Editor's Introduction

The soda wars have taken a new turn. No longer is it a battle between Coke and Pepsi to see who wins in a blind taste test. Today's soda war is between the consumer and the gigantic multinational beverage companies whose sales are plummeting. Evidence is pointing to sodas as one of the major contributors to obesity, and taxes are being slapped on what many are now calling "liquid candy."

Sugar-sweetened beverages and their purveyors have been around for over a century, but not until recently have they come under attack by public health officials and nutritionists. One reason these companies have sailed by for years relatively unscathed is that they have done an astonishing job at telling their story to the public through advertising, promotions, give-aways, philanthropy, catchy jingles, and world-famous spokespersons. They have directed attention away from the health hazards of sugar with the help of academia, which has often been in cahoots with the sugar industry, pointing a finger at fat as the culprit underlying the growing obesity problem in the United States and around the world. Recently, documents published in JAMA Internal Medicine reveal how the sugar industry paid Harvard researchers in the 1960s to shift the blame from sugar onto fat as the culprit for the increase in heart disease.

Research not sponsored by the soda or sugar industry has shown that refined carbohydrates, like those found in soft drinks, do contribute to the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. And the public has begun to take action. They are drinking far less soda than they drank 20 years ago, and they are voting in cities across the country to levy a tax on sugary drinks.

In spite of these changes among consumers, the soda industry won't be easily dissuaded in their attempt to sell sugary drinks, no matter what the cost to people's health. Because consumption is decreasing in the United States, these massive businesses have several options. They can increase consumption in new markets, which means pushing sugary drinks around the world; they can increase consumption among those who still consume the products; or they can sell other products, like bottled water, energy drinks, and juices. These companies are driven by profit. In order to survive and keep their shareholders happy, they must sell, sell, sell. We see this in the questionable approaches they continue to take to market their product.

For example, Pepsi recently launched an advertising campaign that featured celebrity model Kendall Jenner offering a can of Pepsi to a police officer during a protest. After a Twitter storm erupted, in which consumers complained that Pepsi was diminishing the importance of protest movements across the country by using their product as a way to instill trust with the police, Pepsi withdrew the ad. Another public relations effort involves the head of the Ford Foundation, Darren Walker, who joined the board of PepsiCo in 2016. This move garnered sharp criticism from those in public health, who questioned how the CEO of one of the largest nonprofit foundations in the country could justify sitting on a board that promotes sugary drinks and fatty snacks. The New York Times reported in an interview that Walker knows that his "own credibility and the credibility of the Ford Foundation is tied to the decision. Those of us in philanthropy have to be discerning about the corporate boards we join, and be discriminating to ensure that our service on a board is aligned with our values." But more than Walker's credibility is at stake. By aligning itself with one of the nation's leaders on social justice issues, Pepsi is sending a powerful message: Pepsi cares. Never mind that Walker's presence on the board will not likely change the direction of a multi-billion-dollar company whose profits are made by selling non-nutritious drinks and fatty snacks.

The point here is that the soda industry will stop at nothing to come up with clever slogans and ad campaigns and to snag opinion leaders in order to prop up a business that sells flavored water mixed with...