Why does anyone really even drink soda anymore? It’s kind of like asking why does anyone still smoke? Back in the 60’s it was cool to smoke and everyone did it without really realizing the health hazards. They were blinded by all the cigarette toting TV commercials and TV shows that fully displayed the smoking culture as part of normal society. Everybody was doing it, or should I say smoking it! Nowadays everyone knows the real deal about smoking. Smoking ads are banned on TV, warning labels are put on cigarette packages, and as a result most people do not smoke.
Unfortunately this same enlightenment about soda hasn’t dawned on most folks yet, and nobody seems to be lining up to protest the ill effects of soda. Sure there is no one real culprit to link to soda like there was when people figured out lung cancer was a direct result of smoking. Instead drinking soda is just bad for your health all the way around. In health terms soda is usually referred to as empty calories. It’s even worse now that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has been added to replace sugar, and act as a preservative. I guess you can now say that soda is genetically modified empty calories!
I could be wrong about this but it seemed like the height of soda popularity was in the 80’s. Right about the same time that Coke and Pepsi did the bait and switch on us by changing their star ingredient to HFCS over sugar. Most people today still drink soda, but many other drinks are coming to the forefront such as bottled water, energy drinks, and fruit juice ( the latter two usually mixed with HFCS). I have issues with all of these which I will address in later posts, but at least people are trying different things, however misguided they may be. Just as it took a couple of decades for people to really get the message about smoking I think the same will be the case for soda. Eventually drinking soda should be viewed by society as an occasional splurge, or if used frequently a self destructive behavior much like smoking is.
As a kid I can still remember my parents occasionally stopping at 7/11 to buy the small bottles of coke that was the “original formula” because it tasted better. That was the coke that still had real sugar in it. You can still find it today in Mexican grocery stores where it is imported as “Mexican Coca Cola” also made with real sugar. Other than the occasional original coke (when it was still available), soda was never a part of our household diet. It wasn’t stocked in our refrigerator or cupboards, and in those days kids couldn’t buy soda or other junk food in vending machines at school like they can now. Basically it just wasn’t readily available for me so I never really developed an addiction to it like so many other Americans have. I have found however, that soda (especially coke) is very useful for dissolving caked up battery acid on your car battery. Aside from that utilitarian use I can honestly say as an adult soda has never been a regular item on my grocery list; it only makes an appearance when other people who are visiting might want it. This is a direct result of my environment while growing up which just gives proof that the choices parents make are often the same choices children will make when they grow up. Food for thought…
At times when we do get a hankering to drink soda in our household, for example on Superbowl Sunday, then we will typically get a local root beer or ginger ale made with cane sugar which you can normally find at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or other organic grocers. Speaking of the Superbowl, advertising is the biggest pusher of soda. We are bombarded with ads basically telling us try it, it’s cool and everyone’s doing it. Advertising plays a huge part in the American society. It tells us how we are supposed to live, persuades our brains into thinking what is and isn’t right for us. It especially tells us what to eat and drink. In the 70’s there was Pittsburgh Steeler Mean Joe Green downing a full bottle of coke that a little kid gave him, then he says “here kid catch” when he throws him his terrible towel. While this commercial is a cultural classic, it is still pure influential advertising at its best. Give Mean Joe credit though; at least his coke probably was made with real sugar and not High Fructose Corn Syrup. Back in the 80’s Michael Jackson caught his hair on fire for a new generation of Pepsi drinkers. Then in the 90’s Prime Time Deion Sanders ran like the roadrunner from Wylie coyote for a Pepsi Superbowl commercial. This year we’ve gone full circle with Pittsburg Steeler Troy Palamalu doing his imitation of the original coke commercial from Mean Joe Green, albeit with the new HFCS version of Coca Cornla. See the original below.
You have to wonder do these athletes and celebrities even know what they are promoting, or are they just blinded by the extra millions they are making? Some of these millions are probably coming from the money saved by Coke and Pepsi when they switched over to HFCS. It’s a vicious cycle. The bottom line is while the public that drinks this carbonated corn syrup gets fatter, the celebrities who promote this and the executives who push it are getting fatter with cash.
If you really want to know the difference between the coke that Mean Joe drank in the 70’s, and the Coca Cornla that Troy Palamalu drank in 2009 then try an imported Mexican coke made with real sugar, and then drink one with made with High Fructose Corn Syrup (found everywhere). You might notice the filmy bad breath taste left in your mouth by the new version, not that the old version full of sugar is much better. What would be better is to forget the soda and drink a good old fashioned glass of ice water. Its free, calorie free, and your body is already made up of about 70% water anyway. If I was going to make a commercial I’d say “Drink water for that great refreshing natural taste”!
