NYC Soda Ban

What if I want a humongous Coke Zero? Are they banned too? What about a giant unsweetened ice tea? Am I outta luck?

Oh, I see that I'm not. So, the huge cups will still be available. If the customer orders a huge diet drink, and then fills it with a sugary one at a self serve fountain, who gets in trouble?

Let's say you work in a NYC office, and there's a Burger King just down the block from your building. You eat there twice a week because it's convenient. You always get your meal to go and eat at your desk.

Pre-ban, you can pay an extra $.60 or whatever to upsize to the 32-oz. soda.

Post-ban, to get 32 oz. of soda, you have to shell out an extra $1.80 or whatever and carry two 16-oz. drinks back to the office with you.

What are you gonna do? You're not gonna go back for refills, because your office is an elevator ride and a block walk away, and you can't get refills once you leave the restaurant anyway.

If you're most people, you're gonna take the 16 oz drink that comes with your meal and end up consuming half the soda you might have otherwise done.

Are lots of people still going to go buy big bottles at the corner store? Yes.
Are lots of people still going to consume excessive quantities of soda? Yes.
But there's 10 million people or whatever in NYC; if only a small portion of them end up having their soda consumption cut in half, it could still have a big impact.


I still think it's a ridiculous over-reach on the part of the government. But it's dumb to argue this will have no effect because it won't stop people consuming soda. It's not intended to. That's obvious to anyone with a modicum of brain power.