From soft drinks to soft politics

Abstract

What does it say about a public’s appetite for change when even an iconic brand like Coca-Cola, with a sexy signature bottle and eighty years’ Australian patronage, suffers a rapid decline in custom? Is the company’s $140 million sales drop between 2013 and 2014 a temporary consumer glitch? Or are patterns of soft drink consumption just one of any number of once-stable economic, political and cultural norms suffering a curious volatility? If so, are consumers of everything from vinegar to votes shifting their preferences so profoundly and so often that brand loyalty is now virtually non-existent?