I just read the ChangeThis manifesto titled “How to Kill Your Children: Facts About Coke“. I was intrigued when I saw this title because I have been ranting against soft drinks for a couple years now ever since I saw some people at school who were addicted to Coke. The PDF/article is OK. It makes its point, Coke is bad for you, sugar is bad for you. Yes there’s an obesity problem among children, and yes all fat children drink Coke. I’ve heard the fun facts before, so I was a little disappointed the article couldn’t recommend a solution beyond “It’s simple: don’t drink Coke.” Clearly there’s some addiction going here so it can’t be that easy. Is there another drink that has half as much sugar that could be used as a baby step to wean someone’s addiction off Coke? Also, after the article made various health and medical claims without any citations whatsoever, the “About the Author” section was almost a joke, saying that “Tyler Lackey grew up in a family who never had a pitcher of water on the dinner table, but always a 2 liter bottle of Coca-Cola.” The lore of Coke and the tremendous amount of fiction that’s out there about Coke through email chains prompt me to want a more thorough explanation of exactly who this author is and where did the assertions come from.