About a week ago, it was announced that the University of Arkansas would only serve Pepsi products at football games. My favorite online response to all of this was one in which a fan asked, “So now I have to sneak my Coke in along with my whiskey?” While I would never promote or condone the sneaking of contraband into a football game, I thought the response succinctly tapped into the attitude of most folks when it comes to Pepsi products. Is it ok? Not really.
I have mentioned before that my household is firmly rooted into the Diet Coke camp. We drink entirely too much of the stuff and it is hard, almost impossible, to get most of my family to drink anything else. In fact, if a bottle of Diet Pepsi makes it into my house, the only person that will drink it is me. It doesn’t really matter to me. I prefer Diet Coke, but will willfully drink Diet Pepsi if that is my only choice.
In the end, I don’t really care, and if they didn’t ask or tell me, I might not think about it enough to realize one way or the other. In fact, I really don’t think they should ask if the alternative is “ok” and when someone objects to the drink they receive, they could just tell them then. I figure the number of people that would complain is relatively small. But they are out there.
A couple of months ago, our family went to a local steakhouse for my son’s birthday. The men arrived before the ladies, and when the waitress asked us if Pepsi was “ok,” I told the boys we were going to conduct an experiment. We ordered Diet Pepsi for everyone and I spent the next five minutes pontificating about the reality that people would not know it was Diet Pepsi if they were not told.
Well, the ladies arrived, and Patti took a big drink of her “soda.” She immediately put it down, scrunched up her face, and proclaimed, “Something is wrong with this. Is it Pepsi?” My hypothesis failed, and the boys roared with laughter. Apparently, my tastes are not as refined as my better half. Of course, anyone that knows us knows that to be true.
It is rare that I go to a hotel that has Coke products. More and more restaurants serve Pepsi. Consumers are given their second choice by providers simply because Pepsi will undercut Coke in their attempt to gain dominance over Santa’s favorite drink. Of course, Coke doesn’t seem too worried about it, as the prices they charge for their products seem to continue to rise while Pepsi undercuts them in almost every place you can buy “soda.”
Apparently, the idea is that you get the young people drinking Pepsi now, and eventually the old people that are drinking Coke will die. For now, Diet Pepsi has taken over the Razorback Nation and will be forced upon us for the foreseeable future until we rise up in protest, or Coke makes a better offer. I am curious how many times the vendors at Razorback Stadium will have to ask, “Is Pepsi ok?” on any given Saturday.
For fun, I have started requesting Diet Pepsi when I order just so someone occasionally has to say, “Is Coke ok?” It happens less than I would like. Maybe next time someone asks me if “Pepsi is ok,” I will say “Sure, if I can pay with Monopoly money.” While I will acquiesce in the non- choice of Diet Pepsi, I still prefer the “Real Thing.” The thing about sitting way up in the CHEAP SEATS is that you might not always get what you want, but you usually get what you need, even if it is a Pepsi.
Bill James is a criminal defense attorney and co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway, and Fayetteville, Arkansas. He may be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com.