Cohen of Global Tolerance has agreed to host the event in their offices in north London.
If you have an interest in joining the meeting...or if you'd just like to join the Facebook group and be a part of their activities when they come to YOUR town...please feel free to join up and get involved!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Pepsi and SNL Selling Out? CAH MAHN!
No sooner did I type the praises of the "McGruber" Pepsi commercial during Superbowl did I see a page-long commentary analyzing whether or not fans were 'confused' and if this was 'selling out'.
CAH MAHN!
You can read all the silliness here...but I think you have to be reading FAR to far into it if you think there is any 'content' here.
Do you want me to believe that a Pepsi-inspired McGruber skit is on SNL and the fans cannot figure out if it's a skit or a commercial? And you want me to believe that it MATTERS? How seriously do you think the fans take this stuff?
Saturday Night Live is a comedy show. We tune in to laugh. If a commercial makes us laugh...and it features an SNL star...do we care that it's potentially 'selling out'? We laughed, right?!
And SNL fans know that the show is NOTORIOUS for kicking off the show with a mock-commercial. Sometimes they show 2 or 3 in the course of the 90 minute show! Fans were 'confused'? By what?!
In fact, the whole 'selling out' ideal makes me nauseous. (Warm ginger ale, please.)
If the producers get rich off of your TV show, CD or performance...shouldn't YOU? Are you really lowering the integrity of a song of you allow Cadillac or Apple to use it in an ad? Isn't that commercial giving you MORE exposure?! HEL-LO!
The only people I hear crying about 'selling out' are a select number of fans who aren't musicians, actors or artists. They're often not worrying about paying their bills, either. Some of us have financial obligations...or aspirations!...and the extra cash is valuable. Even enviable.
People - if it was a commercial or if it was a skit, you still giggled.
Get over yourselves. No one sold out...You were just wise enough to check in.
If you were 'confused' then you ought to stick to 'Nickelodeon'.
Those Rugrats are still really funny...
CAH MAHN!
You can read all the silliness here...but I think you have to be reading FAR to far into it if you think there is any 'content' here.
Do you want me to believe that a Pepsi-inspired McGruber skit is on SNL and the fans cannot figure out if it's a skit or a commercial? And you want me to believe that it MATTERS? How seriously do you think the fans take this stuff?
Saturday Night Live is a comedy show. We tune in to laugh. If a commercial makes us laugh...and it features an SNL star...do we care that it's potentially 'selling out'? We laughed, right?!
And SNL fans know that the show is NOTORIOUS for kicking off the show with a mock-commercial. Sometimes they show 2 or 3 in the course of the 90 minute show! Fans were 'confused'? By what?!
In fact, the whole 'selling out' ideal makes me nauseous. (Warm ginger ale, please.)
If the producers get rich off of your TV show, CD or performance...shouldn't YOU? Are you really lowering the integrity of a song of you allow Cadillac or Apple to use it in an ad? Isn't that commercial giving you MORE exposure?! HEL-LO!
The only people I hear crying about 'selling out' are a select number of fans who aren't musicians, actors or artists. They're often not worrying about paying their bills, either. Some of us have financial obligations...or aspirations!...and the extra cash is valuable. Even enviable.
People - if it was a commercial or if it was a skit, you still giggled.
Get over yourselves. No one sold out...You were just wise enough to check in.
If you were 'confused' then you ought to stick to 'Nickelodeon'.
Those Rugrats are still really funny...
Friday, November 28, 2008
Axl Rose uses a Lawyer to attack a Dr. (Pepper)
Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy is in stores. Did you get a free Dr. Pepper?
Despite an earlier post about Dr. Pepper offering a free soda to every American interested if the new GNR album debuted in 2008, front man Axl Rose is complaining that the give away did not go smoothly...and has sent his lawyer after the soda maker to make good.
You can read about the exchange of words here.
In short, the website that was supposed to fill orders for Free Dr. Peppers was 'down' often, due to the incredible response. Axl would have you believe that he is distressed for all of those who did not receive their free soda.
What a humanitarian, right?
Bogus.
Axl has showed up to his concerts HOURS late in the past, and several times has walked off stage before a show was complete. Did he immediately petition that is ticket-buying fans be compensated for their fraction of a show? No. Did he insist on refunds for all unsatisfied guests? No.
Dr. Pepper's inability to fulfill every American's wish for a free soda is inadvertently giving Axl Rose an opportunity to let his Lawyer do what Lawyer do best - seek out and bring in some cash. (in legalese, that's called 'seeking reparations'.)
It will be interesting to see how far Axl goes with the tirade, and how far Dr. Pepper will cave.
Despite an earlier post about Dr. Pepper offering a free soda to every American interested if the new GNR album debuted in 2008, front man Axl Rose is complaining that the give away did not go smoothly...and has sent his lawyer after the soda maker to make good.
You can read about the exchange of words here.
In short, the website that was supposed to fill orders for Free Dr. Peppers was 'down' often, due to the incredible response. Axl would have you believe that he is distressed for all of those who did not receive their free soda.
What a humanitarian, right?
Bogus.
Axl has showed up to his concerts HOURS late in the past, and several times has walked off stage before a show was complete. Did he immediately petition that is ticket-buying fans be compensated for their fraction of a show? No. Did he insist on refunds for all unsatisfied guests? No.
Dr. Pepper's inability to fulfill every American's wish for a free soda is inadvertently giving Axl Rose an opportunity to let his Lawyer do what Lawyer do best - seek out and bring in some cash. (in legalese, that's called 'seeking reparations'.)
It will be interesting to see how far Axl goes with the tirade, and how far Dr. Pepper will cave.
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