lxxxii
2.7.08
published on 03/27/08
Campaign taste-test kicks Coke and Pepsi
Sarah Siegel
Life Editor
Students with a yen for Retreat snacks got a treat on Feb. 26 and 27: free drinks as part of a taste test from the Vassar Kick Coke Campaign, the student coalition devoted to banishing the cola company from campus because of its alleged human rights abuses.
Students tasted a variety of drinks that could serve as alternatives to Coca-Cola in campus vending machines, including Honest Tea, Izze, The Switch, Wanu, Steaz and Polar Beverages. Two other companies are being considered for fountain drink options.
“Many of these companies are produced in the area, some of which are USDA-certified organic and some Fair Trade-certified,” said Kick Coke Campaign organizer Reed Dunlea ’09 in an e-mailed statement.
Three hundred and forty-five Vassarians participated in the poll, and a whopping 94 percent chose a beverage other than Coke or Pepsi.
Many also filled out comment cards, providing reasons for their choices that ranged from the gastronomical (“I don’t like soda or Coke and would like more iced tea/fruit juice options”), to the socially conscious (“If Vassar is really committed to social justice and sustainability, they will get rid of” Coke), to the laissez-faire (“We should have as many choices as possible…including Coke and Pepsi.”), to the dismissive (“Better things could be done with our time”).
The organizers considered the taste-test a success, but Dunlea indicated that their task was getting harder by the day. “A couple of weeks before the taste-test, Coca-Cola bought 40 percent of Honest Tea,” he said, highlighting the complex connections between corporations that have complicated so many socially conscious investment and divestment campaigns in recent years.
Kick Coke Taste-Test Results
345 voters
Alternative company: 94 percent
Coca-Cola: 4 percent
Pepsi: 2 percent
Abstain: less than 1 percent
Alternative companies
Steaz: 36 percent
Izze: 32 percent
Honest Tea: 15 percent
Polar Beverages: 6 percent
The Switch: 6 percent
Wanu: 5 percent
Statistics courtesy of Kick Coke Campaign
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Alumnae/i posters are strongly encouraged to include their class year with their name. The maximum length for comments is approximately 100 words; longer responses should be submitted as letters to the editor to misc@vassar.edu. More information about our letters policy can be found on our Policies page.
Posted by Derek
Ah, the fallacy of the blind taste-test.
The reason Pepsi always kicked Coke's ass in the "Pepsi Challenge" ad-campaign is because it was sweeter, which (in short taste-test environments) humans are naturally wired to prefer. However, when people try them side-by-side for prolonged periods of time, Coke consistently beats Pepsi.
The point is that random taste-tests like that which the article describes are meaningless. Coke is #1 in sales for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that it tastes awesome.
The Kick Coke campaign really has two options:
1.) The college continues to sell Coke products, paying Coke the extremely reduced prices that educational institutions get (versus standard retail outlets). For instance, a standard "medium coke" in the retreat may only put a couple pennies in Coke's coffers.
2.) Kick Coke fuss and moan and get their way, and all of us Coke fans start paying for it at Stop and Shop and bringing it to the campus, 20 oz. or 2-liters at a time. Either way, and this is the kicker, putting more money in Coke's coffers than we would be if we were buying it through the college.
People who like the taste of Coca-Cola, want Coke. Period. "Banning it" on campus is going to work exactly as well as banning the OTHER kind of coke has, which is to say "not at all", and will actually have exactly the opposite effect of what the Kick Coke folks would want.
Posted on March 30, 2008 04:04 PM