Can't remember the last Coca-Cola ad targeted at children? There's a reason...Parents tell us they prefer to be the ones teaching their children about beverage choices. That's why for over 50 years we've adhered to a company policy that prohibits advertising soft drinks to children.

When he sent a letter to the editor of the medical journal, it got published, along with a response from Coke. Now the CanWest newswire service has picked up the story and Coke remains steadfast, calling their drinks "wholesome.":

But Coca-Cola Canada stands by the position that it does not advertise soft drinks to children. "Absolutely, because it is true," spokeswoman Amy Laski said in a statement.

Coke is "wholesome and suitable" for kids, but "we understand that children are impressionable, and we respect the role of parents and caregivers in making food and beverage choices with their children. Therefore, we are committed not to directly market messages for any of our beverages to children under 12."

Oh, how soon we forget those New Kids On The Block branding partnerships of yesteryear!

Coca-Cola Lies to Doctors? [Weighty Matters]
Vetting journal advertisements [CMAJ]
Coca-Cola Canada responds [CMAJ]
Santa, animated animal ads not aimed at kids, Coke says [CanWest]

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Oddly enough, one of the other teams that posed for a picture while making the "slanty-eyed" face did so for an actual ad for a Spanish courier company. This time, it's not an ad, and Coca-Cola's probably not going to be happy with this association. The photo was published August 5th, but so far, we haven't heard anything from Coke.

Click on the pictures to start an awesome gallery

Ed writes, "I shopped at the Walmart I regularly go to for, among other things, Gillette Mach 3 replacement blades. They have been available in 4, 8, and 12 packs for seemingly ever. The unit pricing for each was typically very close. 4 packs were about $8.25, 8 packs were $16.45, give or take.

Today, I discovered that the 4 pack is now a 5 pack. The insidious part is that the unit price per blade in the 4 pack went from about $2.06 in the 4 pack to $2.25 in the 5 pack, while the 8 pack unit price did not go up as much - $2.10 from $2.06. While I get that it is very common for bigger volume packs to have a lower unit price, this was not the case for this product. This had held true for at least 5 years.

The other interesting aspect of this is that P&G did the opposite of the "shrink ray." They grew/expanded the content and they sharply increased the price for that package. "

Brian writes,"I've been making my world (read: within my household) famous nachos for years now, and always with the same ingredients. The final part of cooking up the topping is a 15 oz. can of Hunts Tomato Sauce, a 4 oz. can of diced jalapenos (either Ortega or La Victoria), and an 8ish oz. can of diced ortega chiles. All of the items came in their normal sizes at their normal prices, but they are all far more watery than they have been in the past. I noticed it as I poured them into the pan, and now that they've been simmering for a good 20 minutes, it's far, far thinner than usual. I think there may be some companies watering down their ingredients rather than making the serving size smaller. Is this the grocery version of water-diluted gas?"

Got a hot grocery-shrink-ray tip? Send your pictures and stories to tips@consumerist.com.

Coca-Cola Enterprises, which has about 80 percent of the United States market for Coke, said it would raise prices after Labor Day because of higher commodity costs and declining American soda sales. It said prices would go up by a percentage in the mid-single digit to high-single digit range. Bottlers set prices for retailers like grocery stores.

Hey, at least they didn't change the bottle size, right?

Biggest Bottler of Coke Plans to Increase Prices [NYT]
(Photo: balmes. )

The Top 10 Reputations

1) Google

2) Johnson & Johnson

3) Intel

4) General Mills

5) Kraft

6) Berkshire Hathaway

7) 3M

8) Coca-Cola

9) Honda

10) Microsoft

The 10 Worst Reputations

10) DaimlerChrysler

9) General Motors Corporation

8) ChevronTexaco Corporation

7) Ford

6) Sprint

5) Comcast

4) Exxon

3) Northwest Airlines

2) Citgo

1) Halliburton

Does this survey ring true to you? Do these companies deserve the reputation they have?

Another interesting bit of data from the survey:

The Top 5 Biggest Decreases In Reputation

1) Bank of America

2) Halliburton

3) Wal-Mart

4) Sears

5) Nike

Seventy-One Percent of Consumers Say the Reputation Of Corporate America Is "Poor" [Harris]

From the WSJ:

Sold in corner groceries, vending machines and other outlets since the early 1990s, soft drinks in 20-ounce plastic bottles revitalized U.S. sales for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Inc. by getting Americans to drink larger servings. Because they are often sold at prices similar to a two-liter bottle, they have also been highly profitable for the companies' bottlers.

Now, health concerns, aging baby boomers' waning thirst for giant-size sodas and the softening economy are taking the fizz out of the 20-ounce bottle. While U.S. soda sales in major retail channels overall declined 3.5% in the first quarter, convenience-store sales dropped 4.2%, according to Beverage Digest, an industry publication. The 20-ounce bottle accounts for most convenience-store soda sales.

To win back sales, several Coca-Cola and Pepsi bottlers are conducting pilot tests on a variety of bottle sizes they hope will appeal to consumers put off by the 20-ounce bottle or looking for a cheaper option to cushion the blow of high food and energy prices.

Why have you stopped buying 20 oz Cokes? The WSJ says that Pepsi is testing a 16 oz model. Will you buy that?

20-oz Sales Lose Fizz [WSJ]
(Photo: Ben Popken )

Rachael writes:

Long story short, McDonalds is the only place near to my home or office that's convenient to grab a quick bite or drink. Not good... but convenient.

I tend to pop in in the mornings for a small breakfast and always order a large coke since it's really the only time during the day that I will be out... and it will last until it's time for me to go home so again, convenient...

Anyway, I always order a large coke... Always get a large coke.

Today, I order a breakfast meal with a large coke. They give me a medium cup. I look at my receipt. It clearly says "large coke 1.59", which is the price of the large. I think the medium is $1.35.

I tell her I ordered a large and she says no, that's the "breakfast large - at breakfast, a large is a medium, a medium is a small and a small is a child's cup"

Now, I used to work at McDonalds in the not so recent past... But recent enough to know how this works. When you order orange juice, that applies. A large orange juice is served in a medium cup. It's the way they have always (at least around here) sized their orange juice. If you order a large soda, you get an actual large. I think the thinking is that orange juice is more expensive so they're basically charging more for it.

But now, all of a sudden, if I order a large soda and pay at the large soda price, I get a medium - simply because of the time of day??? I'm in a really shitty mood anyway this morning and the manager wasn't available and I really didn't feel like arguing with her and being in an even worse mood for a stupid soda... But dammit - everybody's feeling the credit crunch and there they all go basically reaching into my pockets to pad their profits...

ARGH. Could the extra $0.24 mean so much to them? The kicker is.... you know how the movie "supersize Me" made McDonalds discontinue the supersize line? Well.... wanting a large soda (and I mean a real large, not medium - breakfast large), I asked for a supersize soda. Thinking they would downsize it to the real large that I wanted. Nope. I was told they no longer offer supersize. No shit, I just wanted a large soda.

It shouldn't be so hard to get a large soda at breakfast time....

Is McDonald's pinching pennies or was the the work of one rogue agent?

We appreciated two spots for Doritos and Fed Ex that featured oversized animals overcoming expectations. Doritos' slapstick ad played off the old truth that mice love cheese with a scene that we would love to see played out at Disney.
Fed Ex did a commendable job using pigeons, but even though it was clever, it only reminded us of their own bird brained failures.
Coke's spot with former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and James Carville was the most honest ad of the night thanks to its crisp, refreshing message: members of the government are shameless whores who gladly sell out to the highest bidder. It's true. Everyone likes to rail against the incestuous ethics-free cesspool that is Washington politics, and here it is, proudly on display for the Super Bowl. This is the saddest political ad since Bob Dole endorsed Viagra.
Most disappointing spot of the night goes to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. These are the people who gave us our brain on drugs. Our tax dollars should churn out high-powered visuals, not low-budget documentary-knock-offs. We could barely hear the skeezy drug dealer mutter the key line: kids steal drugs from their parents.Do people ever get ideas from ONDCP commercials? We didn't realize kids could get high and save money just by raiding their parents' medicine cabinet. Thanks for the tip, federal government!

What did you think of the ads? Tell us in the comments.

Watch All the Super Bowl Spots [Ad Age]

This is not funny. This is sad. Very, very sad. They should at least offer Coke.

Two men have been stealing money from 27 Coke and other vending machines throughout the Lehigh Valley, says WFMZ. The locks on the machines are not broken or picked, so the men must have a key. If you know who they are, tell the Bethlehem Township Police Department.

As an added incentive.. Coca-Cola is offering a year supply of Coke products to anyone with info leading to an arrest.

Coca-Cola Offering Reward for Capture of Vending Machine Vandals [WFMZ]

Concerned that developing countries will start drinking as much soda as we fatties here in the States (a legitimate worry, we must admit,) they're asking governments around the world to require soda companies to change the way they do business. They want more low-sugar alternatives to soda, smaller portion sizes of existing high-sugar sodas, prominent display of calorie information, and warning labels that warn consumers to drink water to quench thirst.

In addition, they're asking that soda companies "stop promoting and selling sweetened beverages, including sports drinks and fruit flavored beverages and teas, in all public and private elementary, middle, and high schools" and to instead sell fruit juice (in container sizes of 250 ml or less.)

These sorts of campaigns always remind us of something we noticed way back when we were in school. When kids were asked how to stop other kids from smoking, the first thing our classmates always said was, "Advertise against it," but when the instructor asked the class if they were influenced by advertising they always said no. Either the kids were lying or they knew that cheesy "don't smoke" ads and warning labels didn't work and wouldn't keep them away from the forbidden pleasure of smoking themselves to death. Probably both.

Personally, we drank too much Coke in high school because they hid the coffee machine in the teacher's lounge. Damning teenagers to high school without caffeine is cruel and unusual punishment, even if the alternative is to be fat with rotten teeth.

In our elementary school, however, soft drinks were not allowed and we didn't consider it much of a hardship at the time. On the other hand, death would surely have come to anyone attempting to pry the "Ecto Cooler" juice box from our tiny fingers.

Do you think soft drinks should be banned from schools?

The Global Dump Soda Campaign
(Photo:chickee510)

Some examples, emphasis ours:

Labels for Fuze Vitalize blackberry grape claim that its Vitamin A "helps reinforce resistance to colds, influenza & infections of the kidneys, bladder and lungs."

Fuze Oolong Tea claims that "regular consumption of Polyphenols are associated with reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease and certain cancers."

The vitamin B3 in the four flavors of Fuze Refresh is "known to improve circulation and reduce the cholesterol level in the blood," according to the Fuze web site. None of those claims have been approved by the FDA.

"Fuze drinks won't do anything for your kidneys, your lungs, or your heart; nor will they lower your cholesterol or prevent you from catching a cold," says CSPI senior nutritionist David Schardt.

It must prevent cancer if Jessica Simpson thinks it does. Ahem.

In addition to urging the FDA to crack down on Fuze, CSPI is also suing Coca-cola over another product— the truly bogus "Enviga" calorie burning drink.

Coca-Cola's Fuze Beverage Makes False Claims of Reducing Risk of Cancer, Heart Disease, Flu, Kidney Infection, More [CSPI]
(Photo:DrinkFuze)

Researchers gave 150 three-year-olds and about 150 eight and nine-year-olds drinks that contained "either a mixture with sodium benzoate, a preservative, and several food colorings, or drinks that looked and tasted the same but contained none of the additives," according to the WSJ Health Blog.

The results of the study showed that the children who ingested the sodium benzoate and food coloring were more likely to suffer from hyperactivity and attention deficit problems.

Britian's Food Standards Agency funded the study and is now suggesting parents try eliminating food coloring and sodium benzoate from the diets of hyperactive children to see if that improves their condition.

Do people usually let three-year-olds drink Coke? We're so out of touch.

Food Additives May Make Kids More Hyper [WSJ Health Blog]
(Photo:NYCviaRachel)

Only 4 brands have lasted 10 years on the poll: Ford (which was No. 1 in 1997), Sony (which was No. 3), Coca-Cola (which was No. 7) and Pepsi Cola (which was No. 10).

How Does It Work?

Poll takers give "spontaneous answers" when asked the following question:

"We would like you to think about brands or names of products and services you know. Considering everything, which three brands do you consider the best?"

The Results:

Microsoft jumped into the top 10 this year at #8, beating Apple at #9. Apple was #10 last year, Microsoft wasn't on the list. Dell slipped a few spots from #2 to land at #4.

Ford was the only American car manufacturer on the list, behind Toyota, but beating Honda. Honda slipped from #6 to #10. Toyota jumped up to grab the #3 spot from last year's #4.

The top 10 brands for 2007 are:

1) Coca-Cola

2) Sony

3) Toyota

4) Dell

5) Ford

6) Kraft Foods

7) Pepsi

8) Microsoft

9) Apple

10) Honda

Coca Cola On Top For First Time In Annual 'Best Brands' Harris Poll (Press Release) [Business Wire]
(Photo:Maulleigh)

And, of course, here's a link to coke cans throughout history. The mid-90's was a low point in Coke can design. Don't you think?

The Real Thing. Really. [Brand New via BuzzFeed]

We thought Coca-Cola glazed chicken wings sounded pretty good... The article has a few more recipes reprinted from the book, "Classic Cooking With Coca-Cola," although to be truly classic we suppose you'll have to wait for Passover Coke. (Hint: It's made with real sugar.) —MEGHANN MARCO

Coca-Cola in the mix [The State]
(Photo:Lisa Pisa)

"The United States is the only country saying that what is happening in Darfur is a genocide," Ukec shouted, gesticulating wildly and perspiring from his bald crown. "I think this is a pretext."
...
"I want you to know that the gum arabic which runs all the soft drinks all over the world, including the United States, mainly 80 percent is imported from my country," the ambassador said after raising a bottle of Coca-Cola.

A reporter asked if Sudan was threatening to "stop the export of gum arabic and bring down the Western world."

"I can stop that gum arabic and all of us will have lost this," [Ukec] warned anew, beckoning to the Coke bottle. "But I don't want to go that way."

Denying Genocide in Darfur — and Americans Their Coca-Cola [Washington Post]

[An] expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.

Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health [Independent] (Thanks, Tom!)
(Photo: decaf)

RELATED: Coca-Cola Settles Benzene Lawsuit

Currently called Luma , the nutraceutical drink was trademarked as a tea-based ready-to-drink beverage by Coca-Cola's Beverage Partners Worldwide division. The drink, which is still in the early stages of development, is expected to contain ingredients that will help women care for their skin, per a source.
...
Luma is expected to target active, influential, image-conscious women over the age of 25 who embrace health and wellness. Coke is interested in marketing and distributing Luma like a beauty brand instead of a soft drink. Early plans call for distribution in Saks Fifth Avenue (instead of Coke's usual venues, like 7-Eleven).

Coke And L'Oreal Partner On New Health Beverage [BrandWeek]
(Photo: Welvis Tarn)

Linda Wertheimer (NPR):"First corn syrup is out for Passover because...?

Ralph Roberts, co-author of Classic Cooking with Coca-Cola: "Because corn, and by extension corn syrup, is not acceptable during Passover. During the rest of the year regular Coca-Cola is kosher."

Linda: "So, can you really taste the difference between the two Cokes?"

Ralph: "Yes, I can. I have great memories from when I was a kid growing up in the 1950's of drinking ice cold Coca-Cola on a hot summer's day and and I remember that taste and the new Coca-Cola, the "Classic" Coca-Cola does taste different since they changed the formula."

Passover Produces a Real Coke Classic [NPR via Buzzfeed]

While the soda business remains a $68 billion industry in the United States, consumers are increasingly reaching for bottled water, sparkling juices and green tea drinks. In 2005, the amount of soda sold in this country dropped for the first time in recent history. Even the diet soda business has slowed.

Soon Coke will be debuting Diet Coke Plus, and Pepsi will release a disgusting-sounding substance called "Tava". Both will contain artificial sweeteners and will be fortified with vitamins. Too bad everyone knows Diet Coke isn't "healthy." Will adding vitamins convince you otherwise? —MEGHANN MARCO

Makers of Sodas Try a New Pitch: They're Healthy [NYT]

The Coca-Cola Company plans to list the caffeine content labels of all products sold in the U-S. It'll start in May with cans of its flagship Coke Classic, then expand to its other brands during the rest of the year.

Coke to Show Caffeine Content on Labels [Fox 28]
(Photo: imasuperhero)

Let's see, "someone" paid for the study, funded by Nestle, to appear in Obesity (undoubtedly to legitimize their claims by having publication in a scientific journal). Awesome.

Looks like we have no clue what we're talking about. Readers are chiming in to say paying for pages is pretty standard practice.

Castlecraver says:

Page charges are more the rule than the exception nowadays. You'll find the same disclaimer under articles in most renowned medical and research journals. Although I disagree with the claims in the article, the disclaimer in no way indicates someone paid for it to be published in the way you're implying....By submitting an article to a journal, you often have to agree to the charges pending acceptance of your manuscript.

Back a truckload of that into our mouth. If drinking a can of it as good as walking up a flight of stairs, as Coke's director of nutrition and health policy contended, 18-wheels of it should be as good as running the Boston Marathon.

Snapple, owned by Nestle Cadbury Schweppes, is also rolling out a new green tea line touting their EGCG benefits. Interesting how this ad for it also focuses climbing up a flight of stairs. These guys are really hooked on the climbing stairs equals calories burning connection. — BEN POPKEN

Related: 18 USC Section 1734
Previously: Enviga posts.

...provides evidence that consumption of a beverage containing green tea catechins, caffeine, and calcium increases 24-hour EE by 4.6%, but the contribution of the individual ingredients cannot be distinguished. Although this increase is modest, the results are discussed in relation to proposed public health goals, indicating that such modifications are sufficient to prevent weight gain. When consumed regularly as part of a healthy diet and exercise regime, such a beverage may provide benefits for weight control.

We're no scientists but this sounds like the same marketing speak that makes eating only Special K an effective diet strategy.

The best way to lose weight is to eat less, and exercise more, but that philosophy is much harder to package and sell than a consumable substance.

Full scans inside...

— BEN POPKEN

Download the study. [PDF]

Previously:
Enviga's Own Study Undermines Calorie Burning Claims
Coke & Nestle Sued Over Enviga's Bogus Calorie Burning Claims
Shocker: Enviga Doesn't Actually Burn Calories

"Increasing metabolism is not the same as causing weight loss or prevention of weight gain," said Eric Ravussin, professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and president of the Obesity Society. "Increases in metabolic rate may be easily offset by increased energy consumption or decreases in energy expenditure. Far more extensive studies are needed before any claim for efficacy in human weight management can or should be made on the basis of this study."

"I can choose to walk up the stairs or I can choose to have a can of Enviga," Helen Falco, Coke's director of nutrition and health policy, told USA Today. — BEN POPKEN

Enviga Study Casts Doubt on Calorie Burning & Weight-Loss Claims [CSPI]

Previously:
Coke & Nestle Sued Over Enviga's Bogus Calorie Burning Claims
Shocker: Enviga Doesn't Actually Burn Calories

187168 - Drink of robot kings.

Bimbo - Brings out your natural blond streaks.

Bimbo Break - Brunettes aren't bad either.

Pocket Dr - Dr. Pepper in a flat can.

Qoo - Everything goes better with Qoo.

We looked and the more recent annual reports don't list the brands, which is okay because we don't consumers to panic after realizing they're missing out after the failed launch of Lindsey Lohan juice. — BEN POPKEN

Coca-Cola 2003 Summary Annual Report [Official Site] (Thanks to Brian!)

In labeling and marketing, Enviga claims its consumption leads to weight loss and calorie burning, but the CPSI suit contends this is based on bald manipulation of data in Nestle-run studies

When the study was presented at a conference of the Obesity Society (publishers of the journal Obesity and also known as NAASO), the society disputed the study's conclusions, insisting it is improper to state or imply that the results of this study supports any weight loss claim...

One longer-term Japanese study did show that a tea fortified with EGCG and caffeine helped people lose more weight than a control tea, but then again, the study was conducted by a tea company and the subjects of the study were 38 of that company's male employees.

The can's slogan is "Be positive. Drink negative." How about, "Be Positive. Drink Water." — BEN POPKEN

Watchdog Group Sues Coke, Nestle For Bogus "Enviga Claims" [CSPI] (Thanks to Mitchell!)

A November e-mail signed by a Hong Kong-based Coca-Cola sales and marketing manager promised a Mercedes-Benz ML Jeep convertible and a chance at $800,000 cash for entries submitted to a link in the e-mail.Another one in March from McDonald's Corp. and JPMorgan Chase offered a 50% discount at McDonald's over 10 days, followed by a 30% discount thereafter if recipients signed up at a JPMorgan Chase-branded promotional site.

Phishers Switch Brand Bait to Coke and McDonald's [Ad Age]

• 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don't immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There's plenty of that at this particular moment)
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

Everything in moderation, otherwise diabetes goes better with coke! — BEN POPKEN

What Happens To Your Body If You Drink A Coke Right Now? [Healthbolt]

The details of the plot: a mysterious informant writing from the Bronx and identifying himself only by the name 'Dirk' wrote PepsiCo, claiming to be a high-level employee with Coca-Cola. He asked for $10,000 for the trade secrets and $75,000 for the recipe. PepsiCo called the fuzz, an undercover agent offered Dirk 1.5m for other trade secrets, Dirk fell for it, and now he's in jail. All is right with the world; the secret Coke formula, like the recipe for McDonald's Big Mac sauce, remains sacrosanct.

The leak apparently all came from an executive assistant for a high-level Coke executive, who supplied 'Dirk' with his documents and information after he seduced her. No word on whether she's been fired yet, but all signs point to 'Canned.'

3 charged with stealing Coca-Cola info [Yahoo News]

"According to the suit, the labels on glass bottles of Mexican-made Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light (Diet Coke), Fanta and Sprite are contaminated with high levels of lead and cadmium that can rub off on hands and possibly be ingested. "Lead is so toxic that even minuscule amounts can be hazardous to human health," the suit says.

A joint investigation by Lockyer's and Delgadillo's offices found that painted labels on Mexican soft drinks, which are popular particularly with Southern California Latinos, contained as much as 45% lead."

On April 21st, California similarly sued Pepsi who ended up agreeing to not use lead-based paint on new bottles and to remove all leaded bottles within the generous time-frame of 10 years.

Mmm, now you know why kids love soda pop like dogs love antifreeze.

"CA Cokes Over Lead in Labels" [LAT] [photo]

"Coke Brands Nutritional Information" (Thanks to Ellen!)

The caption for this photo reads: "DDT sprayed... around model Kay Heffernon to supposedly demonstrate it won't contaminate her food."

Squishy eagle eggs go better with Coke!

From shots.net:

"The shoot, which took place in February last year, took five days and was... one of the largest undertaken in South Africa, with over 250 extras roped in to play the various multiplied versions of each character...The spot broke on MTV in Australia this week, and is set to be the centrepiece of Coca-Cola's global campaign for this summer.

Second spot found on Screenhead.

Previously: Jack White's Coke Ad

Cricket Cola's tagline is "happiness in a bottle" and has been using the phrase for the past 22 months.

In unveiling its latest campaign, "The Coke Side of Life," the marketer described its concept as aiming to demonstrate how Coke is akin to "happiness in a bottle." From what we can tell, this took place in a press release. Coke claims to not have used the phrase in any advertising.

A statement in a press release isn't trademark infringement and Cricket Cola, is, as Coke said in a statement, using this as an, "opportunity to gain publicity and to create negative press around our campaign and brand."

Cricket Cola is a gourmet soda made with green tea, kola nut and cane suga brewed by a bunch of whiney pants who should spend less time threatening to file frivolous lawsuits and more time coming up with creative ideas to actually market their product and not just their attitude.

"Tiny Cricket Cola Aims Legal Slingshot at Coke" [AdAge via AdRag]