Dark Parody Of Famous Coke Ad Shines Lights On Soda's Health Risks

Lydia O'Connor
Updated

In this dark parody of a wildly famous 1971 Coca-Cola ad, the original scenes of an international choir united by their love of Coke are replaced with scenes of hospital patients united by their soda-related diseases.

The original ad, which featured prominently in the "Mad Men" series finale last month, was reworked by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in a video Tuesday highlighting the harmful health effects of sugar-sweetened beverages.

"Well, we thought it would be interesting to see a fresh take on the [1971] ad—where real people, suffering from real soda-related health problems—could tell their stories," CSPI wrote in a description of the video. "It’s time to change the tune."

In this sendup, patients suffering from obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and other health conditions sing directly into the camera, much like in the original jingle. But they've substituted lyrics such as "I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company" with "I'd like to buy the world a drink that doesn't cause disease" and "I'd like to teach the world about what sugar did to me."

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Sugar-sweetened drinks have come under immense scrutiny over the past year, with Berkeley, California, voters passing the nation's first soda tax in November and San Francisco officials approving warnings in ads for sugary drink earlier this month.

While the beverage industry says it's being unfairly targeted as other sugar-laden products get a free pass, studies show that these sweet drinks are being consumed in disproportionate amounts, with soda, energy drinks and sports drinks being the top calorie source in teens’ diets.

Aging Cells

A new study by researchers at the University of California has determined that soda is actually shortening your life by 4.6 years. The study looks at the sugary drink outside of it’s known relationship with obesity and found that it actually ages your cells. The findings reported in American Journal of Public Health show telomeres, or the protective units of DNA, were much in white blood cells of people who drink more soda. This type of health issue has been found to develop diseases associated to aging including heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancer types. <em>Photo Credit: © <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcjohn" target="_hplink">Flickr / dcJohn</a></em> <a href="http://www.theactivetimes.com/8-ways-drinking-soda-killing-you-slideshow?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=health" target="_hplink"><strong>Click Here to See More Ways Drinking Soda is Killing You</strong></a>

Higher Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

A study published in Diabetes Care found that aside from additional weight gain, regularly drinking soda increases a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 26 percent more than those who drink soda more sparingly. This risk was found to develop in those often drinking 1-2 servings of soda a day. <em>Photo Credit: © <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures" target="_hplink">Flickr / Roadsidepictures</a></em>

Higher Risk of Gout

Over the course of 22 years, one study, published in JAMA, found that sugar-sweetened soda was associated with an increasing risk of gout in women. In the 80,000 women study it found that those who drank soda had a 75 percent higher risk than those who rarely drank. <em>Photo Credit: © <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielfoster" target="_hplink">Flickr / Daniel Foster</a></em> <a href="http://www.theactivetimes.com/8-ways-drinking-soda-killing-you-slideshow?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=health" target="_hplink"><strong>Click Here to See More Ways Drinking Soda is Killing You</strong></a>

Higher Risk of a Heart Attack

A 2012 study published in Circulation found that drinking soda increases your risk of heart disease. In the men studied, there was a high increased risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) and adverse changes in inflammatory factors, lipids, and leptin. The study found that those who had an average of one can of soda a day were 20 percent more likely to have a heart attack or die from a heart attack. <em>Photo Credit: © <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenneth" target="_hplink">Flickr / Ken Edwards</a></em>

All the Crazy Chemicals

Many studies have found crazy chemicals in soda such as 4-methylimidazole in the brown coloring. This chemical has proven to make animals sick and in sodas are in higher levels than legally allowed without a warning label. BPA has also been found to keep acids from reacting to the metal of cans, and BPA has been found to interfere with hormones. <a href="http://www.theactivetimes.com/8-ways-drinking-soda-killing-you-slideshow?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=health" target="_hplink"><strong>Click Here to See More Ways Drinking Soda is Killing You</strong></a> <em>Photo Credit: © <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/poolie" target="_hplink">Flickr / poolie</a></em>

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.