“To this day, if someone likes Diet Coke, I know that we’ll be friends.”Fast-forward a decade or so later, and seeing Diet Coke on a star’s rider would likely elicit a different reaction from a gen Z publicist. Even the word “diet” has become unfashionable now that diet culture has been repackaged as wellness. “Diet Coke emerged as part of the cola wars between Coke and Pepsi, and the upswing in the popularity of diet culture and skinniness,” says Siegel. Varty would affix pictures of celebrities drinking Diet Coke to her vision-board collages—she also had a Diet Coke poster, T-shirts and, to this day, trades Diet Coke memorabilia with a friend who loved it just as much. Drinking Diet Coke developed a stigma, alongside using Splenda in your coffee or clean your house with anything but baking soda and vinegar.

Source: The Star July 07, 2023 19:10 UTC