I was a little sceptical when I first ran across Coke Zero in Barcelona last year (see pic). How is this different from Diet Coke, I thought. A smart entrepreneur at the last incubator I worked at, suggested that it is a form of A/B marketing. Coke is marketing the silver Diet-brand at women and Zero at men. Made sense, I thought: black is probably more appealing to men, and some of the commercials Coke has been running for Diet seem much more targeted at women, at least to me. Last week however, in Germany, I also stumbled across Fanta and Sprite Zero, which preserved their original packaging-colours. Diet was no-where in sight. So the “black is in” theory makes a little less sense now.

So, is Zero the way forward for Coca-Cola and the world of soda? I would think so. The Coke Zero brand is advertised as “Great Coke taste, zero sugar” (much like Pepsi Max’s “Maximum taste, no sugar”), and I concur to a large degree. It does indeed taste better than the diet-variant, less chemical, emulating the rich taste we (probably) want in a soda.

There are many criticisms about the brand, particularly relating to the high content of sugar, which makes calorie-counting a (more) difficult chore, and the acidity, which is bad for the teeth. Personally, I don’t think pumping an addictive drug like caffeine into kids at school is particularly ethical either. But one out of three is a start.

In essence, where I would like soda to go, is towards becoming as close to water as possible. At least in the caloric and pH-neutral sense. There’s nothing wrong with taste, that’s why the human body has taste-buds. We are however being bombarded with so-called “easy” solutions for the fast-moving individual, yet innovation is not happening at a stage where easy is also “good.” But clearly it could be.

One of my greatest criticisms of the McDonalds-brand (read my other thoughts on it here: 1 & 2) is that with all their research, money, and scale economies, and the fact that they’ve been at it for 50+ years, they have not managed to move beyond offering an artery-clogging dish as their main meal. It’s the same with many other market-leading (food-)brands, Coca Cola included. As a business, you have a responsibility beyond your shareholders, towards the well-being of your customers. To offer them the best product technologically feasible. This is no different for web and software-businesses either, where the well-being of customers is based on values like time, portability, and cost.

The, hopefully obvious, alternative is that some young, hip entrepreneur comes along, spots the big gap in your offering and steals your customers, who were not really as happy about your product as their wallets suggested.

I’m hoping that I’m reading Coca Cola right here and their move with Zero is to eventually replace the red Coke-brand, or at least equal it in taste, which will have the same effect. But what it really comes down to is that, if my dream that all women will look like AskMen top 100, and I’m to look like Brad Pitt, is to succeed, sugar-filled drinks will have to disappear. I hope Neville Isdell, CEO of Coca Cola, supports me in that dream.

Vincent is a co-author on Tech IT Easy and enjoying the sun and his coke far too much to write about computer-tech. You can find out more about him on this blog’s initial announcement or on his site.