Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Natural Lemon Flavored Water Beverage?



I was feeling quirky and apparently naive at lunch today. I saw the words "lemon and water" and thought that I had found a bottled water with a splash of lemon flavor. Instead I found a water with too many syllables and too many ingredients! When the word "water" doesn't show up until the end of the description, I should've known what was coming! Leave it up to Coca Cola and other big corporations to think of ingenious ways to bastardize something as natural and pure as good ol' H2O! I can just imagine the "creative team" sitting around an ominous table discussing ways to taint the American palate:

How about adding some "splenda"?
I bet 60mg of sodium will compliment the super-sodium-saturated diet of most Americans! What do you think "Bob"?
"Great idea--don't forget to add "potassium sorbate and benzoate,some magnesium sulfate and acesulfame! Mmmmm good!Just like the water Mom used to make!"

At least it tastes delicious now that they've added copious amounts of crap right? Nope--It tastes like Sprite after a half cup of ice has melted in the glass. Coca Cola company, make up your mind and stick to the tried and true: "Sprite" and "water" as separate entities do just fine!

I can join my dad in his detest of the big beverage companies! He used to only buy "Royal Crown" or "RC" cola because of the beverage monopolization wars of Pepsi and Coca Cola! However, As usual, I'm torn because even though I have a small-time business I aspire to be a big powerful corporation (or at least reap similar benefits and power). I hate how big corporations dominate the markets, but at the same time I have to admire the chutzpah to claw and scramble to the top of the American food chain!

Is Coca Cola so bad because it moves at matrix speed to come up with creative flavors,packaging,and always evolves to offer the public more and more options?! Since I tend to favor change and entrepeneurism (okay I made that word up, but maybe it needs to be made up for language to grow), I guess I have to concede to Coca Cola's dominance! Maybe they'll chock the "natural lemon flavored water beverage" experiment to the "failed" category and move on (quickly and mercifully)!

4 comments:

p0nk said...

many millenia ago when i was in college, our marketing class discussed the classic coke/new coke 'debacle'. It was a real eye-opener to most of us idealists to realize the issue was not about creating the better product but rather amassing the most shelf space in the store. Coca-Cola didn't get where they are by accident.

Eagle Eye said...

That's exactly it. Today's young stars know it is all about visibility, no matter how you get it! It is a tricky, double-edge sword because you want to get your product out there, but you don't want the competition to know your edge!
I wish I would have taken some business classes, what with me owning a business now and all!

p0nk said...

lol, yes that would probably have come in handy although a lot of it is simply crap - filler just to make you feel you earned your degree.
(Minor in Business Administration)

Eagle Eye said...

College is akin to a circus--How many hoops can you jump through and requirements can you juggle?
Congrats--you sat through hours of useless bullshit here's your degree!