In the 1949 Coca Cola ad, the artist uses propaganda techniques to try and persuade consumers into buying and drinking more coke. The illustrator of this painting uses a sex appeal to attract male consumers by having painted a women serving a man coke. The artist also created logical appeals such as “Have a coke,”… “that means relaxation” to express how good coke is for anybody who drinks it, yet modern time data shows how the sugary drink is linked to obesity and many other diseases. All soft drink companies including Coca Cola should inform their consumers the risks of drinking their products with warning labels for multiple diseases.  

 Back in the 1950’s it was almost unheard of to see sick obese people due to the intake of soft drinks, but nowadays soft drinks including Coca Coca are a big reason for the horrific health epidemic seen in the United States. Obesity is when a person has BMI (Body Mass Index) of 30 or more. If ones BMI reaches or exceeds 30 he or she is overweight enough to be deemed sick. Obesity is really just the beginning of all the diseases that soft drinks such as Coca Cola causes.

One huge disease that Coca Cola has been attributing to is type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes also know as Diabetes mellitus is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism characterized by impaired ability of the body to produce or respond to insulin and thereby maintain proper levels of glucose in the blood. According to a study done by the Harvard School of Public Health, “People who consume sugary drinks regularly—1 to 2 cans a day or more—have a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who rarely have such drinks. This qoute shows data that innevitably shows how drinks such as Coca Cola are making people sick. Most people don’t know how bad that 1 or 2 cokes a day really is for them, and is why soft drink companies should have warning labels listing all the possible diseases on their products so consumers know what they are actually doing to themselves. Another disease associated with the consumption of soft drinks is metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic Syndrome also known as Syndrome X, is “affecting nearly 25 percent of adults in the United States” (Metabolic Syndrome). This disease was first named Syndrome X “in 1988 by American endocrinologist Gerald Reaven, who identified insulin resistance and a subset of secondary conditions as major risk factors for Coronary Heart Disease; The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome requires the presence of multiple—typically at least three—CHD risk factors, which include abdominal obesity, decreased levels of high-density lipoprotein(HDL) cholestreol, elevated blood triglycerides, highblood pressure, and insulin resistance” (Metabolic Syndrome). Sugary drinks such as Coca Cola are causing diseases that are only  branching off into other diseases making more and more people sick. Metabolic syndrome and all of its contributing health related issues, is another reason why soft drink companies should include the health risks associated with their product on labels. 

Another disease seen by Coca Cola is cancer. According to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future “between 44% and 58% of people over the age of 6 could be unnecessarily increasing their cancer risk by drinking at least one can of soda a day” (Taylor). This qoute shows another reason why soft drink companies should include possible diseases on their products. Both kids and adults should know that drinking Coca Cola and other soft drinks increases their chances of getting one of the world’s deadliest diseases. 

The 1949 Coca Cola ad expresses coke in a positive way, but people today may think differently of it. With coke being a leading cause of illness such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer and many more “Have a coke” might as well mean have stroke. Being a major contributor to the health epidemic in the United States, soft drink companies such as Coca Cola should label all their products with all of the possible diseases they may cause to better inform their consumers what may happen to their health by drinking their product. 
