The Diet Coke Phenomenon
When life gives you lemons, drink a Diet Coke.
There is no other drink I can think of that has the same nostalgic and calming effect as Diet Coke.
I have been thinking about the past a lot recently. About my childhood, life before the internet, and before social media. A time when a pencil and an audio cassette could keep you entertained (and make you crazy) for hours. A time when summer rain not only smelled like freedom but felt like it too. When the wind blew your hair out of your face and your legs got tired from cycling so hard and fast down your neighborhood street because your parents told you to be home when the street lights turn on. A time when your heart would skip a beat as you take the corner a little too fast with your bike, a reminder of the last time when you scraped your knees and destroyed the new fancy dress your parents bought and forced you to wear.
Life seemed simpler then. Or maybe it is my childhood memories playing tricks on my adult mind.
Summer always makes me feel nostalgic. Life gets easier during this time. Work naturally slows down because people go on vacation and leave work early to enjoy the sun.
Even the light is different. Your house smells and feels different with every season, but during summer everything just feels special. While I love all seasons, no other season makes me feel as nostalgic as this one.
And somehow, there is nothing that describes this nostalgic summer feeling as the taste of Diet Coke and the smell of Marlboro Lights.
I never thought about it, until I read
’s newsletter about The Coolest Vice and she posted a picture of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes with it. Somehow I was transported back to my parent’s house. I stood in the kitchen, seeing my mother sitting on the worktop in the corner, smoking a Marlboro Light and drinking a Diet Coke (or Cola Light as it is known in Germany).And when I had a particularly bad day at work, all I could think of was having a Marlboro Light and a Diet Coke. I opted for the latter since I haven’t touched a cigarette since I was a teenager. And I never touched one while sober. (I’d like to add here that it was legal to buy cigarettes at 16 back then, and I am from beer and potato Europe, the country edition - it kind of came with the territory.)
But to my utter surprise, the supermarket didn’t have any. The shelf was filled with Coke Zero, tons of it. But not one can or a small bottle of Diet Coke. Nada. And die hard fans know: Diet Coke and Coke Zero aren’t the same. I bought the can of Coke Zero, and while it did do the trick, it made me question what the fuck happened to this drink that defined my entire childhood?
I love a good internet rabbit hole, so please join me in my investigation into the Diet Coke phenomenon, trying to answer the world’s most burning questions: Why do I associate Diet Coke and cigarettes with a relaxing and homey feeling? And why the fuck can’t I buy a can of Diet Coke in Germany anymore?
The History of Diet Coke
Launched in 1982, Diet Coke was a pretty groundbreaking beverage for Coca-Cola. The market for diet drinks was booming, and their original sugar-free option, Coca-Cola Tab (never heard of it, I think it never made its way over to Germany) had declining sales. But sugar-free alternatives were the rage in the early 80s. “Health consciousness” and “weight management” were gaining momentum and knowledge linking sugar consumption to health problems was growing.
Diet Coke provided a “guilt-free” alternative.
1980s
The first-ever Diet Coke commercial was very different from the commercials that followed. The spot was filmed in 1982 at Radio City Music Hall in New York after a gala event for bottlers and key customers. The commercial looked like the Oscars and the Rockettes danced on stage in front of a giant can of Diet Coke.
A year after its launch, the first numbers came in. And Diet Coke was the most popular diet soft drink in the United States, and the most popular soft drink amongst women. As any good company would do, their marketing department decided to lean heavily into their key audience: women.
The first few commercials in the 80s only leaned a little bit more into women as their target audience. It’s like they were testing the waters more than anything. Understandable, since they probably didn’t want to make the same mistake as they did with Coca-Cola Tab, which men thought was too girly.
And while growing health consciousness affected all genders, weight management affected women more than men (ain’t that the truth). Especially in the late 80s, when fitness was THE thing amongst women, thanks to Jane Fonda and her neon-colored leggings. My favorite article I found during my research is this one in the Chicago Tribune: THE SHAPE OF THE ‘80S.
In this it says:
What’s important is how those pounds are added, and how they are carried.
”Women are getting larger . . . but not necessarily fatter. The ideal is to have firm curves,” says Linda Dietz, vice president of Hartmarx’s line of Country Suburban sportswear.
Coca-Cola, knowing their business, decided to throw caution to the wind and put Whitney Houston on stage to promote Diet Coke. And they brought back Elle MacPherson too, who previously did a commercial for Coca-Cola Tab.
1990s
Where the 80s were all about women being fit with healthy curves, the 90s were about Heroin Chic (which apparently is having a comeback). Not only that, but the late 80s and then 90s were the time of the Power Suit. A time of strong women defying traditional gender norms and being the boss.
Welcome The Hunk
And because of that, Coca-Cola did the most iconic thing: They created the Diet Coke Break Hunk Commercial, which became the staple of all Diet Coke commercials moving forward. To me, that is the moment Coca-Cola became the Queen (or King) of advertising and marketing. This commercial defined the brand of Diet Coke forever.
The first hunk commercial aired in 1996, and Coca-Cola quickly followed with two more in ‘97 and ‘98.
The one with the delivery man, played by Paul Johansson, is the one I somehow vividly remember. I say somehow because I was eight at the time and I think the commercial played at the cinema before a kid’s movie (is that still legal?). Funny thing: While the U.S. seems to have the Diet Coke break at 11.30 am, in Germany they somehow have it at 12.30 pm. Why? I have no idea.
The Skinny Years
While not a specific decade, the late 90s to early 2000s deserve its own section. While models in the early 90s were slim, they still looked healthy. Whereas models in the late 90s and especially in the early 2000s were bone-thin. “Cigarettes and Diet Coke were dietary staples”, says former editor of Australian Vogue Kirstie Clements to The Guardian (a really great read, highly recommend).
So it is no surprise that I, a Millennial woman who was a teenager during the years of size 0 and pro-ana forums, associate Diet Coke and cigarettes with a nostalgic feeling. In the end, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” was something most teenagers told themselves at the dinner table. I cannot believe that this happened, let alone that the media cherished it.
The sad part about this, however, is that it is still happening: “Anya Taylor-Joy on surviving busy work period on ‘Diet Coke, cigarettes and coffee’”.
The 2000s
In the 2000s they gave us another Diet Coke Hunk, Francois Xavier, saving women from the lift in 2007. But they created some other commercials over the years that didn’t lean as heavily on gender stereotypes as they used to. Times were changing I guess. What they did do is add a lot of humor and fun to their commercials, while still keeping women front and center. Like the one from 2008 with Fascination by Alpha Beat playing in the background and women having all sorts of fun, playing jokes on each other - all with a Diet Coke in hand. Watching this commercial brought back so many memories of my teenage years. I remember listening to the song non-stop back then.
The 2000s however are also a decade of change for Diet Coke: In 2005 Coca-Cola launched Coke Zero.
I vividly remember this moment. I was confused as to why they were launching Coke Zero, a product so similar to a legacy one that everyone loves. And I remember that many people said back then “Oh, it's Diet Coke for men”. This made me even more confused: Why the hell do men need a special Diet Coke?
The short answer: Diet Coke was heavily advertised to women. Too heavily. Coke Zero offers a sugar-free alternative for men who wouldn’t want to be caught drinking a Diet Coke as it would look too feminine.
Yes, you read that right. There even is a term for this: “gender contamination”. That is the same reason Gilette women’s razors are pink and smell like papaya, while a manly razor is grey and made out of steel. If you are rolling your eyes, mine have reached the back of my head while writing this.
And to me, the introduction of Coke Zero changed the game forever. Commercials stopped being as iconic as they used to be. And the fact they launched a product simply to appease the patriarchy seems off, even in 2005.
Time for a break
Working my way through this history makes me realize why this drink was so incredibly popular amongst women. It certainly explains why it seems like every woman in my life loved to drink Diet Coke. And when they did, it was a moment of relaxation. Maybe that is why a cool Diet Coke has such a calming effect on me.
The 2010s
In the 2010s, the most iconic commercial in the U.S. was the one with Taylor Swift (which didn’t air in Europe I believe). But they also gave us another Hunk commercial in 2013, for Diet Coke’s 30th anniversary. A gardener, played by Andrew Cooper. This one passed me by. Never saw it.
And while ok, portraying women as lazily lying in the park, gossiping and drooling over a man has a totally different ring to it than working boss women in their office lusting after the window cleaner. Gender roles were supposed to be even less important in the 2010s, but somehow they seemed to have played more into them with this commercial.
See a full history of all Hunk Commercials here, provided by the Daily Mail:
Another thing that happened in the 2010s is bad numbers. In 2013, Diet Coke sales in the U.S. were the lowest they’ve ever been since 1995. In 2016, Diet Coke alone lost 4.2% in sales volume.1 While we can never be 100% sure, the controversy around artificial sweeteners at the time could be the reason.
The 2020s
We’ve reached current times. We are only four years into this decade and Diet Coke still exists, as do commercials for it. One I’d like to point out here is the “Love what you love” commercial with Kate Moss. A clear indicator that 90s skinny chic is back…
But what else is back is the Diet Coke Break, without the Hunk, but with Gen Z and Millennials. You can say what you want about these two generations, but if there is any generation that can perform successful CPR on a brand, it is Millennials and Gen Z.
Even Coca-Cola itself is leaning into this resurgence with the “Diet Coke Breaks, inspired by you” campaign.
But in today’s time, every good news comes with bad news. Recent headlines suggest that one of the ingredients (Aspartame) is possibly linked to cancer. While experts do not fully agree on these cancer claims, it still lead Coca-Cola to publish an entire F.A.Q. page answering all possible questions about said ingredient.
While not without controversy, Diet Coke seems to be more popular than ever. But if that is the case, why does my supermarket doesn’t have any (or very little in bottles, but no cans whatsoever)?
I started researching until my fingers went numb. I wondered if the absence of Diet Coke in cans has anything to do with sustainability? After all, sustainability and recycling are a huge deal in Germany. While that wouldn’t explain why I can still buy Coke Zero in a can, I wanted to know the answer. I wondered if soda can sales, in general, are down? No, the numbers are rising continuously.
Then I thought that maybe sales overall were down and Coca-Cola needed to pivot to their more successful brands (like Coke Zero) and only offer them in a can? Also no. Coca-Cola Europe announced record-breaking sales in 2023, including Diet Coke and Coke Zero.
I begin to think that my supermarket is just really badly stocked when it comes to Diet Coke. Because, based on my highly professional analysis, it doesn’t look like Diet Coke will go anywhere.
As to why I cannot buy Diet Coke in a can specifically: I have no idea. I wrote Coca-Cola to ask this very question, but the only answer I got was this form their customer service: “Coca-Cola Light in the 0.33 L can has not been part of our product range in Germany since the end of March 2022. Good news: Coca-Cola Light will continue to be available in PET single-use, PET reusable, and glass reusable bottles.” (translated from German and edited for readability). For unknown reasons, the “why”-question was ignored.
So I did the only reasonable thing I could think of: I ordered a large pack of Diet Coke cans from Amazon to soothe my nostalgic mind.
XOXO
Annika
the Diet Coke vs Coke Zero gendered branding debacle is my fav part of the Coke lore
I love a deep dive! I am sucker for getting a diet coke, doing the ice lemon etc and then after a few sips being like "I don't like this..."