Not "Buying" Enviga
I guess Enviga is Coke's attempt at apologizing to their existing caffeine-addicted and overweight target market. Apologizing is probably not the right word. Capitalizing is more like it.
Enviga is a "sparkling" green-tea drink with epigallocatechin gallate (a "natural" anti-oxidant which speeds up metabolism). This article from The Guardian claims that Coke introduced this product to appeal to "America's legions of weight-loss enthusiasts".
Funny. Soft-drinks have recently went through the ringer with public schools and other organizations banning them from vending machines in elementary, middle, and high-schools (internationally in most cases). Zero-calorie and non-sugar drinks (aka aspertame ladden) beverages are still usually permitted. Weight-loss enthusiasts? If by weight-loss enthusiasts they mean morbidly obese children and adults who have become addicted to sugary caffeine products and are now looking to shed the weight before they become seriously ill - then yes. I can definately see a large (no pun intended) market for Enviga.
As a marketer, I am actually embarrassed for Coke. Sure, they'll probably make money from it, but come on! They spent years encouraging the consumption of one of of the unhealthiest beverages one can intake (with the calories, sugar, glucose-fructose, syrops, caffeine, and not to mention the aspertame). Now they have created a dietary solution for the North American obesity affliction that they helped create?
I'm all for marketing and product development, but this doesn't sit right with me. Is it okay that these companies are making their customers sick, and then selling them an alternative to combat the negative health affects that their product is partly responsible for? Or at least, selling a product that is percieved to combat those negative affects? And yes, this product is actually claiming to combat weight gain, as "drinking 3 cans per day will burn off 60-100 calories more than normal" (whatever that means).
It may seem odd that I am questioning Coke's strategic move into the green tea market, as this is where the current hype (money) is. Knowing more than I want to about some uber-corporations, I can't help but wonder. It just emphasizes the indestructable drive that corporations have to seize every trendy opportunity to make a buck - regardless of the affect it has on the end consumer.
What's next? Philip Morris selling medicinal marijuana? Oops - maybe so.
Keep Bizzy
Enviga is a "sparkling" green-tea drink with epigallocatechin gallate (a "natural" anti-oxidant which speeds up metabolism). This article from The Guardian claims that Coke introduced this product to appeal to "America's legions of weight-loss enthusiasts".
Funny. Soft-drinks have recently went through the ringer with public schools and other organizations banning them from vending machines in elementary, middle, and high-schools (internationally in most cases). Zero-calorie and non-sugar drinks (aka aspertame ladden) beverages are still usually permitted. Weight-loss enthusiasts? If by weight-loss enthusiasts they mean morbidly obese children and adults who have become addicted to sugary caffeine products and are now looking to shed the weight before they become seriously ill - then yes. I can definately see a large (no pun intended) market for Enviga.
As a marketer, I am actually embarrassed for Coke. Sure, they'll probably make money from it, but come on! They spent years encouraging the consumption of one of of the unhealthiest beverages one can intake (with the calories, sugar, glucose-fructose, syrops, caffeine, and not to mention the aspertame). Now they have created a dietary solution for the North American obesity affliction that they helped create?
I'm all for marketing and product development, but this doesn't sit right with me. Is it okay that these companies are making their customers sick, and then selling them an alternative to combat the negative health affects that their product is partly responsible for? Or at least, selling a product that is percieved to combat those negative affects? And yes, this product is actually claiming to combat weight gain, as "drinking 3 cans per day will burn off 60-100 calories more than normal" (whatever that means).
It may seem odd that I am questioning Coke's strategic move into the green tea market, as this is where the current hype (money) is. Knowing more than I want to about some uber-corporations, I can't help but wonder. It just emphasizes the indestructable drive that corporations have to seize every trendy opportunity to make a buck - regardless of the affect it has on the end consumer.
What's next? Philip Morris selling medicinal marijuana? Oops - maybe so.
Keep Bizzy
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"Be glad that you're greedy; the national economy would collapse if you weren't"
Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
posted by MissBiz | 5:48 PM
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