It’s Soda Bottle Complaint Week here at The Consumerist. Today’s complaint is against Pepsi two-liter bottles and Mott’s apple juice bottles, which Anthony thinks are far too difficult to open. He has to use pliers. Is he the only one?

I’m not monogamous when it comes to my soda drinking. If it has caffeine and is brown & bubbly, then I’m down. My preference is Cherry Coke, but if Cherry Pepsi goes on sale first, then I guess that is what I’ll stock up on. My gripe is that I need to keep a set of channel locks handy to open the damn bottle. I don’t know what it is about those, but I suspect it has something to do with a rounded cap that is shorter than the Coke caps. If I had a Pepsi bottle right now I’d show you, but I think it would be pretty easy to spot if you compared a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi to a 2 liter bottle of Coke. The Pepsi bottle are ridiculous!! Seriously… Since when did having a pair of pliers handy become a requirement to enjoy a drink? I much prefer the Coke bottles.

It doesn’t end there, though. Motts Apple Juice has also required the use of pliers to open lately. No amount of effort with my hands would even begin to loosen those lids. I use the pliers for Pepsi because I don’t like the pain of opening them by hand, but with the Mott’s juice it is mandatory. I’m not a weakling either. I have an above average level of strength in my right hand due to physical therapy requirements after a surgery in my teens. I could probably loosen lug nuts with my fingers, but not that stupid Mott’s bottle. Even with pliers it feels like I’ll rip the top of the bottle off before it comes loose. Why would they put the caps on that tight? Should it really be necessary to use 200 lbs of torque to get these things off?

As with most issues involving nutrition and upper body strength, my first instinct is to somehow blame Michelle Obama. Clearly, the White House’s “war on obesity” involves keeping everyone who doesn’t work out away from soda bottles. Have you heard how bad that stuff is for you?

In all seriousness, though, is Anthony the only one suffering from this problem, with any brand of bottle or jar? I happened to have a 2-liter of Pepsi a few weeks ago, and I noticed the same problem. Opening the bottle required a jar opener and quite a bit of effort on my part. I only buy a few bottles of soda every year, and I thought it was a fluke.

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