American culture celebrates the quick fix. Diet pills like Trimspa and Ephedra enjoyed massive popularity despite their health risks because many people want to look healthy without actually living healthfully. Take a diet pill, pop a multivitamin instead of getting nutrients through food, starve yourself- it doesn’t matter how you get trim and slim, just as long as you get there quickly, easily, and without changing your unhealthy habits.
Enter the latest race-to-effortless wellness, Enviga, the “calorie-burning” carbonated tea. Never mind that no evidence supports the beverage’s promise, and that, at best, it cuts the caloric equivalent of a piece of gum. The typical consumer doesn’t take this into consideration. Why does this happen? Probably halfway due to a sheer lack of critical thought, and halfway due to a desperate wish for the product to actually work.
But Coke has found another way to harness the lazy yet health conscious: Diet Coke Plus Minerals. Again, ignore the potential health risks associated with Diet Coke’s no-calorie sweetener, and simply enjoy the beverage for what it means! No longer do you need to seek out vegetables and fruit for nutrients, no longer do you need to take vitamins if you already skip raw foods. Hell, why even drink water? Just gulp down Diet Coke after Diet Coke and then return to your Happy Meals without a worry.
Erika: I think you summed it up beautifully in one sentence: "People want to look healthy without actually living healthfully."
It seems, too, that there is an analogues in the intellectual realm: people want to look smart without actually working to become knowledgable and disciplined thinkers.
In either case, you can immediately tell who is trying to cheat the system.
I bet you didn't know what the secret ingredient to "Red Bull Enery Drink" is. Well, lets just say it is carefull extracted from a real bull.
"In 2001, the drink was investigated by the Swedish National Food Administration after being linked to the deaths of three consumers. It has been subject to a number of other health concerns regarding glucuronolactone, a precursor of taurine. Sale of Red Bull as a normal soft drink is prohibited in Denmark, Norway, France, Uruguay and Iceland . Due to the link with taurine, local authorities categorized Red Bull as a medicine and suggest customers ask for medical advice before drinking. Because of this, only energy drinks without taurine are sold in France."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurine