If you're going to invoke "incel" in an argument about feminism on the Internet... be careful you don't make it clear that being an incel is something you understand intimately. 

So, "Mexican Cokes" are the perfect example of how economies and market demand work - and why government interference in free market economies causes damages.  

We've been told that Corn Syrup is simply a necessary ingredient in order to deliver products at a price US Citizens are willing to pay. This has resulted in nearly all food manufacturers switching from real sugar to corn syrup in their sweetened products. There is also evidence that corn syrup, gram for gram - has far worse health impacts than genuine sugar. Neither may be good for you - but sugar is absolutely the lesser of two evils in this case. 


The obesity crisis strongly correlates with the adoption of corn syrup, and subjectively, I think that the decline in popular fast-food places, along with a sentiment that, "their food used to taste better," reflects the adoption of corn syrup as a sugar alternative and the removal of trans-fats. I had a Whopper in Tokyo - and it was the best Whopper I've had in 20 years. It tasted like a Whopper tasted in the 80s. I came back and thought I'd give the UK BK another shot - and nope - the US Whopper tastes like shit. I'm going to have to give BK in Mexico a try next time I get down there. My guess is, the Mexican Whopper still tastes great, too. 

US Corn subsidies are obviously at the root of all of this. But, the US public obediently rolled over and accepted it all. They tell us something is unhealthy for us, that they've got a better alternative - and that bottom line, if we want these things to be affordable, it is the only choice, and we accept it. 

But... the Mexican Coke laughs in the face of this rhetoric. Mexico could GAF about US Corn Subsidies. There is no corporate incentive to use the US cash crop in overseas markets. Sugar is no more or less expensive as a raw commodity in Mexico than it is anywhere else in the world. But a Mexican coke, in Mexico, like all other products - is typically far less expensive (outside of tourist areas) than a US coke - bottle for bottle. Sure there are labor and regulation and real estate sunk costs in Mexico that are cheaper - but overall - the coke bottled in Mexico using cane sugar isn't more expensive than the one in the US made with corn syrup - and in fact, reaches the Mexican consumer with a far lower pricetag than the US consumer pays for his bottle of coke. 

If corn syrup was actually *cheaper* - Coca-Cola would attempt to force that recipe on its global audience. But in South America in particular, Latino consumers reject that shit outright. Coca-Cola, or any other food industry, that tried to push off corn-syrup as a sugar alternative would see their market share plummet to nearly nil overnight. Latinos want their treats *super* sweet - and their refined sweetbuds can pick out corn syrup alternatives like a shark sensing a drop of blood in the water 10 miles away. 

So, Coca-Cola manufacturers Coke with real cane sugar in Latin America, and sells it cheaper. But they ALSO import it back into the US. Initially, this was because Latin American immigrants in the US wouldn't drink US formula coke. But eventually American native Coke drinkers discovered that Mexican cokes taste more like "original coke" than "original" coke. They jack up the price by a significant margin over domestic coke - even though everything about making it costs them LESS, other than exporting it back to the US - and savvy US buyers pay the premium because side by side, US coke tastes like *shit* compared to Mexican coke, and it is probably *better* for you overall, and despite less health and safety regulation in Mexico - Coke from Mexico has a compelling global interest in making sure typical Mexican food product issues, like lead contamination - do not become a news item - so the health safety is self-regulating. 


This isn't really about US Coke vs. Mexican Coke though - it is about Government... Government subsidies and incentives, excessive Government regulations of industries, Government manipulation of free markets - and illustrates that the LESS a Government fucks around with things of this nature, the *better* it tends to be for the consumer. It is also an observation about the will of the people as the market force, and how the Government and corporations collude to convince the people that what is best for the Corporations and Government - is the best for them. 


US consumers are price motivated. If Coca cola wants us to accept corn-syrup sweeteners because the US Federal Government wants to pay subsidies to corn farmers and incentivize using corn products in every kind of food manufacturing conceivable - all Coke has to do is raise the prices of traditionally sweetened Coke and claim, "sugar is expensive," and then offer the corn-syrup alternative at a far lower price... and most consumers pick up a six pack or case at their local Wal-Mart, take it back to their mobile home, and then sit around going, "this shit doesn't taste like it did when I was a kid..." as they roll around in their mobility scooter because they're 450 pounds as they swig it down. We're a quantity over quality consumer market. We want LOTS of it, so we want it cheap... and it doesn't really have to be cheap - we just need the illusion that it is cheaper than the alternative - and often that is enough to make up our minds for us. 

In Mexico, for much of the population, even a Mexican priced Coke is a special and occasional treat. Even at that, it has to be relatively cheap compared to other economies. But, Mexican consumers will simply go with something else if that rare, inexpensive luxury isn't to their tastes. Collectively - they would go, "there are better alternatives than this new crap they're trying to foist on us."  They're a quality over quantity culture in this regard. 

The doctrine of making the product "the problem" is also part of all of this. Coke, burgers, fries, ketchup, sugar - have always been part of the American diet since the 50s. QUANTITY and ingredients are what changed in correlation with the "obesity epidemic". We made it *super cheap* so you could have a lot of it, and we replaced a major ingredient that was organic and natural with a highly processed one that is subsidized and artificial. We turned it into shit and made it so you could eat it all the time. Then we blamed it for our own fat asses. 

And it all goes back to the US political obsession with making corn America's most important cash crop. All of this... which is the reason the Mexican Coke is a thing - is spawned by that - by the US Federal Government trying to artificially control the economy. 

It pisses me off every time I drink a Mexican coke that I paid an American import price for. If the US consumers were just smart enough - like the Mexican ones, to go, "Nope. We won't drink that shit, and we won't pay more for the alternative." That would put an end to it. But we're not that smart. We get exactly the Government we deserve. 

Not to say my ass isn't a big fat American one, but I've been drinking the harder to find Pepsi-Cola made with real sugar. Since it came out a few years ago. First they brought back the limited time original recipe and when that got scarce I found this and never looked back. My favorite market has 20 spaces for stacks of Pepsi packs and only 2 spaces for the Real sugar and it is almost always nearly empty. I'll grab a Mexican coke now and then, but generally I've had to stop drinking soda while out. Water is fine. I used to enjoy 7-up while out. Not enough to buy it for home use, but now it, like the normal Pepsi tastes like shit. Full agreement. Corn sweetened soda crap, but I have my workaround.

This all reminds me of margarine. It had only two purposes, supposedly being "better for you" than butter and making companies money while making us all a little sicker. Not my favorite trend. So I will simultaneously agree with you on the free market angle and then wonder why it took the market SO long to discover how bad margarine was for us compared to butter. Not to mention how much better things made with real butter taste.

So, I *was* a Pepsi kid... then I had my drug problems, and then my heart problems... and that made me stop drinking caffeine at 16 when I became a computer/modem geek. I used to drink a 6 pack a day when I was a coke(cane) addict. 


And then... here in Arizona... a couple of times I got blotto drunk and ended up doing Redbull/Energy drink shots and I lived and I'm old now and then I got a diagnosis that my heart diagnosis from back then was wrong. I don't have the defect they thought I had. And... I went, "wait... I can drink caffeine"  

And one drunken all nighter with friends from Ohio, I had a whole cup of coffee. It kept me up, and even when I needed to catch a few hours sleep for the drive back home, I couldn't fall asleep I was SO wired... and then I drove the whole way home, and then I stayed up once I got home until I passed out at 8 PM that night... 

But I *lived*. 

And I went, "MAN I FUCKING MISS HAVING A COLA..." 

So, I started again with Pepsi... and I *hated* it... then I had a coke, and I went, "I like Coke better than Pepsi..." 

But maybe what it is is that I like modern Coke better than modern Pepsi, and Mexican Coke better than modern coke... and maybe... I hadn't ever thought of it... 


Maybe what I really want is a CLASSIC Pepsi. 

Made with real sugar. 

You're right about margarine - too. Eggs is another one where... they had SOME reason... economic reason... for making us NOT eat eggs, and then they went... "oh no, we were wrong, eggs are fine...." 

Kind of like "Masks are useless, no wait, if you don't wear a mask you're evil!" 

But anyhow, you've inspired me. Now I will be on the hunt for Real Sugar Pepsi to see if my tastes have changed, or if Pepsi's taste has changed. 

Wed Mar 02 2022 19:02:38 MST from thanatos

Not to say my ass isn't a big fat American one, but I've been drinking the harder to find Pepsi-Cola made with real sugar. Since it came out a few years ago. First they brought back the limited time original recipe and when that got scarce I found this and never looked back. My favorite market has 20 spaces for stacks of Pepsi packs and only 2 spaces for the Real sugar and it is almost always nearly empty. I'll grab a Mexican coke now and then, but generally I've had to stop drinking soda while out. Water is fine. I used to enjoy 7-up while out. Not enough to buy it for home use, but now it, like the normal Pepsi tastes like shit. Full agreement. Corn sweetened soda crap, but I have my workaround.

 

This all reminds me of margarine. It had only two purposes, supposedly being "better for you" than butter and making companies money while making us all a little sicker. Not my favorite trend. So I will simultaneously agree with you on the free market angle and then wonder why it took the market SO long to discover how bad margarine was for us compared to butter. Not to mention how much better things made with real butter taste.