Mexican Tax on Soda

I had always suspected the War-On-Soda was a uniquely Americans thing.  Turns out this is not true.  I just learned that Mexico, our cheerful neighbor south of the border, has levied a 1 percent tax on soda drinks aimed at fighting obesity.

Mello-Yello 2013

The sad part is many Mexicans guzzle soda because they know it's germ-free.  Clean water is tough to come by in rural areas.  That Coca-Cola may have sugar, but its clean.  Meanwhile, the Mexican government gets a good chunk of change.  It's fairly clear there is an ulterior motive with the tax as many Mexicans have no choice but to buy soda. And fighting obesity is rather vague.  How about using the tax to fund clean water programs?  Ah, but the saddest part is the Mexican government would have never learned to market such a scam had it not been for America's own political elitists. Way to export, Bloomberg!

More Sugar for the Buds by Secret Chemicals

Soda is waging a difficult battle right now.  The rich disdain it, Michelle Obama wants to kick folks out of the country that drink it, and sales are down.  One solution has been to micro-machine size the cans.  But Pepsi is taking it one step further.

The Cans in the Basement, January 2014

Apparently Pepsi is going all sci-fi and experimenting with a chemical (craftily called S617) that tricks your brain into thinking you are tasting more sugar than you are.  It's not soccer-mom-diet-soda-sweetener, but it's an actual chemical that heightens the taste of real sugar, which means less is more.  Boo-ya!  It sounds like a good idea to me.  I don't like those tiny Polly Pocket cans anyway. I want the standard sizes to stick around.  They are the largest part of my collection.  This ongoing science project by Pepsi might help ensure that.

Dr. Pepper Debate

One of the most infamous anachronisms is Shakespeare having a clock tower chime in Julius Caesar, set in a time period where there of course were no gonging bell towers.  (Sorry, Marty McFly.)  Shakespeare's error was written in 1599.  A more minor one occurred in 2009 on an episode of Mad Men with Dr. Pepper.

Dr. Pepper Cherry 2012

The debate is whether a Dr. Pepper machine could really have been in a hospital waiting room in 1963.  Experts weighed in (because this is a massive question of high cultural importance) and the verdict was it could have been there, although highly unlikely.  The kicker is of course that it doesn't really matter anyway, since Canada Dry, made by Dr. Pepper, was sponsoring Mad Men that season.  They supplied the vintage Dr. Pepper props.  So I guess the unlikelihood was given a little leeway in the name of commercial sponsors.  Which means, of course, that perhaps Billy Shakes didn't make a mistake either; maybe the production of Julius Caesar was sponsored by an Elizabethan clock maker.

Petty Pepsi Revenge?

Soda, as much as Coca-Cola and Pepsi strive to teach us otherwise, is for the poor unwashed masses.  At least, that's what the rich and elite think anyway.  (Mayor Michael Bloomberg must protect us from it, after all!) Which is why it is interesting there was rumor about Pepsi being used as petty revenge by the wealthy.

2008 Diet Pepsi Vanilla

The River House co-op in Manhattan is for the finest upper crust of New York society.  Surely, nary a sugary soft drink in their exclusive enclave.  The rumor was Joan Crawford's application was rejected to live there.  As revenge, she supposedly orchestrated the placement of a large, neon Pepsi billboard to be placed across the river to spoil the view of the rich and famous.  The New York times corrected this as being untrue, but it still makes a great urban legend.

Summer Can Countdown 2

So here is our next summer Coca-Cola can for our countdown to summer. It's a surfer perched atop a wave ready to take the plunge into the deep, sugary, syrupy goodness of Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola Summer Can 2 of 6 2013

The surfer got me thinking.  I did some research and did you know that Coca-Cola sponsored a surfing competition in Australia from 1974 - 1991?  That's a pretty long run.  I mean Coca-Cola sponsors a little bit of everything theses days, so a surfing competition is really no surprise, but it's nice to just know a little history isn't it?