# Local burger place claims they serve Coca-Cola but they don't, do I have a legal case against them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2025, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386 "2025-03-31T05:23:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/41 "2025-03-31T16:29:52Z")
If you ordered Coke and were disappointed with the product you received, and verified that you were not given a product made from Coca Cola syrup then you have a legitimate interest in the matter. Otherwise, IMO it’s none of your business. Suppose you were wrong? Fountain drinks don’t always taste the same, the mixture may have been off. You could be causing trouble for the restaurant without justification. You should at least bring the matter up with the restaurant first. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/42 "2025-03-31T16:31:15Z")
Yeah. Mention it to the owner or just don’t go there. Why is the first inclination to become the cola police? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/43 "2025-03-31T16:34:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Fountain drinks don’t always taste the same, the mixture may have been off. The mix should be checked on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/44 "2025-03-31T16:41:53Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Why is the first inclination to become the cola police? It’s in everyone’s interest that commerce is conducted honestly. If the restaurant is honestly selling Coca-Cola products, the company will appreciate better branding so that there’s no ambiguity about what’s being sold. If the restaurant is not honestly selling Coca-Cola products, then they need to stop that. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/45 "2025-03-31T16:49:51Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > It seems to me that contacting the Coca-Cola company would be the best solution since they know who they’re selling to and what their rules are for trademark displays. My uncle purchased his soda from a distribution company. The parent company (Pepsi in this case) had no idea that my uncle was one of their customers. Pepsi sold to the distributer, the distributer sold it to individual restaurants. The distributor wasn’t owned by Pepsi, but they were exclusive in that they only sold Pepsi products. I believe Coke uses the same business model. In fact, poking around online, it looks like Coke doesn’t even bottle all of their own products. Instead, quite a bit of Coke is bottled through business partners that are not owned by Coke itself. There isn’t one big Coke company that does it all. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/46 "2025-03-31T16:55:59Z")
It’s well-known that both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo work with local franchised bottling companies, though note that the parent companies are the only entities that make the syrup. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/47 "2025-03-31T16:57:25Z")
And presumably there’s a documented chain of sales through licensed distributors. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/48 "2025-03-31T17:04:59Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Yeah. Mention it to the owner or just don’t go there. Why is the first inclination to become the cola police? Better the cola police than the birch beer brigade or the sarsaparilla squad. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/49 "2025-03-31T17:05:51Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I know this because inside the soda dispenser machine no longer has any real logos on it, instead of saying Coke, Diet Cola, or RC like it used to it literally has generic logos for “Cola, Diet Cola, Lemon-Lime Soda” and others like it’s a Wal-Mart generic brand. Do generics even market their syrup for use in soda dispensers? If there is such a thing, I’ve never seen a generic descriptor on the outside. There is always some brand indicated for each nozzle, even if it is a weird one (Like Batch at Urbane Cafe). ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/50 "2025-03-31T17:10:53Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > And presumably there’s a documented chain of sales through licensed distributors. This. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/51 "2025-03-31T17:10:55Z")
I don’t like it when a restaurant lies to me, and I don’t feel good about a restaurant lying to others when I know the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/52 "2025-03-31T17:14:57Z")
From what I understand from the OP, this is just some outdated branding on the drive-thru menu board. There may be no actual intention to mislead their customers. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/53 "2025-03-31T17:18:39Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > The problem is, in the drive through they still have the Coca-Cola logo and other pictures on the drive-thru making it seem like they serve official Coke brand products Apparently this has been going on for years, so the “We just haven’t gotten around to changing it” excuse doesn’t cut it, unless nothing else on the drive-in board hasn’t changed after all this time. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/54 "2025-03-31T17:22:14Z")
Anecdote: There is a burger place in Visalia, CA called Doc’s that decorated the exterior with Bugs Bunny (what’s up, doc - get it?). It was reported to Warner Bros. Discovery and they were ordered to remove the BB images, or so I’m told. They are still in business today and doing well as far as I know… sans the famous rabbit iconography. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/55 "2025-03-31T17:38:37Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Do generics even market their syrup for use in soda dispensers? If there is such a thing, I’ve never seen a generic descriptor on the outside. There is always some brand indicated for each nozzle, even if it is a weird one (Like Batch at Urbane Cafe). I think it’s unlikely a canister to be marked ‘generic cola syrup’. I suppose there may be some products sold that way but all the generic products I’ve ever seen of any kind were marked with some brand name. IME syrup canisters are sold through local distributors. Restaurants end up ordering individual canisters on demand and it doesn’t sound practical for a large bottler to service their customers that way. The distributors I’m familiar with carried the major name brands plus a line of flavors all from the same generic brand. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/56 "2025-03-31T17:40:57Z")
We have a local gas station that never has correct prices on their items. 5 years ago it was kinda funny. They are still often wrong and it isn’t as funny now. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/57 "2025-03-31T17:44:52Z")
Do the prices average out, or are they generally charging more than the listed price? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/58 "2025-03-31T17:46:55Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > It’s in everyone’s interest that commerce is conducted honestly. Yeah, but it’s also in everyone’s interest that we’re not all looking for occasions to tattle on one another and get each other in trouble. That is, to me, a much greater interest than the interest in trademark protection for a junk food. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/59 "2025-03-31T17:48:18Z")
Tattle? Talk about flashbacks to grade school. This isn’t about people trying to get each other in trouble-this is about the possibility of an establishment lying for profit. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/60 "2025-03-31T17:51:03Z")
A hundred percent. I teach this shit to kids all the time. You can tell an adult something for a few reasons: 1. Someone is hurt or is in danger, and you want some help. 2. Someone broke a rule, and you want them to be punished. The first one is always fine. The second one is tattling, and knock it off. Telling Cocacola that their trademark is being abused is much more in the second category, in my opinion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386.md?page=4)