Coke's new obesity ad raises eyebrows in scientific community

As a growing epidemic, obesity has attracted the attention of scientists, researchers, government officials and Coca-Cola.

Yes, Coca-Cola. The company's new ad campaign, "Coming Together," released on Jan. 14, addresses the problem of obesity, creating widespread dissent in the scientific community.

"Coke, like other companies, is in the crosshairs," said Jeff Cronin, director of communications at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"Sugary drinks are alike in that they have no nutritional value, but promote things like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity," he said.

"Coming Together" directly confronts questions of Coca-Cola's role in the obesity epidemic and cites ways the company has improved the health content of its beverages.

"Across our portfolio of more than 650 beverages, we now offer over 180 low- and no-calorie choices," the ad says, "Over the last 15 years, this helped reduce the average calories per serving across our industry's products in the U.S. by 22 percent."

The ad also cites smaller, portion-controlled, sizes and calorie-content labels on its products as ways the company has responded to obesity.

"No matter how much water, juice or seltzer is in their portfolio," Cronin said, "the core of their business is selling full-calorie Coke."

However, even low-calorie sodas could contribute to weight gain and illness, said Brenda Murray, bariatric dietician at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"Soda acts the same way as if you ate a lot of white bread or rice," she said. "It's processed right into fat in the body, and all you're getting is empty calories, no nutrition."

Murray emphasized the importance of quality over quantity when consuming food and beverages. A healthy diet could include bigger portions of a higher quality food, rather than smaller portions of a lower quality food or beverage.

"They're saying a calorie is just a calorie. But it's not the amount of calories you take in, it's the kind of calories, too," Murray said.

In response to the statements made in Coca-Cola's ad, the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a video, "Coming Together: Translated." The video includes excerpts from Coca-Cola's original ad, with "translations" exposing the ad's underlying messages.

"We thought the ad was laughable on its face," Cronin said. "What we wanted to do was to translate what Coke was saying into plain English."

The "translations" are written as if spoken by Coca-Cola executives, and respond directly to statements in the original ad. For example, the original ad tells consumers, "If you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you'll gain weight," which the Center for Science in the Public Interest translates into, "If you gain weight, remember it's your fault and not ours."