Never!
Really, though, I think Coke Zero DOES taste a lot like regular Coke. The problem for me is that I’ve reconditioned my tastebuds toward Diet Coke. If Diet Coke disappears entirely, I can rerecondition my tastebuds, I bet.
You could always try linking to some of these posters who think the free market is perfect.
On the plus side of this whole thing, I’m drinking a Pepsi Max right now, and it’s really good.
If you seriously can’t think of any time you’ve ever seen anyone overstate the abilities of the free market, then there’s no way I’m going to convince you with links.
You’ve never heard someone say the free market can fix something? Not just help but fix it? You’ve never heard someone say that X wouldn’t be a problem with a free market?
Read the Medicare thread in the Pit right now and you’ll see someone with a magical understanding of the free market.
As I said upthread, the “perfect” part is sarcasm. The “magical” part is based on reading a lot of stuff, especially about complex issues like health care.
Yes, I’ve heard people say these things. Since there are a lot of things that the free market can fix, it isn’t particularly surprising that I’ve heard someone say so. I fail to see how that is the same thing as saying the free market is perfect. You’ve created a beautiful strawman.
And you are demonstrating that you don’t care what I say, since I’ve explained a couple of times about “perfect.” So, if you want to talk strawmen, buddy, you’ve got a nice field for it.
Yeah, right. Were you being sarcastic here, too?
You can’t just claim “sarcasm” any time you realize you don’t like something you’ve said.
If the spot for a particular product is consistently out of stock or nearly so, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on. And how many people is the minimum for a demand? It doesn’t matter how many people are involved. All that matters is how much of a product is consistently sought after.
I was using it hyperbolically, but fine:
There. You’ve now heard someone somewhere say the free market is perfect. Happy? Or are the goalposts going to shift?
Personally, my goalposts have shifted. Pepsi Max is a perfectly acceptable substitute for Diet Coke. If Coke can’t keep Diet Coke on my shelf, I’ll buy Pepsi. It’s the perfect solution.
Yeah, it’s pretty inconceivable that I’m the only one who goes to the local stores and finds they’re out of Diet Coke. I was looking up data and found that Diet Coke is the third most popular soft drink. I think it was 10% of the soft drinks sold in the US. I’ll have to look for that again.
No.
Diet Coke was formulated to have 0 calories - but not to taste like Coke.*
Coke Zero was formulated to taste like Coke and have 0 calories.
*I read “somewhere” that a some people don’t actually like Coke, they just buy it. The brand is that strong. During the Pepsi Challenge days, people would do the blind taste test, be shown that they prefer Pepsi on their way into the grocery store and walk out of the same store with Coca-Cola.
When they formulated Diet Coke, they just made something up.
Okay, I’ll amend my statement. I was under the distinct impression you were talking about reasonable people of the SDMB, or people like them. If you’re responding to the crazies of this world, then you shouldn’t really bother with the debate.
So:
Other than total right wing nutjobs who can only be found in the comments section of an article that was buried 9 pages deep into a google search, you aren’t going to find anyone who thinks the free market is perfect.
Thanks.
But no thanks to any additional shifting of that thar goal, with you using undefined and undefinable terms like “right wing nutjobs.”
Please. Had I known you were posting this on the SDMB in an attempt to reach nobody who actually posts here, I wouldn’t have wasted my time.
Before you got to page 8 of your “perfect free market” Google search, you must have noticed that the majority of articles on topic were defenders of the free market admitting that it isn’t perfect. That does a much better job of supporting my point than an anonymous comment at the end of an article supports yours.
So, here’s an idea. Stop wasting your time?
It was the third hit, by the way. The first hit had “Yes, the free market IS perfect–if you are using the correct meaning of the word.” Delicious weaseling.
The first hit I see says quite the opposite.
My local supermarket has the same issue with the Diet Caffeine-Free Coke - there’s always a big gap on the shelf, although if I’m willing to risk life and limb to climb up there’s usually one bottle on the top shelf way at the back. I feel a real sense of achievement if I manage to come home with one.
I meant to ask someone earlier, but are they out of all Diet Caffeine Free (or Diet, in jsgoddess’ case), or just the 12-packs? In other words, do they have 2-liter bottles of the same product?
I’m wondering if the bottler isn’t producing enough of the product, or if there are a few consumers who just buy a ton of it when they find it.
It’s the two-liter bottles I’m always after.
ETA: I think it’s just local demand - I also tend to shop on weekends, so maybe there’s a big Friday/Saturday demand for it.
Really.
The assumption that if you used a particular search I did too is pretty much par for this particular course.