Sprite is the world’s leading lemon-lime flavored soft drink. Introduced in 1961, Sprite is sold in more than 190 countries and ranks as the No. 4 soft drink worldwide, with a strong appeal to young people. (1)
The No. 1 lemon-lime soft drink was one of the fastest-growing Coca-Cola brands through 1997 although growth slowed in 1998 when volume was up just 3 percent. Then the brand began to decline.
In 2004, Coke created Miles Thirst, a vinyl doll used in advertising to exploit the hip-hop market for soft drinks and to appeal to teen males in suburbia.
More recently, Sprite has been appealing to a very different crowd. Scientific researchers have shown that Sprite appears to control stomach acidity in a way likely to allow greater absorption of an oral anticancer drug, Lilly Compound X (LCX), into the body.(2)
Faraj Atassi and colleagues note that efforts are underway to develop more anticancer medications that patients can take by mouth. However, biological variations among patients — due to variations in stomach acidity and other factors — can reduce the effectiveness of oral anticancer drugs. Based on the results, the scientists suggest that patients in future clinical trials take the drug with Sprite.(3)
However, let’s hope the researchers don’t give the sugar-free version, Sprite Zero, to their patients to take alongside their medication.
No comments:
Post a Comment