I like to drink soda--it is one of my few "vices"--and when I drink soda, it is usually Coca-Cola.
The real thing.
I don't like diet soda, never have, never will.
So when I choose to drink soda, 99 times out of 100, it will be Coke, Coke Classic, whatever you want to call it.
I believe that if you drink diet soda, that is your choice, of course, but do you really think that you are saving on the calories and physical "safety" when you drink diet soda?
I don't think so.
It is almost like smoking low-tar cigarettes. You are still smoking, you know, and when you drink diet soda, you are still drinking the bubbly stuff.
Now, Coca-Cola has decided that its sort of diet cola, Coke Zero, is not reaching enough people for what they intend it to be, a "diet," no sugar alternative to the real thing.
They have decided to change the name of the beverage to Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, to make it stand out a little bit more on the shelf as a no-sugar beverage.
Coke Zero Sugar, as it will also be known as, will also go under a formulation change, to make it taste more like real Coca-Cola than ever before.
Evidently, Coke tried the new formulation in Europe, it clicked with diet beverage drinkers, and they are confident that it will do the same thing over here.
Rather than sugar as a sweetening agent, the drink uses various artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, to get its taste.
Yuck!
I know that real Coke doesn't generally use real sugar in its formulation anymore--except in special editions and in Passover editions--but I am telling you, those artificial sweeteners are the devil's brew themselves, as far as I am concerned.
Remember cyclamates?
Yuck!
Look, I applaud people for trying to lose weight, and including a diet soda in their regimens, but the only way to really lose weight, and cut down on soda use, is to not drink soda at all.
After my gall bladder operation, I found that I could not drink any soda, because it upset my stomach. So for about four years, I did not drink any soda, and I do mean ANY soda.
I substituted the soda with something just as "deadly," which was fruit drinks like lemonade, but after those four years, I decided to try soda again, and lo and behold, I found that I could handle it, and I have not looked back since.
Like my father has always said, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink, he doesn't chase after women, so this is his main vice.
Like father, like son.
So the introduction of Coke Zero Sugar will rattle some apple carts, but not mine.
I will not even look twice at this beverage.
For me, it's the real thing or nothing.
And that is not going to change any time soon.
If you don't drink diet soda, and will never drink diet soda, why are you even commenting on this?
ReplyDeleteDiet Coke/Coke Zero is a different vice than regular Coke. You have a can of Coke, you consume 150 empty calories. You drink a diet soda, it's zero calories but a lot of chemicals. In either event, we're all better off drinking plain water. But we love our little vices, don't we?
I am commenting on this because I found it to be an interesting story. Get out of the court room and into the real world. We all often talk about things that simply interest us. I don't play baseball, but I comment on the game. What is the big deal? And yes, it is one of life's little pleasures.
ReplyDeletebut isn't the first rule of creative writing to write what you know about? ;-)
ReplyDeletethe Coke I had in Mexico -- regular, not diet -- was amazing. Well worth the 150 calorie splurge.
I know about soda. I know about Coke. I know about diet soda. Case close, counselor. The reason you enjoyed your Coke so much is that it had real sugar in it, like Passover Coke has here. It just has a truer taste than Coke that uses high fructose corn syrup. Now let's move on from this. I am sure you have better things to do, as I do.
ReplyDelete