Soda pop hasn't received the best publicity across Canada in recent years. Municipal governments and school boards have increasingly targeted the sale of soft drinks in vending machines.
Rather than trying to put up an argument for the nutritional value of their products, Coke and Pepsi have turned to other strategies to make drinkers feel better.
7UP has touted its new EcoGreen bottle, which will be made from 100 per cent recycled plastic, rather than the six million pounds it had used in the average year. A reduction of up to 30 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions and more than 55 per cent in energy use will result.
And connecting environmental efforts to 7UP, a soda already synonymous with the colour green, can't be a coincidence on the part of its Canadian bottler, Pepsi.
Coca-Cola would have a trickier time if it tried to link its signature product to physical health. But there's always the mental kind.
A survey of 5,000 Canadians, presumably reached through a Coke-related email list, concluded 87 per cent of people in the country are happiest on their weekend vacations.
People also like spending time on a lake, the cool breeze of the ocean air and the sight of the Rocky Mountains.
Yet, while the survey found 87 per cent of the country is happiest on vacation with a significant other, 82 per cent enjoy trips with their friends and 76 per cent claim to like vacationing with their children, just 46 per cent believe sharing a Coca-Cola on a sunny afternoon makes them feel happier.
Still, if that statistic translates to mean more than 15 million people in this land aren't willing to sacrifice their soda habits anytime soon, it's a number the beleaguered pop business can probably live with.
(Reuters Photo)
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