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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Coke Machine

The Coke Machine



 I mentioned in a comment the other day that I'm an avid reader.  Case in point, I've been reading this:


I really enjoy books about any kind of history.  It could be American history, European history, or even, as in this case, the history of a particular company.  I also like books about business and business concepts.  I originally thought that The Coke Machine would fall into the latter category.  In fact, it's both (and I wish it weren't).

The Coke Machine is unfortunately a little biased.  If you can't make out the sub-heading in the picture, it reads, "The dirty truth behind the world's favorite soft drink."  (Not to be confused with "the erotic truth" behind coke.  That's . . . um . . . a story for another day.)  As I mentioned on Monday, opinions are fun, but not at the expense of historical fact.  The problem is: Michael Blanding subtly bashes coke starting with world war one, which is not too long after the beginning.

Now I have a fairly capitalist mindset, and I have to say, if Coke wants to sell cokes in schools, so be it.  If coke wants to pitch Dasani as "enhanced, pure water," then more power to them (no matter how oxymoronic it sounds is...).   If Coke can find a way to oblige their shareholders and make money, then by all means, let 'em.

I don't want to get too far off point, so . . .  Would I recommend this book?  Well, if you can keep an open mind, yes.  If you're a die-hard coke fanatic who thinks they can do no wrong, then you'd be better off skipping it, because yes, coca-cola used to contain cocaine.  Isn't that what you really wanted to know anyway?  :)


5 comments:

Leigh said...

Wasn't it originally designed as a type of cleaner? Or is that an old wives' tale? My grandpa swears it cleans a car battery better than anything else in the world.

THUNDERCAT said...

I don't mess with coke! It deviated my septum ...oh you meant the drink *runs*

Cole Garrett said...

@ Jess Based on Blanding's historical research, the cleaner back story is a wives tale. Unfortunately for Coke, it does an amazing job at cleaning car batteries. LOL.

@ Thundercat Coke(-a-cola) can dissolve a pound of meat in a week. Just imagine if someone snorted THAT!

Anonymous said...

Jess, if you empty a whole load of coke into a really disgusting bathtub and let it sit for a long while and then rinse off the coke, you'll end up with a near brand-new looking bath tub. Unfortunately, yes. It is that corrosive.

StephanieC said...

The tanks that carry the syrup have those skull and crossbones warnings on them... but that doesn't stop me from drinking copius amounts of this stuff at the movie theatre.

You should also try "Belching Out The Devil" which is about Coca Cola and how it exploits workers and land in other countries in the world. It is biased for sure, but raises some very interesting points about sustainability and destruction of groundwater and stuff.

It is more entertaining than it sounds, I swear.

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