"coke" news and stories

Down in Louisiana, there's a bit of a brawl over root beer. The great-grandchild of the founder of Barq's root beer, the self-described dark cola with a bite (check the razor-sharp jaws on the can-headed dog of a mascot), sued Coca-Cola last month over shares he says the giant does not legally own, reported the Times-Picayune, Sunday.

According to the claim, Coca-Cola "did not have the legal right to purchase one-third of the Barq's company when its acquisition was made in 1995, because that portion belonged to [Arthur Louis] Robinson, who never agreed to turn it over despite signed contracts to the contrary," the Times-Picayune states.

Confused? Basically, the claim seeks to overturn the agreement Robinson signed in 1971, which handed his portion (an inheritance), over to his sisters.

Early this month, Shaquille O'Neal officially signed with the Boston Celtics -- a move some (sports fans) view as compromising since one of their prominent rivals also happens to be his former team, the L.A. Lakers. But we here at Slashfood would like to direct your attention to a more gastronomic disturbance: his overlapping endorsements in the world of fast food and drink.

As NESN.com points out, he's played for prime rivals Pepsi and Coke, as well as Taco Bell and later Burger King.

As a rookie, Shaq started his endorsements with Pepsi, signing a five-year contract in 1993. His first ad would run during the CBS NBA playoffs to be viewed by at least half the sports-watching, soda-guzzling public. But then, during Super Bowl XLII, he made a case for Coke with his Vitaminwater® endorsement in 2008, which drove down sales for competing enhanced waters.

First there were mommies. Then came blogs. Put the two together, and a marketing force is born. "Now said to number in the millions, these online women have cobbled together content networks that rival some mainstream media companies," asserts Advertising Age. "And they're clearly a force that retailers underestimate at their own peril."

Coca-Cola, a company with a long history of savvy marketing (New Coke notwithstanding), doesn't underestimate that force one bit -- in fact, it hopes to profit from it. Kenth Kaerhoeg, group communications director for the company's Pacific branch in Hong Kong, told AdAge that they're in the process of identifying "digital influencers" in South Korea -- i.e., popular mommy bloggers -- to stir up some good, old-fashioned word of mouth. Hooking up with the right young moms can have an enormous marketing effect, as Kaerhoeg explains; the company takes them very seriously, calling them "vitally important stakeholders."

Yes, public health advocates are getting increasingly vocal about the negative effects of soda on the body, but Coke isn't giving up its 70 percent market share to tap water without a fight. The Atlanta-based company is rolling out the big guns with the Freestyle, a super-sleek, touch-screen soda fountain that lets users create up to 104 different flavors of fizzy refreshment. This high-tech beverage machine shoots out a wide range of traditional sodas, flavored waters, and energy drinks in every conceivable combination. Raspberry Coke? Check. Grape Sprite? Why not. Peach Fanta? No problem. The fountain is a study in excess, totally over the top. And yet ... admit it: You want to try it.

"Consumers are telling us they want choice," says Helen Tarleton, senior communications manager for Coca-Cola. She points out that the while the Freestyle might get some flack for offering so many options, more than half of them are low- and no-calorie. "When you've only got six or eight valves to work with, maybe only one is diet," she says.

Soda fountains have remained pretty much the same since they were popularized in the 1950s -- a basic ratio of syrup to carbonated water is combined in a container, then released out of the spigot. The Freestyle completely changes the game with a touch screen that instructs the machine to mix flavors on the spot, using technology originally developed for dialysis and cancer treatments. It's only got one nozzle, and works by releasing the flavorings into a stream of carbonated water. The new technology ensures that one soda doesn't taste like the flavor poured before it.

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