Soda ban Essay
Mayor
Bloomberg has imposed a soda ban on New York City, proposing to ban
sugary drinks over 16 oz. in order to drop obesity rates. Sounds good
right? Well, not exactly. The soda ban may seem like it would decrease
the obesity rate, but there are way too many loopholes in the law, and
it could hurt businesses. One example of a loophole is that you can buy
multiple 16 oz. sodas at a time. The government cannot help this
loophole, but unfortunately stores not regulated by the government could
still sell supersized sodas which means delis and 7/11 will be able to
sell (sometimes literally) you buckets of soda legally. The point is,
even if you can’t get a 32 oz. soda with your Happy Meal, you can just
hop across the street to the 7/11 and buy a Double Gulp, for much less
than buying that many 16 oz. sodas would cost. One more reason the ban
should not be supported is because it could hurt businesses that depend
on large sodas for profit, like fast-food restaurants, and movie
theaters. Those are only two of
the issues with the ban. The point is, there are way too many loopholes
in the ban, and it could actually hurt our community, more than it
would help it.
One
reason the New York City soda ban should not be supported is because
there are too many loopholes. First of all, even though Mayor Bloomberg
has banned sodas that are more than 16 oz, really he has banned cups
that hold sizes larger than 16 oz. So you can just keep refilling that
cup over and over, and the government won’t be able to lift a finger.
Now, that is your own personal choice to get fat, which isn’t a good
thing, but the government should have figured out a plan with less
loopholes of they really want us to drink less soda. Another loophole is
less obvious if you have no knowledge on the ban. The ban states that
only government regulated restaurants and theaters will be affected by
the ban. So if you don’t want to waste money to keep refilling your cup,
you will be able to go over to the bodega across the street and get whatever size soda you want. So in reality, the ban will only be a small inconvenience to those who enjoy larger sodas.
Second
of all, the soda ban could kill Movie Theater and fast-food businesses
because of how much money the fast food business and the movie theaters
make off of soda each year. According to rd.com, or Readers Digest,
movie theaters make almost all of their money from concession stands-
not movie tickets. Movie theaters also make hundreds of thousands of
dollars each year from soda, and would lose that much money from the ban
when Bloomberg takes away all of that soda away from the menu. The
business will be making much less money, especially if they charge
cheaper, even when the soda is already over-priced. A soda so often
accompanies fast food restaurant’s meals, that cutting most of that soda
out of the picture could be disastrous in terms of money. One could
think that the govornment wants to make people feel full after one small
soda, well the first McDonalds soda was 6.5-7 oz. When sizes were that
small, people felt like they were getting too much when they ordered
two, so most didn’t. So less people were fat and more people paid less.
Then came the jumbo sizes. Bigger sized sodas were designed to make you
feel full with one soda that is larger, therefore the company makes more
money. As the sizes increased, the less you had to pay for a jumbo
soda, and people got fatter. (From the Omnivore’s Dilemma for kids).
There
are some potentially beneficial parts to the ban, but they don’t make
much sense. Some say that the ban will create an inconvenience for
people to buy large sodas at their favorite fast food restaurants, but
they can literally go across the street to a convenience store or 7/11
to buy a pint-sized soda. Another argument was that the ban was a really
big step for cities across the United States, but because the ban
didn’t regulate all restaurants, there is no point in having it.
Non-government regulated restaurants, and drinks with 50% or more milk
or milk substitute will be exempt. Also, drinks you add your own sugar
will also be exempt. Some also say that if it benefits the people,
businesses can stand to loose a few extra bucks. Well, not exactly.
Along with movie theaters, basketball stadiums will be affected by the
ban as well. Think about all of the people who pay more to buy sodas
over 16 oz. in those stadiums. A lot right? Like movie theaters,
stadiums charge a high price for soda and other concessions. Taking most
of their soda away will discourage customers from buying the soda,
which is what Bloomberg wants to happen. The thing is, he needs to find a
way to balance everything.
All
in all, the New York City Soda ban will not be affective because there
are too many loopholes, and movie theaters and fast-food companies will
loose money. The soda ban will take away one of the main money sources
from movie theaters and stadiums in which customers won’t pay as much
for sodas. The other loophole is that non-government regulated stores
will not be affected by the ban, therefore, you can still buy gallon
sodas. The big picture is, the New York City soda ban will fail, and all
of the money Mr. Bloomberg spent on the law will be wasted.
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