Soda Makers Begin Their Push Against New York Ban

The New York Times ^ | July 1, 2012 | Michael M. Grynbaum

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Lobbyists from Coca-Cola and other big soda companies have met with mayoral candidates and City Council members. Canvassers hired by the beverage industry are stopping New Yorkers on the street to solicit signatures on petitions. Facebook and Twitter pages tell readers to “say no to a #sodaban.”

Confronting a high-profile attack on its fizzy products, the American soft-drink industry is beginning an aggressive campaign to fight New York City’s proposed restrictions on large servings of sugary drinks.

Hoping for a debate about freedom, not fatness, the industry has created a coalition called New Yorkers for Beverage Choices to coordinate its public relations efforts in the city. On Thursday, the group introduced its first radio spot, a one-minute advertisement featuring “Noo Yawk”-accented actors proclaiming, “This is about protecting our freedom of choice.”

“This is New York City; no one tells us what neighborhood to live in or what team to root for,” says the narrator, as Yankees and Mets fans shout in the background. “So are we going to let our mayor tell us what size beverage to buy?” Adds one Brooklyn-tinged voice: “It’s unbelievable!”

The charge is being led by the industry’s leading trade group, the Washington-based American Beverage Association, which has retained several powerhouse political consultants for the cause, including the strategists responsible for the “Harry and Louise” television advertisements that helped defeat President Bill Clinton’s health care plan in the 1990s.

The beverage association would not disclose its budget for the New York campaign, but Eliot Hoff, a spokesman for the coalition, said it was “prepared to utilize whatever resources are necessary.”

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Nanny State PING!

[Dilbert San Diego]

To be a good liberal, you have to understand that nanny state government is what liberalism is all about. Mayor Bloomberg knows what’s best for you.............

The only exception to this liberal rule is when it comes to sexual matters. Liberals are pro-choice on abortion. They are also pro-choice on any sort of sex practices, as a matter of personal freedom.

You have the freedom to have sex with any number of partners, and any gender of partners, and any combination of partners. You have the freedom to abort, but not the freedom to decide if you want a big gulp. That’s how liberalism and nanny statism works.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Hey New Yawk! Shut up and eat your broccoli!

[USNBandit]

Legal in New York

Illegal in New York

[factoryrat]

Quit selling soda in NYC. Quit selling anything in california. Quit selling tobacco and booze where heavy restrictions apply. Let those places deal with the angry people as a result. They brought it upon themselves. If you don’t like it, throw out the politcians who come up with these crazy ideas.

[Jeff Chandler]

Bloomers is doing it all wrong. He should just enact a 90% tax on sodas over 8 ounces. New Yorkers love taxes.

[libertarian27]

I am watching the movie “Burp”, right now, documentary about Coke & Pepsi (1984)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4mEPOGIVoI

Coke apparently kicked off swiftly during prohibition - I guess now we should just drink Moonshine

[Varsity Flight]

Thunder Run

[BigEdLB]

[BigEdLB]

The phrase at the bottom - Anything Tasting good is banned (Latin)

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[thecodont]

They’ll just drive sugary sodas underground. People will start making their own soda again, as in days of old.

Sales of root beer extract will skyrocket.

[Flag_This]

"Soda Makers Begin Their Push Against New York Ban"

In NYC they should sell "Nanny Cola" in 15.99 oz. bottles with mayor Jackass' face on the label.

[CSM]

First they came for the tobacco companies, but we don’t mfg tobacco so we did nothing.

Then they came for the foodmakers that used transfats, but we do not use transfats so we did nothing.

Then they came after salt companies, but we aren’t a salt company so we did nothing.

Now they are coming after us and we hope there are still enough interested people to stand up for us....

Sadly, they probably still don’t realize that this is a battle for freedom.

[Lazamataz]

Look at the eyes of this man, "Mayor" Bloomberg.

Really look at them.

Now try to tell me he's not stark, staring insane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

......see? You couldn't do it.

[kearnyirish2]

I think the whole soda product line is in danger, and it has nothing to do with Bloomberg (though his ban is absurd & illegal). Supermarkets sell this stuff so cheap because many young people know better than to drink it; often a 2 litre bottle from the aisles sells for less that a 20 oz. bottle by the register.

Soda is going the way of the buggy whip; the health craze is killing it. You will always have some customers, but it will never be the staple it once was. I love it, but notice a large number of people drinking something else whether in a restaurant, at a party, at work, wherever.

[From The Deer Stand]

New York’s new motto: California here we come

[Vinnie]

Are diet soft drinks included in the volume ban?

Way around ban..
Sell the first 16 oz. in a 32 oz. cup.
Ask the customer if they would like their refill immediately. Add 16 oz. more.

[Dr. Sivana]

Soda is going the way of the buggy whip; the health craze is killing it.

Hardly. The new drinks that are taking soda's soft beverage marketshare are not particularly healthy, for the most part.

Gatorade and other "sport drinks" have somewhat less sugar,and no carbonation, but are basically relabeled Kool-Aid. The clear sports waters are little different from artificially sweetened non-carbonated soda that happens to be clear. Some throw a vitamin pill into the mix, which makes it healthy in the same way that King Vitamin cereal is a healthy part of a child's breakfast. (King Vitamin being rather similar to Cap'n Crunch)

The popular pre-sweetened iced teas sometimes have MORE sugar than sodas.

The partying-energy drinks (Red Bull) are certainly as bad as soda, and worse if taken in quantity. That's not counting the ones that are mixed with alcohol.

The Starbucks iced coffee are sweeter than the sodas, and should not be mistaken for a health drink.

The chocolate and strawberry milks that are sold use very low grade milk and the strawberry one has much more junk than soda.

The only truly healthy alternatives that come to mind are coconut water (probably a fad), Zevia (which actually is a soda, but is sweetened with Stevia, which is widely thought to be better than aspartame, sucralose or saccharin), and straight bottled water (which has been thriving for some time). Straight fruit juices have actually declined in sales just as soda has. Fruit and water based spritzers, which are also sodas, remain a small niche market.

Soda will lose market share, mainly because the cost of entry and distribution has declined, and people are always looking for a new taste; but mainly because of the sheer number of alternatives. It's sort of like network television in the era of cable and satellite. It really isn't about health, except to those people who a generation ago were drinking Clearly Canadian and Nantucket Nectars, telling themselves it was healthy.