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Retroist's avatar

I have seen this Cyclamate controversy come up before and I have seen it still in use with other countries. I need to read through these. I am curious how the taste of the Cyclamate/Saccharine as a combo differs from artificial sweeteners that followed.

Christian Lindke's avatar

Me too. I'll have to see if Edward Bernays (the father of Propaganda) was a part of the team the sugar industry hired. While he wrote important books to help people recognize the influence of propaganda, he was also one of the major implementers of it and among his achievements was increasing the smoking population in the US.

RJ's avatar

Now if only we could see a wave of sugar-sweetened major brand soft drinks! Soda Fountain Pepsi seems like it might be here to stay and Coca-Cola tells Trump they’ll bring sugar back (as they already do for Jewish holidays), but Real Sugar Mountain Dew, which I loved, has sadly been discontinued…

Sheila (of Ephemera)'s avatar

Never heard of Like Cola, but that's not surprising (being in Canada), although we got all the Washington State/Seattle TV stations.

Here's a couple for you that I remember from my childhood, growing up very close to a corner store in my rural-ish neighbourhood. Aspen - apple soda pop. I would still drink this - I was a fan then.

Do you remember when Hostess chips (pre-Frito-Lay buyout) came out with fruit-flavoured potato chips? They had grape, cherry and orange, and they were disgusting. Like, seriously gross. Can't believe they ever made it past test marketing!

Retroist's avatar

Aspen! Yes!

https://www.retroist.com/p/do-you-remember-aspen-soda

I never got to try fruit flavored potato chips. They sound like a bad idea but I would still love to try them.

Sheila (of Ephemera)'s avatar

Cool, thanks, should’ve known you were all over Aspen!

No, they were disgusting. Hard pass!😁

David Perlmutter's avatar

I wonder about the intended meaning of the name. Was it "Like" as in "You will like this" or "Like" as in "Not exactly cola, but close enough."

I always assumed that 7UP was a division of Pepsi- the fact that it and Miller were once subsidiaries of Philip Morris is mind-blowing. But PM needed a new source of income after the government banned the sale of cigarettes on television, no doubt.

Jon (Animated)'s avatar

Loved this deep dive into Like Cola’s brief fizz! You’ve captured the charm, marketing flair, and uphill battle perfectly. Brilliant piece.