h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Coca-Cola - A6056778
Author: razrtooth - U1943541

It's not nessessarily (did I spell that right?) the best, but as it's my first entry that doesn't really matter. I'm just hoping to get it reviewed.

This is an okay start, razrtooth, but you should expand it a bit. For example, in an entry like this it would be a good idea to discuss the history of Coke - who invented it, how it developed into what it is today. I recall that originally, at the turn of the 20th century, Coke was marketed as a drink to aid digestion - you should definitely mention that. Also, Coke today - what are the headquarters and the Coke museum in Atlanta, GA like? How about all the different flavours of Coke - diet, cherry, vanilla, lemon and lime...

Think about all that, and have a look at the h2g2 <./>writing-guidelines</.> while you're at it, because that can never hurt.

That reminds me, I should update my Diet Coke entry (A907454), because they've come out with so many new versions of Diet Coke since I originally wrote the entry.

You could also add the reason why it has its name - it used to have cocaine in it. Or is that an urban legend? Either way, I think it should be mentioned. If it's not true then us gullible wallies need to be put right.

It's a good first entry, hopefully we can help you through all the way to the Edited Guide.

This sentence is not true, it’s an urban legend:

‘The Coca-Cola corporation is so big that Father Christmas' trademark red suit was turned red by Coca-Cola for advertisement purposes. Prior to that it was green’.

Although some versions of the Santa Claus figure still had him attired in various colors of outfits (including green) past the beginning of the 20th century, the jolly, ruddy, sack-carrying Santa with a red suit and flowing white whiskers had become the standard image of Santa Claus by the 1920s, several years before the commercial illustratror, Haddon Sundlom, drew his first Santa illustration for Coca-Cola.

See also my Entry, ‘The Influence of Fly Agaric on the Iconography of Father Christmas’, currently going through PR at A5918547.

Thanks for the tip. I'll take it out.

I would appreciate any help anyone is willing to give

Hi there, and Nice Start!

You may chooose to modify your claims that Sugar dissolves the calcium in teeth. Calcium reacts to a variety of substances, and there IS phosphoric ACID in the drink.

I'll read deeper later. I'd love to help you where I can.

Also, micr-organisms in the mouth use sugar as a food (energy) source, thus producing acids which can also dissolve your teeth (by 'aslso' aI mean 'in addition to the phosphoric acid)

Sometimes Peer Review takes a while to get through, which can be offputting but fear not, seeing your article on the front page (in say, 5 or 6 years) is worth the effort.

There's a comment you make in the last paragraph that you shouldn't drink cola unless you like your weight and teeth. You must mean you shouldn't drink cola IF you like your weight&teeth, as it has an inverse effect on them.

Also, it might help spacing your paragraphs out a line or two just to make it easier to read until it gets put into GuideML (unless you'd care to do the honours, but some people find it tricky)

You could add a section on rival cola firms, particularly Pepsi, and the trend since the mid-80s to use celebrities as a spokesmodel for the products. The rivalry was referenced in Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire, the line #rock and roll cola wars/I can't take it anymore#

Incidentally for anyone who cares, the first documented usage of Father Christmas a guy in red was from the poem The Night Before Christmas, though it was probably in folklore before then.

Try and find out if the cocaine thing is true, because most people know of the rumour and either believe it or not, it would be nice to have a definitive answer from a reputable source. Even if its not true you can still put in that it is an urban myth, as with the Father Christmas comment.

Hope that helps and that you'll stick around for a while

'Incidentally for anyone who cares, the first documented usage of Father Christmas a guy in red was from the poem The Night Before Christmas, though it was probably in folklore before then'.]#

Actually, that poem DOESN'T say anything about his attire being red.

Ref Did C-C once contain cocaine...

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/cocaine.asp

There are people out there who (mistakenly) think that Coke works as a contraceptive, using it as a post-coital douche. One of those facts about Coke that has always amused me, although I don't know if you'd want it in the entry or not.

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/sperm.asp

It might, however, be worth linking to the snopes page on Coke mythology in general - -http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/cokelore.asp

Coca-cola doesn't affect your weight - bad diet affects your weight. So yes, drinking vast quanities would make you put on weight, but so would vast quantities of most things! I think that's not quite right to leave in.

Personally, I find that coke gives me spots if I drink it regularly, I have to stick to once a week, and even then that's too much.

Cola also leaches calcium from your bones - the caffeine does it, and something in the fizz does too. That's not good for women who need all the calcium that they can get.

I've never seen actual evidence that caffeine affects bone density. Even the theory that the phosphorous acid decreases bone density has been called into question in recent years -- the studies that showed a correlation had neglected to take into account the fact that people who drink more soda drinks tend to also drink less milk. More recent studies that have controlled for calcium intake haven't found a significant affect on bone density.

"...because the caffeine in the Coca-Cola means that you act like you have just drunk several hundred cups of coffee (also containing a considerable amount of caffeine)."

This is somewhat misleading. The actual caffeine content of Coca-cola products is much less than that of the same amount of coffee. Indeed, even if one were to compare typical sizes (12 fl oz of coke to 8 fl oz of coffee), the levels of caffeine in coffee are still nearly triple that coke. See http://wilstar.com/caffeine.htm or google it for other sources.

You know, I thought that Dr Pepper was independent of Coca Cola Corp, but apparently, according to
http://www2.coca-cola.com/brands/brandlist.html
Dr Pepper is right in there! Maybe it's because Schweppes owns Dr Pepper and Coca Cola Corp owns Schweppes? But hang on, according to both the Dr Pepper website and the 7-Up website, in the USA at least, 7-Up and Dr Pepper are a joint company (perhaps owned and operated by Coca Cola Corp). But outside the USA, the rights to the 7-Up product are owned by Coca Cola Corps archrival, PepsiCo. Visiting Dr Pepper's web site gives no indication that Coke owns 'em.

This must be one of those things where it's different inside the USA versus outside of it. I find it hard to believe Dr Pepper is made by Coca Cola in the USA since they have Mr Pibb. Speaking of that, I've never heard of Lilt or Appletiser, but then I bet no one over on that side of the pond has heard of Mr Pibb (it's like watered-down Dr Pepper). And I know that Coca Cola Corp wouldn't bother funding two massive advertizing campaigns for what amounts to almost the same drink ... that is, Sprite (very obviously Coca Cola Corp's product) versus 7-Up (inextricably tied to Dr Pepper, which is what confuses me).

Oh heck with it. Maybe just a note and a link to the Coca Cola Corp's official website for full details. Empires are complicated. I think I'll have a nice cup of

- JD

Well Dr Pepper is most definitely a Coke product here in the US. It's sold in Coke's vending machines and soda fountains and grocery-store fridges. And I've always thought of it in relation to Coke.

Fanta's also owned by Coke, as is Barq's root beer.

Actually, just because two things are in the same vending machine or soda fountain does *not* actually mean they are from the same company. Dr. Pepper appears in both Coke and Pepsi machines in most parts of the country, except in places like Atlanta, where you won't see Dr. Pepper at all, only Mr. Pibb.

Thanks Mikey for the caffeine stuff. I don't drink a lot of milk either, because milk is for young things that haven't been weaned yet. I get my calcium from other sources.

I think I'll still avoid cola, if only to keep my skin clear!

Are the Ig Nobel people aware of the Coke / spermicide work?

Gif