One of the last places you would probably look for art is the supermarket. But as you can see from the picture above, there are stores out there that feature some of the most original creativity around via soda displays.

I’m not sure if these displays are made by store employees or the folks from the soda companies, but they are cool. The primary driver of these displays seems to be sports, especially football, and really seems to bring out the best in these artists.

I can’t imagine the precision is takes to pull this off, or how many people have been injured by a tumbling mountain of 12-packs, but I like it. I also don’t know if this has anything to do with selling soda, but I do know that you don’t want any part of the disassembly.

Have you seen any of these displays in your local store? Anything nearly as elaborate? Would this influence your soda-purchasing decisions?

H/t to Darren Rovell for the top photo, then to Last Angry Fan and @TheMostRealKung.

Today we have the newest fizzy beverage urban legend added to the growing pantheon of the weird soda story history book.

Roland Ball, an Illinois Man who bought a can of Mountain Dew in 2009, took a sip, thought the taste was less than Dew-Worthy and discovered the carcass of a mouse inside.

Since then he has been seeking $50,000 in damages, most likely stemming from the psychological trauma suffered after partially ingesting Mickey infused Dew.

Of course, in such a case fraught with potential bad press, you’d think PepsiCo might have wanted this gem of a news story to fade quickly. Not so in this case. Their legal aces rolled out a Veterinary Pathologist and refuted Mr Ball’s claim, stating a dead mouse would dissolve if submerged in Mountain Dew over an extended period of time.

So instead of paying off a guy in probable fear that everyone and their shady Uncle would start shoving possums, rats and family pets into Mountain Dew everywhere, Pepsi decides to publicly announce that their soda would reduce a mouse into a jelly like substance after taking a soda bath over a period of time.

Somewhere out there, a Public Relations executive for PepsiCo is feverishly typing up his/her resume.

As I was just watching Game 5 of the ALCS, a commercial came on the boob tube for Dr. Pepper’s latest offering: Dr. Pepper 10.  The “10” in the name refers to the calorie count, which officially makes this beverage a diet soda.  Now you might be thinking – doesn’t the Pepper already make a diet soda? – and the answer would be, yes, Diet Dr. Pepper.

But knowing that diets sodas, in theory, can be less appealing to men, the sharp folks in the marketing department decided to take an unconventional route in the promotion of this soda.  The tagline?

It’s Not For Women.

Um, clever?  While the ads for this drink are clearly tongue-in-cheek with their over-the-top manliness, I think they fall pretty flat.  On one level it is a slight rip-off of the now transcendent Old Spice campaign in its outlandish testosterone use, and on another level, it’s just not a great idea – it’s labeled as not for women, but does that make it appealing to men by association?  Yes, the packaging is now a “rugged” gun-metal gray, it uses HFCS instead of aspartame (chills), and it is getting decent reviews, but will this soda sell?

My guess is that it will end up like Pepsi Max, living on the fringes of the soda aisle, between Jamaica Jarritos and Tab.  I think the market is already well-served with the regular Pepper, diet Pepper, or if you are really lucky, the Dublin variety.  There is saturation, and then there is over-saturation.  I think we are at the latter, and the marketing is not innovative enough to overcome it.

What do you think, readers?  Does this campaign work?  And more importantly, would you buy this soda?

H/t to The Daily Caller for picture at top.

When I saw the above photo on BuzzFeed, I was jolted by two things. First, that KFC has donated to a diabetes charity by selling liquid sugar. Maybe not the best idea. What I found more compelling is that they are selling something called a Mega-Jug. In fact, the sign says “complete your meal with a mega-jug.” What boggles my mind is that the recommendation might be hard to do considering the beverage itself is 64 ounces (1/2 gallon). This is twice the size of an average adult’s stomach capacity (thank you Trenta research).

Good luck getting that double-down into your gullet with your tubes backed up with enough soda to keep a water park in business.

Is this the biggest drink on the market?  Probably not.  I’m sure someone else is currently developing a barrel of pop with a garden hose as a straw.

The lesson here? Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. I don’t care what the Facebook fan group says. Think of the kids!

As has been documented on So Good before, I continue to believe that Coke is one of the worst offenders in making this world a fatter place — but a good idea is a good idea.   I’m not sure how much it cost to put this plan into action, but it is smart branding – and one big reason they have been in business so long, darn it.

H/t to PSFK for the tip.

I got a tip from a friend of mine who works with the National Geographic Channel about a couple of their upcoming shows that go behind-the-scenes at beverage factories – Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola.  Based on a recent post where I talked about Oprah (partially) pulling back the curtains of a Cargill slaughterhouse, this is right up my alley.  I love to see how efficient these companies are at making the world a fatter and more boozed-up place.

A few eyebrow-raising points found in the above video about Coke:

• 800 million servings per day are consumer around the world
• 99% of the planet could go pick one up if they wanted to
• While the world drinks Coke sweetened by sugar, the U.S. gets HFCS – due to corn subsidies
• 4.5 million servings a day are produced by one factory in Baton Rouge
• Coke is 90% water, and 10% pure evil (the second part is implied)

These shows start coming on the tube in a week – JD on 3/10 and Coke on 3/17.  Details here.

Full disclosure: my friend sent me an airplane bottle of Jack, a 7.5 oz can of coke, and details about the show to fill me in.  Unfortunately, they will suffer the same fate as the ground beef sent from Cargill.

Being a Minnesota native at a Wisconsin university, this debate comes up (pathetically) frequently in everyday conversation – all the Wisconsonites call it “soda” while my Minnesota peeps and I stick to calling it “pop.” Working in fast food, I also encountered a fair amount of southerners who insisted on calling it all “Coke,” regardless of what they actually wanted.

I’m turning it over to you, So Good readers. Do you call it pop, soda, or coke? Or maybe you’re a plus-60 holdover who still calls it “sodypop” (do those exist?). Or maybe you’re part of some pointlessly rebellious club that secretly calls it “spedoinkle” or “cattywampus.” Then be a good representative for your district (or club!) and explain in the comments.

On a side note, check out this U.S. map of generic names for soft drinks by county (courtesy of popvssoda.com). It’s a little outdated, but how often do they really do this kind of research?

According to its website the sodas are available in:

• 12-ounce recyclable bottles in seven refreshing flavors: lemonade, sweet tea, pink lemonade, strawberry, orange, grape and root beer
• Also available in extra-strength 1-ounce watermelon and spearmint “dew drop” bottles

They list an 800-number and an e-mail for you to place orders – but not so fast kiddos, you have to have a valid medical marijuana prescription in order to buy some.

The bottles are key.  If anyone played any classic Final Fantasy/Legend of Zelda role-playing games growing up (or still do while “building spreadsheets” at work), one is familiar with the bottles the potions are held in.  Well, let a nerd tell you that these designs are spot on.  The actual energy shot seems like standard sugar-free fare:

Each tiny shot (in its own little potion bottle) gives you the caffeine rush (160mg) of 2 Scarlet Taurens (i.e. Red Bulls®) or 4 cups of office coffee (i.e. the crappy kind). Each shot also contains a load of stuff to refresh your mind, body, and fighting spirit – Elderberry (historically protects you from witches) and Ginseng, and vitamins like Biotin and Folic Acid, to name a few.

So this is like 5 Hour Energy Shots packaged for gamers, geeks and nerds.  The niche market is ripe for the nerdy plucking, and they seem to be a passionate, loyal bunch of consumers.  Does this make me want to order a 6 pack, fire up the Nintendo and try to beat Chronotrigger in one night?  Color me inspired.

With flavors like “Eldritch Blast” and “Potion of Healing,” I can’t imagine these won’t fly off the nerd shelves.  Seriously, my friend described a night of hardcore D&D involving two Mastodon albums, several liters of orange soda and Little Caesar’s Crazy Bread. These people base their lives around elves, mages, and bottled sugar drinks.

Some marketing genius innately understands the very genetic make up of our trap-evading-spell-casting friends.  Well done, Jones Soda.  Now, if you could get to work on Magic: The Gathering: The Soda, then we’d be talking about a nerd revolution.  Imagine the flavor texts on the bottles!  And the use of Mana to cast your soda!