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I think you are seeing it in a culture where soda were already pushed to people's eyeballs for decades. Perhaps removing ads now wouldn't bring a dramatic chang

by hrktb 7y ago

I think you are seeing it in a culture where soda were already pushed to people's eyeballs for decades. Perhaps removing ads now wouldn't bring a dramatic change in the next months or even years; But for comparison, asian or european countries with more push on other drinks (e.g. tea, can coffee, sparkling water) have less of an inclination towards soda. It might be a chicken and egg problem, but at least I think there are ways out of the situation.

ch4s3 7y ago
> I think you are seeing it in a culture where soda were already pushed to people's eyeballs for decades. That has nothing to do with your innate preference for sugars and calorie density. People liked sweet foods and dumped heaps of sugar into tea long before modern advertising existed. > But for comparison, asian or european countries with more push on other drinks (e.g. tea, can coffee, sparkling water) have less of an inclination towards soda. Soda is hugely popular in Asian and Europe. Out of the top 10 per-capita consumers of soda 4 are in Europe, including the Netherlands which has quite a few controls on ads[1]. [1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/which-countries-consume-the-most-sugary-drinks/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/which-countries-consu...
- hrktb 7y ago
  As you point out people putting sugar in coffee or tea might be as old as tea or coffee in the western world. People even add sugar in their fruits when they feel they're no savory enough. I think though that it makes it all the more interesting that soda drinks succeeded in a market with a ton of other traditional alternatives. In my eyes the very fact that all the other standard sugary drinks have been displaced by commercial soda in so many countries is a reflection of the power of advertising. Interestingly from your link, in the last few years Chile has become the #1 soda drinking country...and of course: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coca-cola-to-invest-13-bln-in-chile-over-5-years-2012-11-16 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coca-cola-to-invest-13-bln... Aside from the health argument, I think advertisement can have deep and long lasting effects on a society. For a completely different take, De Beers decades of campaign to push diamonds on wedding rings is another example of it.
nilkn 7y ago
The amusing irony is that the best way to elevate awareness about soda alternatives might be advertising. So by eliminating certain types of ads, the side effect might be to encourage people to stick with what they know, which in many parts of the world is sugary soda instead of other flavored fizzy water that either has no sugar or very little sugar in comparison.

by hrktb 7y ago

ch4s3 7y ago

> I think you are seeing it in a culture where soda were already pushed to people's eyeballs for decades. That has nothing to do with your innate preference for sugars and calorie density. People liked sweet foods and dumped heaps of sugar into tea long before modern advertising existed. > But for comparison, asian or european countries with more push on other drinks (e.g. tea, can coffee, sparkling water) have less of an inclination towards soda. Soda is hugely popular in Asian and Europe. Out of the top 10 per-capita consumers of soda 4 are in Europe, including the Netherlands which has quite a few controls on ads[1]. [1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/which-countries-consume-the-most-sugary-drinks/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/which-countries-consu...

hrktb 7y ago
As you point out people putting sugar in coffee or tea might be as old as tea or coffee in the western world. People even add sugar in their fruits when they feel they're no savory enough. I think though that it makes it all the more interesting that soda drinks succeeded in a market with a ton of other traditional alternatives. In my eyes the very fact that all the other standard sugary drinks have been displaced by commercial soda in so many countries is a reflection of the power of advertising. Interestingly from your link, in the last few years Chile has become the #1 soda drinking country...and of course: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coca-cola-to-invest-13-bln-in-chile-over-5-years-2012-11-16 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coca-cola-to-invest-13-bln... Aside from the health argument, I think advertisement can have deep and long lasting effects on a society. For a completely different take, De Beers decades of campaign to push diamonds on wedding rings is another example of it.

nilkn 7y ago

The amusing irony is that the best way to elevate awareness about soda alternatives might be advertising. So by eliminating certain types of ads, the side effect might be to encourage people to stick with what they know, which in many parts of the world is sugary soda instead of other flavored fizzy water that either has no sugar or very little sugar in comparison.