The American Beverage Association wants you to know that Bloomberg's soda ban isn't about saving us from our corpulent, will-powerless selves but FREEDOM. While the ABA's spokesman wisely declined to tell the Times how much it's spending to fight the ban before the July 24 public hearing on the measure, he did say they were "prepared to utilize whatever resources are necessary." Here's what that means: while the DOH spent $2.8 million (87% of that paid by the federal government) on their campaign to educate the public on the link between obesity and sugary drinks, Coca-Cola was busy making over $11 billion dollars.
Here's the radio ad being run by the "grass-roots" (read: corporate astroturf) organization New Yorkers for Beverage Choices.
"This is New York City; no one tells us what neighborhood to live in or what team to root for." But if a voice on the radio tells us to do something, well, we do it. No word on whether New Yorkers for Beverage Choices are staging a Yoohoo "drink-in" outside the hearing on the 24th.
