I was going to put this in the “Great Debates” forum, but saner heads prevailed…
I recently read somewhere (it might have been at www.snopes.com) that the reason for the whole “New Coke” fiasco was that polls indicated that people actually liked the taste of Diet Coke better than regular Coke (Diet Coke had a different formula, not just artificial sweeteners instead of sugar), and so the people at Coca-Cola decided to redesign regular coke using the Diet Coke formula, but with sugar. Unfortunately, they didn’t count on brand loyalty – people who drank regular Coke were used to the taste and simply didn’t want to switch, even if the “new” version tasted better.
Anyway, I’m not a cola drinker (I think it all tastes like malted battery acid, to quote Berk Breathed), and I especially dislike diet colas because of the aftertaste left by the artificial sweeteners. So I’m wondering… Do people drink Diet Coke because they really think it tastes better than regular coke, or is it primarily to avoid the high calories in regular coke?
In other words, do you drink Diet Coke because it tastes great, or because it has less colories?
I originally started for the (lack of) calories, but I soon got used to the taste. I drink three liter-sized drinks every day. At 440 calories a pop for the regular-octane drinks, that’s 1300 calories a day, or almost 40,000 a month. I don’t need them. For the same reason I drink unsweetened tea. Not artificially-sweetened. Just plain ol’ unsweetened. When I’m eating, I drink about a half-gallon at a sitting. Don’t know how that translates to calories, but, again, I don’t need them. I prefer tea that’s sweetened to my tastes, but that’s a sacrifice I had to make. After I got used to the taste of unsweetened tea, it was no big deal.
I drink it for the “Less calories.” Soda is one if the easiest things to eliminate from your diet if you’re looking to trim.
After about 3 months of nothing but Diet… I fell of the wagon last weekend. All you people who say the “real stuff” doesn’t taste good after you get used to Diet are a bunch of liars*. “Real” Coke tasted… I think “heavenly” is the only word that applies.
*hyperbole. I’m sure some people actually feel this way.
I drink Diet Coke because of the lack of calories. I usually drink around 3 sodas a day, and thats a hell of a lot of calories. The reason I drink Diet Coke and not other diet sodas is because IMO, they taste like crap. I don’t know how to explain it but Diet Coke doesn’t suck as much as the others.
Same for me. However, I don’t drink nearly as much as I used to - the caffeine was messing with my sleep cycle. And the decaffeinated version tastes just a bit “off” to me. Mostly I drink water, but when I want a morning zap, I’ll have a Diet Coke.