Classic Rant #883 (January 13, 2013): Bubble Up

So I see that Coca-Cola is the first major soft drink brand to produce a TV ad laying out its plan to offer lower-calorie soft drinks.

The ad, which aired on various cable news outlets like CNN, puts forth the company's record to offering drinks with fewer calories. It also notes that weight gain and obesity are not just the result of drinking too much soda, but of intaking too many calories all around via what we consume.

I don't have a problem with the ads. Plenty of major corporations put out ads that don't necessarily urge you to buy their product, but bring up a certain issue or point that they want to get across.

But let's be honest about it. Coca-Cola is not going away. It has always linked its sodas and other drinks to happiness, good times, and fun. It has been doing that for more than a century, and it will continue to do that for the foreseeable future.

To put out an ad like that is almost like answering people who are saying that we are too fat, too large, and that we eat and drink too much, and trying to save face while doing it.

Coca-Cola is saying that weight gain can be linked to an overuse of its products, but it doesn't necessarily have to do with their company's products alone.

Yes, it is kind of like putting a Band-Aid on a bigger problem.

Look, if you want to lose weight, the onus is on you to lose that weight. You can't blame Coca-Cola or any other company for your weight problems.

We have been through that phase already. Remember all the lawsuits that were lodged against McDonald's and other fast food places by people who claimed that they ate their food and it made them fat? I think just about every one of those suits was thrown out of court, and for good reasons.

You want to lose weight, then lose weight. Don't blame Coca-Cola or any other company for offering products that won't help you to lose the pounds.

People like these products, and people will buy these products. You can't expect manufacturers to stop making sugary and full-of-fat items.

So, the onus is on you. If you want to lose weight, fine.

But personally, I am sick and tired of people blaming these companies for pushing their products, leading to weight gain.

Do it yourself, I say, and stop holding others to account for your own eating problems. There are plenty of products on the market to help you lose the weight you want to lose.

Not everybody wants to lose weight, and we, as a society, should stop forcing people to subscribe to this.

If you want to lose weight, fine, but stop putting it on everybody else's head.

That's a weight that everybody really shouldn't have to bear.