Advertising companies and politicians like to play with semantics for the purpose of changing images. Big soda companies seem to be heavily invested in changing their images this year - with Pepsi completely revamping their packaging and Coke teaming up witt Jay-Z to promote Coke Zero - so it isn't entirely shocking to hear that they no longer want soda to be thought of as "carbonated soft drinks." Instead, they're "sparkling beverages."
In what some might describe as a blending of advertising and politics, the name change represents some social climbing on the part of soda companies. They are trying to distance themselves from their high-calorie, junk food roots, which politicians and other people in positions of power continually hold against them. Unfortunately for the cola companies, soda is so popular that no matter what Coke and Pepsi executives decide to call it, changing the name for the product to "sparkling beverage" is like trying to change the word for "beer": it's just not going to happen.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-27-2007 @ 2:59PM
Mike said...
Beer is already masquerading under other names, all of which are "malt beverages". I've never decided which was worse, not calling it beer, or being sold under the brand name of a rum, vodka or other liquour company.
Smirnoff Ice, Bacardi Silver,Captain Morgan Parrot Bay ,Zima, Mike's Hard Lemonade, and Seagrams Coolers are all dressed up "beer".
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2-28-2007 @ 10:24AM
Jon said...
Mike, none of those products are beer. They're vaguely similar to beer in terms of alcohol content and maybe some of the ingredients, but that's where the similarities end. Don't sully the good name of beer by associating it with Zima and Smirnoff Ice!
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2-28-2007 @ 8:08PM
Dave said...
Jon - I'm not sure Zima sullies the name of beer more than, say, Milwaukee's Best does, but maybe that's just me :)
Anyway, there _has_ been some success in changing the name of some beers. What is commonly called "malt liquor" is typically just beer with alcohol content too high to be sold as "beer" in many states. It has to do with how it's brewed, not what it tastes like.
Interestingly enough, though, when I was in college, I'd say half the people I asked thought that "malt liquor" was definitively _not_ beer.
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