It has been ten years, but I still remember the summer in which folks kept claiming to have found needles in cans of soda. It was all a hoax, of course.
Was anyone here frightened that summer? Did it change anyone’s soda-buying and/or drinking habits?
I think it was immediately obvious to most people that it was a scam.
The main victim was Pepsi and/or Diet Pepsi–which is normally my drink of choice.
Until recently, I was a chain drinker (as I was then). Didn’t faze me a bit.
However, one time I did find a wood sliver in a Diet Pepsi. I had someone in my cube, and while they were explaining their problem, took a big swig. Feeling “something strange in my mouth” and realizing that something was just not right, I spat the entire contents on the floor at my feet, while my cow-orker looked on in stunned bewilderment. There it was, a wood sliver, almost as long as a toothpick.
In our local paper they printed an infographic showing the bottling (canning, in this case) process the product goes through. The cans travel along the conveyer upside down; they’re turned over immediately before being filled and are sealed shut seconds after. The time for someone to deliberately plant something or for something to fall in by accident is unbelieveably short. It was sort of a relief to see that.
(I’m guessing the wood sliver was maybe part of a pallet or something stuck inside a can after being formed, and only came loose when it sat in the soda a while.)
Mostly the whole thing reminded me of the movie Strange Brew.
Being only 8 at the time, no it didn’t frighten me.
Lucky you! High Fiber Diet Pepsi only ran in test markets for a limited time. 
My sister worked at a convenience store at the time and told me sales of Pepsi went up. She guessed people were hoping to find a needle so they could sue and make millions.
I didn’t even know about it.
Yes, I remember that. They were not just needles, but hypodermic needles.
The most I have ever found in a can of soda was a bug and once a piece of tape.
I remember the Pepsi syringe hoax too. I specifically remember hearing about this (about 3/4 of the way down the page) woman.
From seeing her on TV, I was pretty convinced she was lying right away. I remember her claiming she opened a Pepsi in the break room at her job, and she was so freaked out when she found the syringe that she screamed and threw the can across the room. That really sounded like an overreaction to me. I don’t know what it was specifically that made me really suspect she was lying, probably the fact that you could tell she was absolutley loving the attention she was receiving from the incident.
How would you even see a syringe in a can?
Granted my experience with syringes is smal, mother was diabetic, wouldn’t the average syringe be either too large for a soda can or be wedged in so well it wouldn’t be a danger?
Jeez some people just don’t deserve over carbonated sugar water!
I never had a foreign object in any kind of pop can, but one time I found a 1" long brass wood screw in a turkey I was prepping for Thanksgiving dinner.
I sent it to Butterball with a note saying ‘this is funny; look what I found. I’m not complaining or offended’, and they sent me certificates for 2 new turkeys anyway.
We still talk about the screwed turkey…