Soda Sugar Fighting Dream Team

So we've all heard of team work, and soda companies aren't above the old fashioned mantra of working together. Sure, these guys are competitors, but they also know they need to preserve the market they all compete in. They also need to preserve the country's goodwill.

To appease the strident calls of an annoyingly vocal few that soda is THE moral epidemic of our times, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, and Pepsi have pledged to reduce the number of sugary calories consumed Americans by 1/5 by 2015.

Wowsers.

I mean, I've heard of pledges to increase gas mileage in cars, but this is a completely different beverage-of-change. Interestingly, former President Bill Clinton announced the initiative, which I think is kinda cool. I always remember him as the man who took a swig of Diet Coke during his video taped testimony for all of that icky Monica Lewinsky stuff.

"Bill"

I'm not quite sure what this means. Note that it is a reduction of the total number of sugary calories. It doesn't mean a can of Coke is gonna reduce its calories by 20 percent, although I suppose the companies could just downsize the product, charge the same amount, and end up making more money while keeping the pledge.

Actually, I suspect it is simply going to be the way the beverage market is moving. People want more diet, more energy drinks, more juices, so that is what these companies will sell. Tally up all the sugary calories sold in 2025, and I suspect with little intervention it will already be lower.

Still, I think its cool and I think it good marketing and that's why soda is so darn dope. It's a product that can packaged, sold, and defined as anything. Christmas, summer barbecues, and even weight loss initiatives.

Will anyone bother to follow up on this in 10 years? Probably not. And there is no penalty if it doesn't happen. Hopefully your little can collecting blog will still be around in 2025, and I will post a follow up.