Soft drink companies-The thought process of stocking shelves

[jasonh300]

@horsetech

In the spirit of true Doperdom, please repeat this last experiment outside and tell us just how far the soda will shoot when unencumbered by ceilings. Mentos are optional.

I’ve done this a number of times and I usually end up grabbing the can and throwing it out in the parking lot, as it will spray out of that pinhole for what seems like minutes and the mess gets spread over a pretty large area.

I’ve never actually taken the time to go outside and see how far it shoots. I’m always in the process of grabbing a mop and trying to clean up the mess and when I’m done the pressure is all gone from the can in the parking lot.

Next time, I’ll make a point to see how far it goes.

[Serenata67]

While we’re on this subject, I had an unpleasant experience with a case (24 pack) of Coke at Sam’s Club the other day. The box is designed to have a break away side panel so that it can be placed in a fridge and have easy access to the soda. That sounds good in principle, but the actual break away panel is directly opposite the handle. We grabbed the 24 pack by the handle and the break away side did exactly what it’s supposed to do: break away. There were cans of Coke everywhere. It was a giant mess. All because of a poor design.

[Swede_Hollow]

@Sunspace

That’s why they call it ‘Sierra Mist’.

I’m getting images of Mel Brooks’ Peri-Air from Spaceballs in my head now.

[ToeJam]

@panache45

Not only do they leak, they also evaporate. Some of the cans were actually empty. This has happened to me only with Sierra Mist . . . yet most of the cans were ok.

Yep, my freshman year of college I ended up getting a 12 pack of Coke and one of the cans was completely empty. I didn’t even have to open it to figure that out. But it made a nifty decoration, just took some putty and stuck it to the ceiling!

[Troy_McClure_SF]

@ToeJam

Yep, my freshman year of college I ended up getting a 12 pack of Coke and one of the cans was completely empty.

Me too. Still have it in my office.

Yes, my office is boring.

[Superhal]

@Colophon

Drinks cans leak? I’ve never come across that. Surely if they can leak liquid, the drink would go flat in short order, whichever way up they were kept?

Cans leak all the time, I always find sticky soda cans/boxes (indicating a can above it had a leak.)

When I used to be a stockboy, we had broken cans all the time, and nearly universally from the can being hit, dropped or punctured on the side. Damage to the top or bottom didn’t hurt it.

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@jasonh300

Coca-Cola products:
The aluminum is extremely thin and I’ve actually touched the cans against something metal while filling the coke machine at my office and had them spring a leak. They also tend to get pinholes in them if you drop the can, and that pinhole can have the carbonated drink shoot all the way up to the 12 ft. ceiling.

Pepsi products:
I used to be a Pepsi drinker and when Pepsi redesigned their cans about 15-20 years ago, I saved one of the unopened old cans, put it up on a shelf and didn’t touch it for about 6 months. One day, while dusting, I picked up the can and it was completely empty. There wasn’t any evidence of any leaks or osmosis…there was no sticky residue where the can had sat, the can was clean, and the can even felt pressurized. I didn’t try to squeeze it hard because I didn’t want to crush it, but it didn’t behave like an open empty can would.

Sierra Mist is a Pepsi product and maybe it has the same magical properties as Pepsi.

This seems to imply that you think there are differences between the aluminum cans used by these companies. (And that you believe there are just two companies doing this, when in fact most of the production is done by local franchisees around the country that actually produce these.)

But they all buy pre-made aluminum can blanks from the same manufacturers. The 3 biggest are Rexam, Metal Container Corp, and Ball Corp (who also makes those glass canning jars); I think they produce over 75% of the cans in the USA. They sell plain aluminum cans (without a lid), which are then spray painted with the label, filled with pop, and closed with a lid.

If you are experiencing leakage from Sierra Mist cans, it’s likely your local bottler has a malfunctioning flanger machine attaching the lids. (Or had it malfunctioning at the time those cans were filled.) And it’s probably affecting other varieties besides Sierra Mist, too. You just don’t notice that because you mostly drink Sierra Mist.