We're living in a capitalist culture. I'm part of it. I'm not about to go and live in a hut and grow my own potatoes. I'm not moving to China. Don't freak out! I'm just aware that it exists. Though, there's one part of it that I find really confusing.
Do you like water? I like water. Our bodies are around 60% water. It's kind of important to us, isn't it? We could survive, maybe a week without water, but let me tell you that it would be an extremely painful week.
Are you sold on water? Great, get drinking. Now let's talk about something else. Let's play the imagination game together?
You're in a restaurant. You sit down with your buddies, and instead of reading the menu you're busy yapping! Before you know it, the waiter is at the table. He's that french guy from the Monty Python sketch. The one that's all like 'Can I offer you a waffferrr thin mint!?'.
What would you like to drink?
Uh oh. I didn't get a chance to look at the menu. Think of something standard. What's the generic drink? What's the simplest drink that you can think of?
Why thank you good sir, I'll have a coke!
Wait, what? Your body should have at least a litre and a half of water a day. You need it to live, and in your moment of panic you ask for a Coca Cola?
The truth is that water isn't the default drink of the nation. Coca cola is. Years of subliminal and unsubliminal advertising have forced the sugary brown beverage it into your brain. It's there. It's the fuel of the world.
It's a drink that's roughly 10% sugar, not to mention the other chemicals/ingredients that are thrown into the mix. It should be a drink that we have for taste now and again, and not our default form of refreshment.
Now anyone who's ever met me will know I'm not a health freak. I'm a pretty big guy! I'm working on it, but I'm still on the round side. However, I drink a metric shit-tonne (official unit) of water each day, and I find it gives me more energy, and more alertness. On average I drink around 3.5 litres a day.
So am I saying that Coke is evil? Hell no! They are a hugely succesful company, and do some great things for charity.
Instead, why don't we think of Coke as a luxury drink. Not the default beverage that we reach for when we're thirsty or surprised. Instead let's reach for it when we want an alternate taste to accompany a suitable cuisine... errr.. burgers I guess.
On a side note, I've recently returned from my vacation in Malta. Out there they have another popular soft drink called 'Kinnie'.
Quite honestly, I thought it tasted like orange bleach. The idea was that after the war, American 'soda-pops' were pushed upon the Maltese, and they had a hard time adjusting their poor lil' mediterranean taste buds to the sugar content. They decided to make a new soft drink using oranges and herbs instead of sugar and... the other stuff in Coke. Beetroot? Heck if I know!