Criminal #8: Pepsi "..FINALLY!"

Anyone who knows me particularly well knows I'm filled with nothing but contempt for two major thing sin the world: Coca-Cola and Pepsi (True winner is Clive Cussler but that's a different category altogether.) Those of you that haven't seen it yet, rent or buy The Cola Wars, it's a documentary that takes you through the lifelines of both Coke and Pepsi and the competitions that have taken place, and the war that continues to surge every day. As far as I've learned, most people seem to favor Coke over Pepsi, personally I think one tastes like my teeth rotting, and the other tastes like my brain melting, and I can't tell any greater difference than that.

Why don't I like them? Simple really, our North american culture has already been ravaged by the cola kings, but over the last (lets say 30, really thowing that number out there) 30 years the fingers of these ruthless corporations have been slipping into the many cultures of the world outside of North America. Why is this a problem? Again, very simple. Canada is a Mosaic of cultures. Immigrants can take comfort knowing that they can easily keep their traditions and life styles upon entering our country, likewise, the US is a melting pot, where eventually everyone melds together. There's nothing wrong with that really, it's simply the way it is. Because we exist that way, changes to the culture as a general (trends, ect) are bound to happen, you expect them.

But what about Japan? Granted, not the best example as they pretty much hoover up any latest trend, but think about how long Japan remained an independent civilization after the discovery of North America, think about how the gentle and romantic culture of the ronin and feudal lords existed and then, blam, fell the minute foreigners struck.

Not convinced? Okay, Kvass. Haven't heard of it? I'm not surprisd. It is a traditional Russian drink. Like Asia has its green tea, Russia has it's Kvass. Except now Russia doesn't have it's Kvass because Coca Cola and Pepsi thought it might be a nice idea to sneak in there and choke the Russian culture with their killer pops (incidently, a while ago Coke decided it was no longer selling 'carbonated beverages' but 'sparkling sodas' so the phrase that many associate with yummy carbonated fruit drinks now also applies to Coke). Russia isn't the only victim though, so is China and Japan, andi don't know about the US but in Canada you can't walk through a school or a mall without being blinded by the ads.

So why is Pepsi the only one I'm putting on the list today? Well, unfortunately I've yet to find any really offensive Coke advertising (they're the real evil if you ask me, Pepsi is the lesser, but still... evil enough.) Well, in case you didn't notice the pictures earlier (internets comes in braille now?) the items of clothing seen previously all have something in common. What's that? Oh, why that's just a Pepsi symbol? Your ass is a bilboard? Why yes, yes it is. What's wrong Pepsi? You tired of losing out to Coke, you have to make us spread your message of unhealthy bodies? Best of all, guess what the price range is for these items.

$25-$75

Yeah, so $1.50 for a can of Pepsi (or whatever the hell it is now) apparently isn't enough for the company, they need more... more! Feed me, lemmings. Feed me all night long.