New Cokes And Pepsis
February 28, 2004 2:20 PM   Subscribe

Niche Meets Nietzsche In The Coke Wars: Andrew Barlow's piece on the new Cokes and Pepsis, like all good satire, sounds like the future. Can the mix-your-own Coke on demand be far behind?
posted by MiguelCardoso (29 comments total)
 
Funny. I think the specialization of cola to niche markets is the natural outgrowth of a consumer culture that at one time wants to embrace individuality, but is conversely conformist. The same thing happens to beer. Michelob for example, has more then a half dozen "versions" of lightly flavored piss, available from can, tap or bottle.
posted by elwoodwiles at 2:34 PM on February 28, 2004


With all these different colas abounding, why the hell can't I get a Coke II [new coke] in Canada yet?

ARGH! :-)
posted by shepd at 2:38 PM on February 28, 2004


Why would you want such a thing, Shepd?
posted by grabbingsand at 2:50 PM on February 28, 2004


Screw cola, be subversive. Be A pepper
posted by jonmc at 2:57 PM on February 28, 2004


shepd: here ya' go.
posted by elwoodwiles at 2:59 PM on February 28, 2004


Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 3:07 PM on February 28, 2004


I'm a Pepsi man, grabbingsand, but I'm willing to experiment. :-)
posted by shepd at 3:15 PM on February 28, 2004


MWM: BiCola Curious. Seeks same.
posted by ColdChef at 3:25 PM on February 28, 2004


The answer to the question may be yes mix-your-own will be far behind as the mass market tends to offer multiple choice over customisability.

But you can always be creative with your condiments in a postmodern way. I like hot sauce mixed with my ketchup (or whole grain mustard with balsamic vinegar when I'm going more top shelf). Alchemy meets Althusser in the War on Condiments!
posted by liam at 3:30 PM on February 28, 2004


theyrule
posted by Satapher at 3:36 PM on February 28, 2004


Huh. Cocoa beans, you say? Is it wrong that that idea really intrigues me?
posted by jearbear at 4:02 PM on February 28, 2004


I, for one, welcome our new brown drink overlords.
posted by chrid at 4:15 PM on February 28, 2004


Coke II just tastes like pepsi.

Anyway, you can already mix-your own sodas on demand. They're called 'fountan drink machines."
posted by delmoi at 4:16 PM on February 28, 2004


When I was a kid, it was common to mix sodas out of the fountain machine. We'd mix all the flavors to produce what we, inexplicitly, called a "suicide." I remember that it tasted like Dr Pepper.
posted by elwoodwiles at 4:32 PM on February 28, 2004


The all soda mix we had was called a Graveyard for some reason. Kind of nasty really.
Nowadays I do the lemonade and iced tea mix.
posted by fenriq at 7:09 PM on February 28, 2004


To satisfy my pregnant wife's Bloody Mary craving this past weekend at Mardi Gras, I mixed Bloody Mary mix with Sprite.

Not too damn bad, really.
posted by ColdChef at 7:36 PM on February 28, 2004


Actually, since I quit boozin', I've been on something of an Ovaltine jag. Maybe I should hit this joint. When I need something cold, I'm all about the Dr. Pepper, though.
posted by jonmc at 7:41 PM on February 28, 2004


Dr Pepper has no period. Haven't we been through this?
posted by ColdChef at 7:59 PM on February 28, 2004


Dr Pepper has no period.

Perhaps Baby Pepper is on the way.
posted by jonmc at 8:16 PM on February 28, 2004


Dammit, delmoi, I was going to say that (the fountain drink thing, that is).
posted by me3dia at 8:35 PM on February 28, 2004


When I was a kid, it was common to mix sodas out of the fountain machine. We'd mix all the flavors to produce what we, inexplicitly, called a "suicide." I remember that it tasted like Dr Pepper.

I did this too! Only we called it swamp water. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 8:56 PM on February 28, 2004


It was "suicide" back in Minnesnowta. We were crazy in those days.

The big breakthrough, however, came when I worked at Pizza Hut: Pepsi soft drinks, but 3.2 beer on tap. We had the worst deliver drivers ever.
posted by subgenius at 9:36 PM on February 28, 2004


That kid stuff'll rot yer teeth, sonny.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:19 PM on February 28, 2004


Whenever I drink Mid-Calorie Coke, I get knock.
posted by dhartung at 12:05 AM on February 29, 2004


SisterHavana, we called it swampwater too.

Now I am thinking about trying that again. Haven't had it in years.
posted by synecdoche at 12:41 AM on February 29, 2004


yeah, me too. blahblahblah, right i like it also yadayadayda. what a great idea
shit, i ran out of snark.
posted by clavdivs at 9:38 AM on February 29, 2004


Yet, post-irony is a glorious post-solipsism, in which the meaning of communication is unreal even to its originator. Thus, consumption, which has become a religious ritual for most, becomes a release through the denying of its intention. The meaning of consumption to the artist of the will to damnation is not the cessation of suffering, but just the opposite, the glutting thereof. There is no greater source of pain or sorrow that which has as its object happiness.

Thirty-five years ago, Adorno argued that the jargon of authenticity is closely allied with the manipulations of advertising. Sure enough, as the twentieth century nears its end, the idea that one can rebel against bourgeois life by buying what Thomas Frank, the editor of the Baffler, has described as "soaps that liberate us, soda pops that are emblems of individualism, and counter-hegemonic hamburgers," is all-triumphant. We can see what the Baffler calls the "commodification of dissent" present in the pre-history of existential authenticity; perhaps by understanding the origins of both authenticity and fake authenticity we can finally get a handle on why (as opposed to how) the commodification of dissent has been so successful.
posted by clavdivs at 12:33 PM on February 29, 2004


We used to do density experiments on the soda-machine...

You could create a sort of "parfait" effect by putting the densest soda at the bottom and gently layering.
posted by Karmakaze at 8:02 AM on March 1, 2004


...i seem to be getting a thing on "samish-sex marriages" not coke/pepsi. or am i missing something?
posted by knapah at 10:25 AM on March 1, 2004


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