If You Can't Beat them, just Market the product Differently

I was over at Marion Nestle's great blog on food politics, and found this discussion of a new full-page Coca-Cola ad fascinating. 

I'm guessing that the message about drinking high-sugar beverages must be seeking into the general populace because Coke is now essentially telling people that it's OK to drink a nutritionally devoid, sugar laden, chemical-filled beverage so long as you do it in moderation, and, oh yeah, exercise. 

I tried to find the actual full-page Coke ad somewhere on line and couldn't but, according to Nestle, this is what it says:

Our nation is facing an obesity problem and we plan on being part of the solution. By promoting balanced diets and active lifestyles, we can make a positive difference.

For some people, a 12-fl.-oz. beverage may be too much. Everyone’s needs are different. So we’ve created a variety of package sizes….

While keeping track of calories is important, so is burning them off. In our partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, we’ve helped more than one million kids learn the importance of physical activity and proper nutrition….

Hm-m-m-m. Methinks the corporation protests too much.   I love that they are using marketing to reposition themselves as being--well--not as crappy as they really are, and, by the way, you could just exercise to work off those extra nutritionally-useless calories you just consumed.

OK, there are 155 calories in a can of Coke classic. That means that if you are a 135 pound, 5'5", 50 year old woman you would have to either walk for more than an hour, jog for approximately 1/2 an hour, or work out at the gym for about 45 minutes.


I don't know what your day is like, but for me, trying to find an the extra exercise time to work off that Coke just isn't there.


As a former diet soda addict (clean over 20 years now), I can attest that there is absolutely no reason to drink any kind of soda at any time.   I not only don't ever drink soda ever, I never have it in my house anymore, even for guests, and have never provided soda to my children.   Both my son and daughter have tried soda (offered to them by others when I wasn't around), and both will now turn it down when offered to them.

Getting off of soda helped get rid of a lot of the "bloat" (water retention) that I used to have, and I found I wasn't as fatigued as before.  Furthermore, I stopped being plagued by constant head-aches. 

By not serving (or offering) my children soda, they actually PREFER drinking water.   I kid you not.  Offer my kids a soda, and they'll ask for a bottle of water.   Both also love real fruit juices (100% juice or nothing).  

I wish my parents had been as strict with me.