RE-RELEASE: The Coca Cola Conspiracies

**Discussion begins at 6:10**

Coca-cola, established in 1886, has evolved into one of the world’s most recognized beverage brands.  Over its extensive history, the company has been at the center of various controversies and conspiracy theories.  Today, we’re going to delve into some of them.

Transcript

Is this thing on? Hey, 3SchemeQueens. This is your favorite queen.
Of course, Colleen. I just realized that I'm the only one who actually rhymes. Colleen, 3SchemeQueen, so it's fitting.
This is my favorite episode that we did this year that we're re-releasing this week, the Coca Cola episode. I like this episode for lots of reasons. One, it was just really funny to record.
You can tell my, Kait, and not Megan, but me and Kait's attention is really, attention deficit is just really thriving in this episode, which those kind of episodes always make me laugh really hard.
I think I had some really good one-liners in this episode that made me chuckle, and I hope it makes you chuckle when you re-listen to it again. And also, just Diet Coke is my drink of choice, always and forever.
So, gotta give it some love when we can. Thank you, hope you like it. Let us know what you think.
As always, interact with the pod, leave some commentary, give us a like, give us a follow, share with a friend. Thank you.
Hey guys.
Hi.
Today we're doing Coke, guys.
Well, yes, but also, we just had some really good BLTs.
Oh my God.
It was a team effort.
Megan is wifey.
Yeah, she made bread out there.
Kate's already wifey, but she made bacon.
I do love bacon.
I cut a tomato, bacon and peeled some lettuce and peeled some lettuce and sliced that matters. That matters. Yeah, I touched something green today.
Yeah, not the raw meat.
And then she told us that if you boil avocado peels, it turns pink. It turns pink, which is interesting. I would like to try that experiment.
Yeah, look it up.
Yeah, I believe you.
Yeah.
Should we tell everyone about her?
Drink check.
Drink check.
Today, we did like multiple drink checks.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was really funny.
Today, we tested all different Coke and Pepsi products.
We took the Pepsi challenge. Kait, do you remember the Pepsi challenge from back in the day?
The blind.
They used to say on the commercials, like, you know, have you taken the Pepsi challenge?
Oh, that's why they say that?
Yeah.
And it was all because they were, we're going to talk a whole bunch about it today. But interestingly, as a bunch of Diet Coke connoisseurs, none of us got Diet Coke correct. We bombed.
Kait did pretty good. But she had not get them all right.
I flipped the diets.
Megan got every single one wrong.
But you know what I'm going to say?
What's that?
Is that I was trying to figure out how, I really wanted a can of each, but I was like, how can you get an individual can? So we got a bottle. I never drink out of a plastic bottle.
And I feel like we all agree that that's the worst.
Bubbles were off too.
It's the worst way to drink it.
The sodas is out of a bottle.
It's gotta be glass or can.
Or fountain.
Fountain is the best.
Number one is fountain. So I'm gonna blame the plastic bottles. So we'll have to do it again.
We'll have to do the one that people did like a year ago that was like, where's the Diet Coke from? Because I really feel like I could nail that. Sonic, Chick-fil-A, McDonald's.
What's the other one that they usually do?
I don't know, like Wendy's or something?
I don't know.
Well, Wendy's uses those like robot soda machines. I can taste that from a mile away. The one we have at work.
Oh, yeah.
Well, I never think they taste as good.
I hate those ones.
Yeah. To me, the Coke always tastes like everything. Oh, no.
The Diet Coke tastes like there's not enough Diet Coke syrup in it.
That's why it's so good at McDonald's because they have a contract. It's like written legally how much like the syrup to carbonated water ratio and it's transported in the frozen coils, right?
I'm like, oh, I didn't know that.
Yeah. McDonald's has a lot behind their soda. And the diameter or the circumference of their straw is very, it's patent.
Yeah.
Except I remember one time I went through the drive-through for Diet Coke at McDonald's and they gave me a paper straw. And that, it only happened one time, which is good because I'm like, if a paper straw, again, worse than plastic straw.
And we go to Diet Coke, we go to McDonald's for the Diet Coke. If a paper straw is fun to part my mouth, what's the point?
Right.
Thank you. Also.
Also, it's got to be a Styrofoam cup.
Yeah. Not only were we unable to identify which was which drink, when asked what everyone's favorite was, not one of us picked Diet Coke.
No. I'm Diet Pepsi.
I've been in my Coke era again lately. I've been liking regular Coke. Yeah.
I've seen you've been drinking such regular Coke.
I like regular Coke every once in a while.
I usually think regular Coke is too sweet, but it all tasted so sweet to me today.
I just really honestly don't like the taste of regular Coke.
I like the taste of Diet Coke.
You know what my favorite is? All time Mexican Coke in a glass bottle. Yeah.
It's got the cane syrup.
So good.
Well, let's talk about Coke, okay?
Okay.
Coca-Cola.
Put the lime in the coconut and shake it all up. That's not a Coca-Cola ad. Yeah, but it was on a Coca-Cola ad.
But it was not written by Coca-Cola.
It's a song.
I swear to God.
It's like Coca-Cola always. They like vibe polar bears.
We're going to talk about the polar bears. We're going to talk about all these things. So let me get into it, okay?
Okay.
Not British beers.
Right. No, that's Pepsi.
I know.
So Coca-Cola, established in 1886, has evolved into one of the world's most recognized beverage brands. Over its extensive history, the company has been at the center of various controversies and conspiracy theories.
Today, we're going to talk about some of those.
Okay.
Like that they put Coke in it?
Well, that's a real thing.
That's real?
Yes. And so let's start there. Let me start with the history.
Let's go back to the interesting story of how Coca-Cola came to be. And I was going to ask you all what you had heard.
Coke.
The powder.
Yeah. I knew I had Coke in it, but you told me what.
But is that why they call it Coke?
Cocaine is from a plant, right? Hold on, but the coca plant.
Cacao. Coca.
It wasn't cocaine in its pure form, though, right? It was from the plant.
Correct.
Yeah.
Interesting.
See, I know these things.
Okay.
Keep going.
Do you know who invented Coca-Cola?
A polar bear.
Yeah. Santa Claus.
You guys, we're going to talk about the polar bears and Santa Claus, but...
Oh, my God. The Santa Claus Cokes are my favorite.
Actually, the founder was a chemist.
Oh, I believe that. Was it like, what's his name? Walter White?
Breaking Bad?
Yeah.
Actually, a little bit. Oh.
Walter Blue.
In the late 1800s...
1800s.
Yes, this is all going back to the 1800s. So in the 1800s, there was kind of a push for natural remedies, which is kind of like today. Little antiphysician, anti-medication, pro-naturopath push.
So people were creating all these natural remedies, and they were selling them. And one of these remedies was Vin Mariana.
Vin Mariana.
Yes. Which is wine and cocaine.
Oh.
And it would cure any ailment if you took it. TID.
Three times a day.
Three times a day, have a glass of wine with some cocaine in it.
I mean, but like what ailments are we talking about?
Well, I think it goes back to our Big Pharma episode when Dr. Andrew talked about this, how like there was no regulation, but for example, if you give someone morphine, then no matter what they're like, they're going to feel good.
So if they come to you with joint pain or with a cough or with a headache.
Have a little cocaine with it.
Well, and they get some morphine there and feel better. And this is the same thing. Like what, an upper and a downer, right?
A little cocaine and wine together. And like, you're going to probably feel pretty good.
You're going to feel mellow, but energized enough to make it through the day.
Exactly.
You're going to feel no anxiety.
That's crazy.
That's why I take my Lexapro, but drink a lot of coffee.
So John Pemberton was a chemist and a Confederate soldier, and he was wounded in a civil war battle, and he was not supposed to survive, so they gave him a whole bunch of morphine, you know, to make him comfortable. And miraculously, he did survive.
But with...
Did he get some vampire blood?
Maybe. But with a morphine addiction.
Yeah. Well...
So...
Morphine or blood?
He's like, man, I really need to find a way to combat this morphine addiction.
Right.
So he tries a little of this Vin Mariana, and guess what? It worked.
Right.
He's off the morphine. He feels fabulous. Just a little cocaine and rest on another time.
Another addiction.
Yeah.
You know what? I kind of, off the record, would love to taste cocaine and red wine.
I don't know if I'd like to taste some. Now people are taking beta blockers. Take your beta blocker and lock in.
That's not new.
I did that like 10 years ago. Okay. He's off his morphine.
He feels fabulous. So he's like, you know what? I'm a chemist.
I feel like I could create my own version of Vin Mariana. So he creates French wine, Coca.
Right.
And this is the year 1885.
Then French wine, Coca. What makes the difference?
It's just his own brand. Okay.
Everybody likes the smell of their own brand.
French brand. So then she said, she just tried to make a fart joke. It didn't make any sense.
Okay guys.
So it's 1885.
1885.
Then came prohibition. And he was forced to replace the wine with carbonated water. So now it's just Coke.
Carbonated water.
What color is Coke?
Correct.
White.
So now though, we have cocaine and carbonated water except now the taste isn't so great. So what's it need?
Sugar.
Sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. It also needed a new name because we can't call it wine when there's no wine in it, right?
So they come up with the name Coca-Cola. We can actually thank Frank Robinson, who was John Pemberton's bookkeeper, for coming up with the name Coca-Cola by combining two main ingredients, the coca leaf and the cola nut.
So that's cocaine and caffeine.
Oh, the cola nut. The cola nut.
Cola, K-O-L-A. Cola nut.
The cola nut. I'm reading about the cola nut. The cola nut, I think it's interesting that they paired it with the coca.
The coca plant, because the cola nut is a natural, it's also a natural stimulant. Interesting, like coca. Like a coca plant is a natural stimulant too.
Caffeine.
Yeah, interesting, right?
Cocaine and caffeine, yeah.
Yeah, interesting.
Yep.
So, so they just were buzzing. Yep. Cocaine remained an active ingredient until 1929.
Also, interestingly, the distinct Coca-Cola logo, the script that we all know, that is on our merch. Yes. If you check out our merch.
Yeah.
That is a replication of how the bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, wrote Coca-Cola.
Oh.
By the way, back to Pemberton.
So, he is selling his elixir at Jacob's Pharmacy, because you know, these chemists, like, they write their little ingredients, and they go down to the pharmacy with their little card, and the pharmacist, like, fills it, right?
So, he's selling his elixir at Jacob's Pharmacy, and they're selling about nine glasses per day. Then, the story gets very shady.
It's very hard to fact check exactly how the secrets of events had happened, and all the sources kind of tell a different variation of the story.
But it sounds like Pemberton was not a great businessman, and he was having to sell off portions of the business to people, including Asa Candler.
Asa Candler.
But Asa Candler wanted 100% ownership, and John Pemberton is dying of cancer. So he sold the recipe to Asa Candler, who was a pharmacist, for $2,300, which is the equivalent of about $54,000 today.
Wow. That's not that much.
And then he left his remaining portion of the company to his only son, Charles Pemberton.
Charles Pemberton.
Charles Pemberton was also an addict. His drug of choice, opium.
Opium.
So he and Asa really did not see the eye to eye, and Charles Pemberton is like, I really just want complete ownership of Coca-Cola.
Okay.
So he ends up buying Charles Pemberton out, because again, Charles Pemberton just needs some money for his habit.
Right.
So for whopping $300, Asa Candler becomes the sole owner of Coca-Cola.
So it's $300 like a lot back then?
It was about $10,000, but still.
That's a lot.
Yeah, but I feel like you probably could have held out for some more.
I mean, probably.
You're like the last remaining shareholder on this guy wants full ownership of the company. I feel like you could probably negotiate.
That's true. You're right. You're not wrong, Megan.
But you're right.
I do. I love to hear that I'm right. But also, yeah, people, no one knew how big Coca-Cola was going to become.
No.
But think about that guy's vision.
Yeah.
So Charles Pemberton suspiciously dies in 1894.
Of course, he does.
Of an opium overdose.
Well, is that suspicious?
Could have predicted that, yeah.
And it just is very suspicious because, again, the whole way that this slow buyout came to be is very shrouded in mystery.
Okay.
And there's accusations that Asa may have actually forged signatures in his attempt to buy up shares of the business.
Whoa.
And when Charles Pepperton finally died and was out of the way, we know that Asa was relieved. And the way that Charles died was very suspicious.
How did he die?
He was found unconscious. Maybe not that suspicious, but could have been suspicious. June 23rd, 1894, he's found unconscious with a stick of opium by his side, and he dies 10 days later at Grady Hospital Atlanta.
So unintentional overdose, intentional overdose, murder.
Because that's where the museum is.
It's the headquarters of Coca-Cola.
I wanted to go so badly, but it was closed.
So then, in 1910, Asa Candler has all the older records of the company destroyed. Only the official records of the title were left intact.
Of course.
So people are like, did he somehow take this guy out in order to get his complete ownership? Did he just want this guy out of the way? All very sus.
That is very sus.
Does he have mob connections?
You know? He does go on to become a politician.
Well.
And this is now post-prohibition or no?
Early prohibition, 1910.
You think they had Coca on the Titanic? Coca. Only...
Oh, for sure there was Coca on the Titanic.
I feel like those people were partying so hard.
So, here's what we can thank Asa Candler for. There's a lot we can thank him for when it comes to Coca-Cola. But him becoming the sole owner, he really transitioned this from like a quote, medication to a refreshing drink.
Soda shot.
And he invested a ton of money in advertising, which was like pretty unheard of at that point.
Like, he was getting celebrities to, you know, pose with.
He really had a vision.
Yes. So, he was very cutting edge.
Okay.
In 1916, he was elected the Atlanta mayor, and he passed management and stock to his children, who eventually sold the company off. Okay. So, that's the background.
Kind of a shady background.
So, you're telling me, essentially, Coke is like chocolate soda? Because it comes from cacao?
No, it's not cacao.
What nut are you talking about?
It was the, it's a coconut.
Oh, I thought that was a cacao nut. Anyways, 10%. I didn't realize cacao nut is a plant.
And that's where cocaine comes from?
We have, we have the coca plant, and the coca is different from cacao. Yeah, C-O-C-A. That is what, like, the cocaine is derived from, and it's different from cacao.
And then you have a colon nut, which is what, like, caffeine is derived from.
Oh.
All right, so that was kind of the suspicious history, but let's get into the conspiracy theories, right?
Oh, yes, please give me those conspiracy theories.
So here's the biggest one, new Coke.
New Coke.
Have you heard of it?
Like what we're drinking nowadays?
Nope. I referenced earlier the Pepsi Challenge. You might be too young, Colleen, but this used to be the commercial, was like, have you taken the Pepsi Challenge?
And they were pitching that in blind taste tests, consumers actually preferred Pepsi. And I literally wrote, I cannot believe this is true. And yet, we failed.
We kind of proved it today.
We proved the Pepsi.
Yeah. So Coca-Cola is like, I can't believe that Pepsi is really preferred by the public. So they ran their own taste test, and again, verified these findings, that people preferred the taste of Pepsi over Coke.
In the meantime, we know like, Coca-Cola is on the decline, so we have Pepsi and Coke, which it also sounds like Pepsi has tried to sell to Coke for over a century. They've like, offered to sell, and Coke doesn't want to like, buy a Pepsi.
Right.
Really? Yeah, so we really just have these two competitors, right? We just have Pepsi and Coke.
That's surprising.
And Coke is on the decline, and so they're like, okay, how are we gonna like, you know, revitalize Coca-Cola?
So in 1985, they created a new formula, which they say performed better than Coke and Pepsi in over 200,000 blind taste tests. So if people had the option of Coke, Pepsi, or new Coke, they all picked no.
Oh, anyways, 10%.
If people had the option of Coke, Pepsi, or new Coke, they all picked new Coke over the Coca-Cola that we know and love.
Okay.
Okay. So now, the Coca-Cola company, 1985, 100 years old, okay? Coca-Cola has been around for 100 years.
That's wild to me.
They released new Coke and chaos ensued.
Of course.
Yes.
They were inundated with letters. They got about 5,000 calls a day. There were protests about new Coke.
Why are you messing with Coca-Cola?
Okay.
I believe it.
Gay Mullins was founder of an organization called Old Cola Drinkers of America. And he spent $30,000 to help convince Coke to bring back the original Cola.
Bring back Cola.
He said that Coke was, like the new Coke was un-American, and said, quote, they have taken away my freedom of choice.
Well.
Because this all kind of goes to how they have advertised so much that Coca-Cola is like a symbol of...
America. America. Right.
Yes.
So, new Coke hasn't even come out. They're just like, hey, we're launching a new recipe, and people lose their minds.
Okay.
Seventy-nine days into this new Coke, this whatever, this marketing scheme.
Right.
Yeah. They cave, and they're like, okay, we're not going to get rid of old Coke.
What did new Coke taste like?
What's the conspiracy here?
Well, I'm going to tell you, I'm going to answer both your questions. Seventy-nine days, they cave in, they say, okay, we're not going to get rid of old Coke.
And as soon as they say this, they start getting all inundated with positive letters, they get calls thanking them, sales are booming.
The conspiracy here is, and I haven't finished the story of what happened with new Coke and old Coke yet, but the theory is that when they say, you know what, you're right, we're not going to get rid of old Coke, sales go wild.
So people, the conspiracy theory is, was this all a pre-planned gimmick? Was this all a marketing tool because Coke was dying off?
And by saying, we're going to take away your Coke, everyone lost their mind, and then all of a sudden they start buying up Coke.
Well, I think it shows that people liked Coke.
But people didn't like Coke because they preferred Pepsi when they did a taste test.
I don't... But then by threatening to take it away...
That's the point.
Exactly. It really goes all back to the fact that the advertising has hit us all right in the...
Well, if they were mad about them taking it away, they clearly liked it to begin with.
But when they blind taste tested, they didn't like it.
But people were buying it.
Yes, because we have like emotional connections to it. But anyway, the whole conspiracy theory is that Coca-Cola was never going to launch this new Coke, that it was all just a marketing gimmick. Well, that's not true.
Because people are like, was this the dumbest mistake they ever made, or was it the most genius strategy ever?
Like, should they have released the new Coke?
Well, they did release new Coke, because they were... Which is kind of what I think proves that this is not really some big conspiracy to help the Coca-Cola brand.
They said, okay, we're gonna keep old Coke, but we're still gonna roll out new Coke, because they were so convinced that if people just tried new Coke...
They would like it better.
They would like it better.
Is Diet Coke?
No.
So, Tommy had had new Coke this whole time?
No, you're drinking old Coke. So, they say, we're going to release new Coke and old Coke. You have your choice.
You get to pick, and they were like, watch, you guys are gonna want new Coke.
Okay.
But new Coke was not it.
So they say, we're gonna release them both, because we are so convinced that if you try new Coke, you are gonna love new Coke. And they release it, and it's a flop. Oh.
They ended up having to pull new Coke from the market because it just wasn't selling.
Also, interestingly, again, we do know that in the blind taste test, people did prefer the new Coke over both Pepsi and the OG Coke, but people still wanted that old Coke.
In the end, this cost Coca-Cola $4 million, this whole rollout, but think of how much money they made and that they revitalized their company.
They revitalized their brand.
So I don't think this was a big conspiracy. I think this was just a big flub that actually happened to work in their benefit in the end. But you want to know what the real difference was between new Coke and old Coke.
So cane sugar, here's really what it came to.
There was this whole, it was a whole screw up with the Coca-Cola contracts and that they were, they had a contract for the sugar, but they didn't account for like increased inflation and costs and everything.
And so they were locked in to this sugar deal that was gonna lose them money. And so actually their transition to the high fructose corn syrup, which did test better, was also like a financial perk to that.
Yeah, high fructose corn syrup is so much cheaper.
Yeah, that's why it's in everything.
Yes. Kait, tell us about high fructose corn syrup.
High fructose corn syrup is made with corn.
Which we can't digest.
Allegedly. And it's very cheap to make, therefore it's cheap to sell. And a lot of people have replaced actual sugar in products with this corn syrup.
And it's like not good for you.
Go on.
There's a direct correlation between diabetes and high fructose corn syrup. Like being used in our products.
I wouldn't know the exact data, but I wouldn't be shocked if that was what it shows.
This is why I get confused while everyone's so upset about like, we need to like revamp the food industry. I'm like, yes, we do. But also like, I understand that it's like gonna cost money.
Between the old Coke and the new Coke, there was trying, they were trying to transition to this high fructose corn syrup from cane sugar because-
Cheap.
It was cheaper.
Right, because of this bad deal they made. They decided the reason people prefer Pepsi over Coke, the classic Coke, old Coke, was because Pepsi was a sweeter drink. So they wanted to make a sweeter drink.
So they adapted the recipe to make it sweeter and that was the new Coke they released, but people still preferred the old Coke because while we might enjoy a sip, we don't want to drink a whole can of the sweet. Yes.
Is that why we preferred, when we did our taste test, we preferred the Pepsi, maybe?
I don't think I preferred the Pepsi. I preferred the Coke.
I don't even know what I... I think you did-
Yeah, you did prefer the Coke.
So my thing with Coke versus Pepsi, I also judge a book by its cover and I just like the look of Coke.
Well, we're gonna talk about that.
You definitely judge a book by its cover.
Yeah, it's got the vintage feel.
It does have a vintage feel.
I love what the glass Coke bottles look like. I'm attracted to the red more than the blue. Like, the font is attractive.
You know what, I've got some news for you, Colleen.
What's that?
You-
Although I love a 90s Pepsi vibe.
You have fallen victim to the wild marketing scheme that is Coca-Cola.
Well, and I don't deny it.
So I'm gonna talk to you about some of that, about why it hits us, like, look at this classic and the emotions it evokes in us.
But I will say, I just don't like modern day marketing for Pepsi.
I think it's not as catchy. But if you look at the 1990s Pepsi vibes, I'm into that.
Okay, so we'll circle back to that. Okay, so that's like the big conspiracy when you're like the Coca-Cola conspiracy, is that people are like, they...
1985, there was this whole new Coke thing, and it was all just a scam, and they were never gonna actually release this new Coke, but it was a publicity stunt. And I think that's not the case. It was a flub.
All right? But we have some other conspiracy theories that are smaller. One of them is regarding the New World Order.
So they say that large corporations...
Surely believe there's a New World Order.
The reptilian humanoids.
I don't think they're reptilian.
That's the whole conspiracy.
No, there's multiple conspiracies about a New World Order, but reptilian humanoids are part of one.
10%.
Okay, so there's the New World Order theory, which alleges that large corporations like Coca-Cola play a role in controlling the global governments, economies and populations.
Well, I believe that.
And according to this theory, their global reach and dominance in the beverage industry are seen as evidence of a corporate conspiracy to control people. And let me tell you about some of the sketchy things they've done in order to grow as a company.
Oh, do you remember? I don't know why I'm asking you guys, you remember this because you aren't going to remember. Remember in our Hitler South America episode, we talked about how Coca-Cola created Fanta, and perhaps that helped to fund the war.
We talked about this a little bit. The deal was the Coca-Cola was really advertising as the soda for the troops, right? The drink for the troops and it was so American.
But then there were sugar rations put in place.
Okay.
But Coca-Cola is like, wait, we are a wartime necessity. We should be exempt because they were energizing the troops.
I believe that.
I mean, they deserve their sugary drink.
They were helping with morale. And I'm here for that.
A cigarette and a Coke.
And since they had spent so much money on lobbying, they won. So government's like, you know what? Yeah, sugar rations for everyone except you Coca-Cola.
Dang.
I will say as a hospital employee who feels like I was just in a war in the last decade, Diet Coke was 100% a war time necessity.
It was.
We needed that.
Yeah.
But I will say...
If they would have switched to Shassa during COVID, it would have just felt...
Would have cried. Yeah.
It would have felt just awful.
But I will say in the true war zone I was in...
You had Coke?
No, we had Rippets.
What the heck is Rippets?
Energy drinks.
Oh, I'm thinking whippets. Yeah, like the drugs.
They do in prison? You don't, because you just got married and had a family.
Yeah, she doesn't know what whippets are.
Okay, so Coca-Cola also made a deal that any soldier anywhere can buy a Coke for five cents. And up front, this is a loss, but people supported Coca-Cola because they're like, if you're a patriot, you buy Coke.
Right.
You support Coca-Cola. So then Coca-Cola is like, well, we should set up some plants in Europe because we got troops all over the place, and they got government funding to help them set up these plants in Europe.
Whoa, iconic.
Your tax dollars, well, not ours, because we weren't alive, but it would have been today, your tax dollars paying for these Coca-Cola plants.
Wow.
64 bottling plants opened during the war, which do you know the only two countries in the world that you cannot buy Coca-Cola right now? Russia.
China. The Uzbekistan.
Neither is in Europe.
Antarctica.
Okay, let's think of one closer to home.
Mexico.
Who has? I'm thinking about Mexico. Well, that's why I'm confused.
Who does not trade with America?
What's the one?
Cuba.
Cuba.
And there's one more.
Okay, hold on.
I think Asian countries.
Cuba and North Korea.
Bingo.
Oh, that makes sense, actually, because we can't get in.
Americans can't get in.
When they're expanding all over the place, they were also trying to target other other customers, right? Like maybe the Nazis.
Oh, getting them to drink Coke.
They literally they want anyone to drink Coke is going to drink Coke. That seems they literally had advertisements with swastikas on them.
Oh, yeah.
The war progressed.
How did they fund plants?
You know what? They're lucky social media wasn't a thing back in.
Yeah, because if people found out that they were both making us pay for the soldiers' Coke and the Nazis' Coke.
Well, I don't know if we were paying. Well, I guess we were in the sense that we paid for the bottling.
Yeah.
So that's crazy. And they were targeting the Nazi Germany youth. And we're going to talk shortly about how Coca-Cola targets the youth.
OK, so like in general. So then the war progressed and multinational corporations were cut off from distributing to Germany. So what did what did Coca-Cola do?
They said, OK, we need to figure out how we can like manufacture a beverage in Germany for the Germans to buy. So they used all of their fruit.
And we briefly touched on this in our previous episode, but they used leftover fruit and they created Fanta, which became the only soda available to Germans.
I thought Fanta was a Pepsi company and it blew up. Fanta is a Coke company. Fanta is huge in Europe.
You know what else you know who they had producing the Fanta?
Who?
For the Coca-Cola company to sell to the Nazis and the other Germans?
Who?
The victims in the concentration camps.
Of course, they did.
Fanta is huge.
Coca-Cola is the American beverage, but you know...
Kind of like......dark black.
Dark black.
That's crazy.
I'd really like to bury this, I'm sure.
Yeah.
And then more recently, they tried to expand outside of soda because they were getting flak for contributing to obesity, which again, we're going to talk about in just a second.
So they decide they're going to start selling water under the Coca-Cola brand, which would be... Dasani.
Ew, the worst bottled water.
So interesting that you say that.
It tastes so gross.
I think it's good.
They were accused, it was discovered, they were literally bottling tap water and selling it.
Really?
Yes.
It's disgusting.
Maybe that's why...
They just recently...
I'm fine with tap water.
They just recently changed though.
Well, there was like an out there, it was like an infectious outbreak or whatever. And then there's also a little bit of drama, like in Guatemala, there were some plant workers who were making $15 a day and they unionized.
And then the union leaders were kidnapped, murdered and attacked. But Coke says, listen, that's just an independent plant. We don't own that plant, so we have no part in this.
But that's crazy.
Dark, dark past.
How about you mentioned earlier Santa?
Yeah, they always do a Christmas can.
Yeah, baby.
Have you guys heard that Coca Cola may be responsible for creating the imagery of Santa that we know? For real?
Not the Germans, the Holland people?
Yeah, no.
What are those people?
It was a pagan holiday first, St. Nicholas.
But what does St. Nicholas look like?
But if you look at old pagan pictures, he's got a white beard.
He's a peddler.
Let me give you the facts, guys.
Maybe filled wooden shoes.
So Coca-Cola is a refreshing summer drink, right?
Right.
But then it gets cold in the winter. And how are we going to get people to drink Coke? Well, we're going to do a whole Santa Claus advertisement.
Okay. So you are correct. Father Christmas, Santa Claus, it's been around for centuries, but prior to the 1800s, he was depicted as a thin elf-like man in green, a tall gaunt figure.
It was not until 1823, it was the night before Christmas, was written and released.
I could probably tell you from memory.
Chubby with red cheeks.
A right jolly old elf.
It described him as chubby and plump.
Who laughed.
Ho, ho, ho.
And his belly shook like a bowl full of jelly. He was joyful and something, a right happy old elf.
So.
And I laughed when he something in spite of myself.
So these are really the first depictions of him as being like a jolly round fellow. Prior to that, he was a tall, scrawny, elf-like figure. So in 1931, Coca-Cola commissions Hayden Sunblom to paint Santa for their Christmas advertisements.
And this is where we see the warm, happy, rosy-cheeked, bearded, jolly fella. Because he said he used Twas and I before Christmas as his inspiration.
So I guess there is a lot of people, like when you go on Reddit, people fight back and forth about this, like is this real? Did Coca-Cola really create the Santa character that we know?
And before that, there was no jolly man with a big belly and a red coat.
What was the year that they did this?
1930s.
Coke probably had a big impact for the marketing of Santa. I don't think they envisioned the Santa we think though.
Well, so again, I think yes, if you go back into the late 19th, early 20th century art, you will see depictions of a chubby man in a red suit, but you also see a lot of him in a green suit.
Yes.
Sometimes he looks very scary.
The classic Santa.
He's very tall and scrawny. And it was not until, yes, the 1930s that we all kind of just now we all think of Santa and we see the same image, right? This guy in a red outfit with a big belly and a beard.
Yeah.
That's thanks to Coca-Cola.
That is so interesting to me.
A green suit. Why would he be wearing green? Like a light green or a dark green?
These are great questions.
Well, red and green are Christmas colors.
I don't think it's that weird.
Okay. And then...
I don't think it's weird.
How about Coca-Cola brainwashing the children? Okay.
So some people believe that the company deliberately targets children with ads and promotions to create lifelong consumers, claiming that the company exploits children's developing tastes and preferences for long-term profit.
There's not really a question here because it's true. Coca-Cola pays schools for exclusive rights. So they say, we'll pay you $3,000, a dollar per student, to only sell Coca-Cola products in your vending machines.
And then Coca-Cola gets all the money from the students who are purchasing from the vending machines. Right? So there is a bit of a scam, like targeting children.
Right.
Did you have any Coca-Cola toys back in the day?
No.
I had a white polar bear with a scarf, just like the Coca-Cola ads.
I don't think I had any.
No, I don't think I had any.
The point is-
Where did you get him?
I probably got him from like the Scholastic book store.
Oh, not from-
I was thinking maybe he would be like a McDonald's, you know-
Yeah, I was like, maybe a McDonald's meal toy.
Happy toy.
I'm just saying, how can Coca-Cola say they don't target kids when they're creating-
Toys.
Toys for kids.
I mean-
So Coca-Cola says, We do not target our advertising to children under the age 13 anywhere in the world.
We are committed to not marketing any of our products, regardless of nutritional profile to children under the age of 13 and in media where 30% or more of the audience is composed of children under 13.
Our responsible marketing policy clearly states that we will respect the role of parents and caregivers by not marketing directly to children under 13.
But we have reports from organizations like the Center for Science and the Public Interest that find that the company's marketing practices are inconsistent with this pledge, that we have Coca-Cola products being prominently featured in the media,
including TV shows and movies that are watched by children, that Coca-Cola is sponsoring events for children, like road races for kids, toy licensing and mini can zones in public parks, and that they create videos and content for online platforms
I just think online things is interesting because we don't limit kids' access to the internet.
So it's like they might not, they might be innocently trying not to market to children, but it's children are on the internet. Like you can't control who goes on the internet.
Yeah, but they shouldn't have people drinking Coke products on a kid's TV show.
I can't name one kid's show where they're drinking name-brain products.
Honestly, as a person here with children, I would have to agree that they do not market towards anyone younger than 13. My kids only know what soda is because, and the only thing that they really know is Diet Coke. That's it.
They don't really know it. And Sprite, because we went on vacation, I let them have a Sprite one time. But we don't keep soda in the house.
Not on the shows they're watching.
Right.
Well, maybe they're...
I'm just thinking you don't think something like Disney, Nickelodeon shows.
Well, because every time they have a name-brand product on a show, they have to pay that company. So most shows don't have name-brand products.
Yeah. So I would have to agree with Coca-Cola. But I do remember watching Nickelodeon, which arguably could be a kids'...
And they had Sprite commercials when I was a kid. And it was like basketball players opening a Sprite, but with kids playing basketball, and it was like, ah, refreshing. That was a Sprite commercial.
It was like, it's so refreshing. So, yeah.
That would be, I think, the only way I could see them really market is through athletes. Like, they get athletes to market, like Gatorade and like...
Remember when Batmoke was like all over the place?
Yeah.
But yeah, but I mean, they do, I remember having a vending machine in high school.
Yeah.
That's...
We had a vending machine, but not marketing.
But that's, you were older than 13.
And they actually had it, they had...
How old are you when you go to middle school?
Year 14 when you go to high school.
They had mine shut off during the school day. You couldn't access this. It was only catered though.
Well, the reason that it matters whether or not they're targeting to children is because there are theories that Coca-Cola could be used as a form of mind control in the sense that the combination of caffeine, sugar and other ingredients creates
addictive properties that cause people to come back. So again, if you can get people addicted young, then it's like a cigarette, right? You got a lifelong.
I mean, I would agree, but can't you like...
You could argue that to anything. Like Mountain Dew, I feel like has a bigger problem than Coke does.
Mountain Dew. I feel like nobody drinks Mountain Dew.
Oh my God. I feel like most of Middle America drinks Mountain Dew.
Well, Middle America.
But that is a huge population, though.
Again, I think really what I learned in my research of Coca-Cola was that I think they are being more manipulative with their marketing than their actual product, because they actually have...
Coca-Cola has an entire lab built with like faux shopping aisles where they can determine like how can we best get someone who's just walking down the aisle to grab a Coca-Cola product.
They have like half fake cafeteria set up where they can just be like, how can we... And I think the way that how you said how you're like, I just love a classic Coke. It just feels like a classic Coke in a red can, right?
And in a red bottle. And we're thinking like, you know, yeah, and it's the all-American drink because you have these, you know, war vets drinking their Coca-Cola. And it just seems like it's all been more of a...
Which kind of goes into how Coca-Cola loses the Pepsi Challenger. People keep coming back because it's not just about the taste and the flavor.
It's about how we have been manipulated by the advertisement and the media and again how Coca-Cola was like really pretty advanced that they were the first people who were really advertising like this.
I feel like, I just think they're good marketing. Like I don't think there's something wrong with being like adapting your marketing skills and using that to your own company's business, but...
Yeah, I agree. I think that marketing, I mean, isn't part of marketing...
It is manipulation, I guess, yeah.
But isn't part of marketing like studying, like the way you attract people's attention and like moving with marketing trends is like you study the new psychology of the brain? Isn't that part of marketing?
Yeah.
So that's actually smart. Like they have good marketers.
Yeah, probably.
But should they be more open about the effects of sugar?
The final thing is that Coca-Cola is getting some hate.
This goes into the big conspiracy again that they're just like, we're advertising to kids and we're not telling them about the addictive properties and how the sugar and the caffeine is going to release dopamine and we're going to keep coming back
for more. But even worse, we're talking a lot now about childhood obesity and about the health ramifications. We definitely talked, we did a deep dive in diet coke on Aspartame and hey guys, go check it out because we figured out some stuff.
We think it's okay. Yeah, we're pro diet coke. So if you were afraid to listen because you were afraid that we were going to hate on diet coke, don't worry.
But Coca-Cola has disclosed that it has spent a significant amount of money on scientific research and health and wellbeing partnerships, including funding for organizations like the American Cancer Society, the American College of Cardiology and the
Academy of Nutrition. They have funded research that has come out to downplay the role of sugary drinks and obesity and focus. It says, obesity is completely caused by an energy balance model, meaning just calories in versus calories out.
So these studies that they have funded have said like, oh, you're obese, well, then you need to do more physical activity. And that's it.
And so like, well, it's interesting that this study is like, oh, it's not because people are drinking too much sugar, or people are drinking too many chemicals in their drinks or anything, it's purely because they need to move more.
So it's kind of like, you get one go with, they're funding research that is saying, we're not the problem, but how accurate is that research if they're funding it?
Right. That is like major bias in the research. And I hope that those articles, like in every research article, you're supposed to put, these are my potential biases.
Yeah, you start with your conflict of interest.
Yeah.
Kait, what do you think about that?
I think that's...
Energy balance, in out.
What do you think about that?
The more we study about metabolism, the more we realize we don't really understand it.
I think that that's like, and I think that like calories in versus calories out is a very elementary way of describing, like how to lose weight versus how to like gain weight.
But also, I think we know from like, you know, the late 90s, early 2000s, that calorie in and calorie out just like doesn't compute in the long run.
Because, you know, for a long time, we have people, women specifically, who have just completely restricted their calorie intake, like severely, like these, what was it, 1200 calories?
Like we, you should eat 1200 calories a day, which is like the average two year old should get a 1200 calorie diet. But they were having women, like do these 1200 calorie diets.
And then now we are seeing this like epidemic in women where you basically, we've basically like messed up our metabolisms because we've been told forever, like calories in versus calories out.
But we don't, what we don't realize is that like our bodies have protective mechanisms. Our bodies are always trying to like find your homeostasis. And so your homeostasis is like your safe point or your set point.
And so there's also this whole theory that your body is always trying to like strive for a set quote weight that it feels safest at.
With all of that to say, calories in versus calories out is a very convoluted way of explaining weight gain versus weight loss.
It's just a much more complicated system.
It's much more complicated than that, because it goes into your body habitus and your muscle mass and the types of food you're eating and how you're fueling your body and then how often you're fueling your body with the same amount of calories every
day. Like, I typically don't like diets, but what I would say, and I also don't like this, but if you find someone who really knows how to count their macros, that is the best way. Because macros don't restrict.
They're trying to give you the amount of macronutrients that you're supposed to have. Am I like?
Yeah, keep going. That's why you're on a rant.
I think that people who have struggled with their weight have a tendency to be very black and white, right? So they have a tendency to go on the extreme path. And I think it's very hard for people to find a balance with the macros.
You become too extreme with that. So that's the only, that's typically the only reason why I don't like macros. But anyway, calorie in versus calorie out.
Going back to...
Just back to the original question, was just that, is it as simple as...
No, clearly, by my 20 minute answer.
If you're drinking six cokes a day and you're not achieving your weight goals, then it must be because you need to go out and walk more. And that it's a little more complicated than that.
But interesting that the studies that are saying that are funded by Coca-Cola, don't want you to stop drinking six cokes a day. So that's just kind of another...
But it's also up to you as the consumer to know how much sugar is in the coke. Like, I don't think the company has... Like, they'll put the data out.
Like, if you're going to drink six cokes, you should know that you're drinking that much sugar. I don't think Coca-Cola as a company is to tell you that.
They do. Everybody has...
But like, it's up to you to read it. You know what I mean? Like, I don't think Coke should be blamed for people drinking sugary drinks.
You're the one not reading your ingredients and drinking it.
Yeah, I mean...
You know what I mean? Like...
Well, that just goes back to like, no one wants to be...
Accountable.
Accountable for the things they're doing.
Well, that's fair.
So, yeah. I mean, I think that like, if you enjoy... This is the thing, like, everything has become so much more accessible.
Like, if you think about it, back in the 30s, when Coke was like, you know, a thing, you would go to your local drug store or pharmacy, and then you'd sit at the counter, and you'd get a Coke.
You'd get one Coke, and you'd go home, and it would be a special treat that you got while you were out.
Not like it every day.
And it's not... It wasn't as accessible as it is, like, now in the grocery stores, like...
You're right. And we talk about, you know, initially, now we have cans and bottles, which is a whole other thing, right?
But like, initially, when these pharmacists and chemists were creating Coca-Cola, it was, yeah, like you're describing, like purely a fountain beverage. They manufactured the syrup and the people had to mix it.
And so like, yeah, you're not just at home cracking a diet coke every time you want one.
Like a soda shop.
Yeah. You would go to the pharmacy, and the pharmacy would sell nine cokes a day. And it was people who walked in and purchased their coke and drank it.
And then, yes, I think, and then, you know, in the early 20th century, early to mid 20th century, it's early, yeah, they started, then they got the contract for the bottling companies, and they started bottling it.
And then, you know, then I don't even know when, probably 70s or so, I'm guessing, is when we started getting cans, right? And we have cans and you're right.
So it probably definitely was a difference from like, a sweet treat that gives us these memories from our childhood, you know, our older generation, and childhood memories of going to the soda shop, like you're talking about, having this special
Right.
Okay.
Drink at your own risk.
But anyway, that was my, I really did think the new Coke, old Coke thing was interesting. And I do see a lot of people talking about Santa. So that was routine to read about, did Coke Cola develop Santa?
But those are the conspiracy theories I found. So any thoughts, guys?
I like my Diet Coke.
But apparently, you like your Diet Pepsi better.
No, I like Coke, full Coke better.
Oh, that's right, full Coke better.
I like full Coke. I like both. I go in between.
And what did you, Kait?
I chose Diet Pepsi.
She chose Diet Pepsi.
Yeah.
Megan chose...
I don't even know.
I don't even know.
I don't think I chose.
You didn't choose a favorite.
You just were like...
Well, I kind of felt, again, as I mentioned, the bottles were throwing me off, and I felt like I needed like a wine tasting, you know?
Yeah, I needed a cleanser.
I needed a cracker.
Yeah. No, I feel that. I feel that.
We'll have to do it again.
Yeah.
We'll try again. Well, Colleen wants to organize one with like the different types of cokes.
Yeah, like lime coke, caffeine-free coke.
You can't tell the difference between lime coke and...
You know what? We're going to do it, and we'll see.
We'll see.
It's subtle. Caffeine-free coke, diet coke, Coke Zero. We should do a test.
I don't think I've tasted caffeine-free coke.
Caffeine-free diet coke.
I mean, what's the point? Not that there's that much caffeine.
It has, it's still a sugar, though. It just doesn't have caffeine.
Any type of caffeine.
But if you have diet, caffeine-free coke, what's the point?
I don't think they make diet caffeine.
They do.
Oh, I thought it was either caffeine-free or diet.
No, no. They make diet, caffeine-free coke.
The little gold ones.
Yeah.
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What should the people do? Send this to 3 Coke lovers, whether that's the drink or the powder. Send it to them.
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I sure hope we get a Coke PR box out of this one and they don't just block us.
All right.
Well, we will see you next Tuesday.