this on the other hand is ridiculous. soft drinks are not healthy and nor will they ever be so. so maybe i was too soft on the Heart Tick issue… maybe marketing junk foods as beneficial to our health should be banned completely?

“Who do they think they’re kidding?”

That would be “the vast majority of the population”. Marketers do this sort of thing because it works. People want to buy into the myths of superfoods and quick-fix remedies because it’s easy. The truth is a lot less palatable, and if there’s one thing most people are good at, it’s self-delusion.

Hey Kathryn – yes this is ridiculous! Trying to make us believe soft drinks are healthy is confusing, annoying, and absolute stupidity!!

It’s apparently contains vitamins B3, B6, and B12, as well as zinc and magnesium. Diet Facts have a breakdown of the ingredients if you want to have a look in detail.

They are using the slogan “Great taste has its benefits,” very cleaver marketing ploy!!!

Thanks for that info Mel. B vits, plus zinc and magnesium. I still say bah, humbug. Think the look and feel of the advert is very clever. I’ll have to check with my friend which magazine it was in.

And yes, FTL – you are right. I sometimes find myself being naively optimistic though.

Lindsey – it’s interesting, my reaction to this in comparison to the Heart Foundation story is very different. There’s a lot of difference in the intention behind the two.

I agree this is rubbish – what makes me really angry is that big multinational companies are preying on our insecurities about what we eat and drink to make money – how immoral is that! Thanks for a bit of balance!

I’m sitting here open-mouthed. It’s insane. It’s ridiculous.

And, sadly, it is a beautiful piece of graphic design for a very clever marketing ploy.

You’re right cerebral mum – it’s a beautiful image. Very clever. Just a shame it’s diet coke!

We saw this overseas and I was flabbergasted. Problem is that the majority of society will think they are doing themselves good by drinking it. “At least, its got vitamins”

I was recently going through some archived photos from the 1940’s onwards and came across a photo taken at one of the food pavillions at the Royal Brisbane Show in which the background has a banner endorsed by the government saying ‘Sugar is an energy food!’
So maybe Coke has it right!

Some samples of some ‘caffeine free’ Coke arrived on my desk recently and I couldn’t give the stuff away! I ended up giving it to the nine year old to do ‘experiments’ with. Truly disgusting stuff in all guises IMHO.

Natascha – how times have changed! Although you still see foods high in kilojoules marketed as “full of energy” . . . so maybe they haven’t changed that much.