The weight-loss industry is estimated to be larger than $60 billion in the USA alone. With millions of people searching for healthier alternatives to fast and convenient foods such as pop, chips, and other snacks/beverages, this presents a large opportunity for companies like Coca-Cola.
Although Diet Coke, a product advertised to be calorie free, was released in 1982, it has only recently seen tremendous increases in sales volumes, paralleling the massive growth in the weight-loss industry. An alternative to Coca-Cola’s flagship Coke, this product is naturally very appealing to those looking for a product lower in sugar and calories… but there’s more to it than that.
What replaces sugar in these inherently sweet drinks are artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, cyclamates and saccharin. These substances are known to have caused cancer in laboratory animals and are continuously linked to cancer-related issues. Coca-Cola’s mass marketing of this product is a clear example of an ethical conflict in marketing.
Coca-Cola backed in famous Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld for a large marketing campaign promoting Diet Coke and Karl endorsed the drink, adding “everybody knows I drink Diet Coke and nothing else; night and day.”
A factor that Coca-Cola needs to consider in its advertising of the product is disclaimers that inform consumers of the potential risks associated with their product. If this is made mandatory for all pharmaceutical goods – having to disclaim all possible side effects of the product – then why is it not the case for another consumer good such as Diet Coke?
The marketing that is currently being conducted by Coca-Cola for this product is incomplete and misleading. Even though the artificial sweeteners that are being used in Diet Coke are backed by the FDA, more strict guidelines need to be set on the way Coca-Cola is allowed to market its Diet Coke product.
Sources:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners
http://www.worldometers.info/weight-loss/
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