In a fit of pique, those who decry cancel culture now want to cancel Coca-Cola for taking a public stance against voter suppression in Georgia. Other business entities have done the same for Georgia (all after the suppressive laws were passed), but others are taking a similar stand against similar laws still in the consideration stage for Texas. It's an odd situation for Republicans who ordinarily rant against such practices when coming from the Left (while hypocritically practicing them right along themselves), is it not? As for the media, it's almost as if a news reporter hears someone say "cancel" and thinks that that's actually news.
I don't buy Coca-Cola products and haven't for some time. Well, there was that one six pack a couple of weeks ago, but more on that in a moment. I don't buy Coca-Cola because the sugar content in their soft drinks is lethal for me. Sugared soft drinks are driving an obesity epidemic in the US (and, increasingly, overseas, wherever they have penetrated the market). Once obesity and diabetes are achieved, one Coke is an invitation to a diabetic coma.
My family history with Coke is long and loving. Daddy was a Coke drinker. Mama was a sipper. Daddy would get a Co'Cola (as we sometimes called it) in one of those small green glass bottles and Mama would take "just a sip." We kept Cokes in the refrigerator when I was a kid, and I was strictly limited to one per day. That was not for my health. It was to make sure there were Cokes in the fridge when Daddy came in from work and wanted one. Woe betide the beloved only daughter who drank the last Coke.
We drank Coke in the small bottles. We drank it in the tall bottles. We drank it in cans. We went through some hard times when the Coca-Cola Company introduced New Coke and took Coke Classic (as it was later called) off the market. When Coke Classic was (re)introduced, we drank even more Coke.
I did eventually switch to Diet Coke on my dentist's advice. (Dental decay and destruction would be one more strike against drinking Coke.) I drank that in cans and then in plastic bottles. As diabetes was diagnosed, my thirst was increasing. I loved it when Coca-Cola introduced Diet Coke in 1.5 liter bottles. I carried them around and chugged away. And kept gaining weight. Eventually I learned that artificially sweetened beverages (not just Coke) tend to cause drinkers to consume more calories. There is something about the body's expectation of calories being thwarted by the diet beverages and a need to get those calories elsewhere--about 30% more calories than non-drinkers of diet beverages.
The weight gain didn't stop me from drinking Diet Coke, but the plastic bottle finally did. My recycling bin was filling with all those 1.5 liter bottles. I was drinking more than one a day. Indeed, it was difficult to push my grocery cart when it was lined with all those bottles and exhausting to carry into the house to store away. Recognizing, however, that the US was doing a poor job of recycling plastics and that I was part of the problem, I had a choice--drink my Diet Coke from the cans which had become inadequate for my thirst or switch to iced tea.
It was a struggle, but I made it. I did miss the carbonation, so I now have a SodaStream for sparkling water (no flavors!).
So that six-pack. When I got my second COVID vaccination, I wanted to celebrate. I decided that potato chips and Diet Coke--a long time celebration treat--would be just the thing. I hadn't had either in quite a long time. To reduce my footprint for the celebration, I bought the tiny little cans that Coca-Cola is now selling--for the sippers, I guess. Mama would have loved them. What a shock to find out that I no longer liked the taste!
My ethical dilemma now is whether to continue not drinking Coca-Cola products for health reasons or to show my support for the Coco-Cola Company's stance on voter suppression by buying their products. This, however, is not really about marketing, and I don't think that self-destruction is the way to show my support. So I'm saying here:
Thank you, Coca-Cola!
Thank you, Delta Airlines!
Thank you, Dell Computers!
Thank you, American Airlines!
Thank you, AT&T (I never expected to say that)!
I hope other companies join you. I hope that those who insist on anti-democratic, anti-American practices of voter suppression can learn that what they are doing is wrong.
In the meantime, freedom isn't free, is it? Welcome to the fight.
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