What do you think about rebranding "diet" sodas to Zero Sugar?

[smahala1991]

A lot of sodas are changing their diet brands to zero sugar. Do you think it's more of a PC move or a better name?

[Anonymous]

In the UK they sell both side by side on the same shelf and they are from what i can see, exactly the same thing.

That's not the thing that bothers me as i dont really drink 'soda' or what we would probably call 'pop'? Actually Im not sure what we call it, that's a childish term for it, another term we might use is a 'soft drink' but that just means it doesn't have alcohol in it, we tend to use specific brand names.

In any case what bothers me is that virutally all of the 'squash', (Im not sure if that term means anything to you or not, it refers to a fruit concentrate which you dilute to taste at home with water) has artificial sweenters rather than sugar, which seems to be about production costs though it is then marketed as a health benefit.

I would rather have the sugar myself.

Bleach is used to make artificial sweetners and this just seems like madness to me.

If you were designing a drink and someone asked you how much bleach you were going to put in it, I would expect 100% of people to respond with the correct answer which is clearly 'none'.

[HugoThe2nd]

"Diet" or "light" wouldn't make me immediately think it's sugar free, so I think it is a good branding decision.

I think the change reflects the fact that low carb/ketogenic diets are now a bigger market than "people who want food with less calories".
So it makes more sense to highlight that the product is sugar free/keto, rather than trying to market it as low calorie, which is not as important anymore.

I don't think it's meant to be "PC", it's just targeted marketing.

[jmocha]

I think it's stupid that they are rebranding them to say zero sugar when products like Coke Zero already exist. Plus products like that don't have zero sugar in them, just things you don't recognize as sugar. Anything that says fructose, dextrose, sucralose, high fructose corn syrup, e-60, etc. is way worse for you than having plain old sugar. Our bodies don't know what to do with products that are over processed and it takes way more work breaking all of that down in our GI tracts which is what causes us to be more sluggish, bloated, and feeling icky overall

[Ninani]

"Diet" could mean a reduced amount of sugar, but changing it to "zero sugar" makes for clear communication and a guarantee for no amount of sugar in the product.

[DJB72]

As long as they don't fuck up the original full sugar version I don't care.

Unfortunately in SA and the UK most manufacturers including coke and Pepsi have exchanged sugar for artificial shit and labelled it "reduced sugar, same taste" which is bullshit

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

I think it's a good idea and you know that Coke Zero
is supposed to be making it taste exactly like
the real Coca cola and it will be in a new can too

[LaFerrari]

Well diet normally is associated with Aspartame which causes/caused cancer and the public caught on, so many of these diet drinks have had their formula changed due to FDA regulations and regulations among the beverage corporations pushing it.

Though Zero sugar doesn't necessarily mean its completely sugar free, it still contains sugar alcohols and substitute sweeteners of sugar.

[bolverk]

Its a PC move, most guy would not consider a 'diet' soft drink, just because of the the word 'diet'.
Personally I hate these zero sugar drinks, as the artificial sweeteners leave a foul taste in my mouth and I'll usually end up with a migraine. If there is nothing but zero sugar drinks or coffee I'll take the coffee.

[NathanDavis]

it is marketing... rebranding happens every few years

[Phoenix98]

No such thing and it creates a false sense of healthiness it's a well known fact that diet soda is as bad if not worse for you then normal soda.

Instead of drinking diet or zero how about just not drinking soda to begin with?

[TheUniqueOne96]

I wouldn't know too much about it from a PC standpoint, but I'm used to the term diet, so it may be a bit confusing at first, but I guess zero sugar works too.

[Adam1978]

Well I guess it's less of a lie. But you better of not drinking either. It's not like suger replacement is good for your body.

[Massageman]

The word "diet" is a poor one at best.
It's really both - at least "zero sugar" gives a hint as to what to expect in the bottle or can.

[readyplayer001]

typical big company tactics, of jumping on trends, nothing new lol

[Caunsos]

It not rebanding when tou still purchase diet coke. The two products have different favors. Also the zero sugar products have been on the market for 2 decades nows.

[crispycookie]

They are not zero sugar, they are far worse than the normal coke.

[Blackflame101]

Yes, zero added sugar…

[Blackflame101]

They use substitute sweeteners.

[exitseven]

I think it is just a marketing gimmick. Like "Lite Beer"

[DaveToo]

Diet soda has to have something to make it sweet. So they dropped sugar and put in Aspartame. Nasty stuff and it gives me migraines.

[crazy8000]

It will create confusion for many.
Just what they want since it has high risk of creating upswing in sales for a while.

[disgustingfather]

nothing. they are all alike. really harmful to health. I haven't been drinking cola for years and I haven't experienced any shortcomings.

[tartaarsaus]

They have always been called “Coca Cola Zero” here. I don’t see an issue with it.

[Titanic1912]

Zero sugar is just as bad as the diet because there’s that same poison in both of them. “Aspartame”!

[Ailaw22]

I fell staying away from carbonated drinks it's best because even zero sugar still contain a lot.

[najekim]

Sure, zero sugar but then uses sweeteners made in a chemistry lab. Still tastes crappy.