Flavor Fanatic

Our society’s obsession with beverages is alarming. Soft drinks, juices, energy drinks, even flavored water cover the shelves of the grocery store’s beverage aisle. Juice not only comes in every fruit flavor imaginable but now in combinations, like strawberry banana pineapple or orange mango passion. And, for consumer’s convenience, these juices come in the tradition big container or in an individual “juice boxes,” perfect for lunches and sports games. The aisle reserved solely for soda looks like a rainbow. From one end to the next you will find a liquid in every color, from red to purple to brown to yellow. Soda companies have also extended their flavor choices from the just the original Dr Pepper or Coke to an enhanced taste with vanilla or cherry. You will even find flavored water like Propel or Vitamin Water or Crystal Light packets, because I guess the bland taste of water just isn’t doing it for consumers anymore.

What do you think people would do if they went to a fast food place expecting to get a large Coke with their meal but instead found that the establishment only served water as a beverage? I think people would freak out, even leave and go to a place that did serve soda. Personally, I don’t drink a lot of soda at all. Juice, yes, but I’m not a fan of soda, so when I see people with one of those Big Gulps from 7-Eleven I’m dumbfounded by the fact that someone can actually drink that much soda in one day. Or I know someone that drinks Coke like its breathing, if he doesn’t have about 6 Cokes a day, he goes nuts, as if it were nicotine or something. I don’t think people realize just how bad soda is for our bodies, especially in the amounts that some are consuming. Energy drinks tend to use advertisements with the notion in mind that “sex sells.” A sexy commercial can send the message that hey, if I drink that product I will look like her and attract good-looking men. I see models, sports stars, or entertainers as spokespeople for certain energy drinks, which influences the audience because people look up to them.

Of course soda and energy drinks and multiple flavors of juice aren’t the most pressing issue surrounding our culture, but it does raise the issue of unhealthy choices at a maximum rate by America’s consumers today.