In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a bill last month that would put a citywide ban on all large-sized sugary beverages. Now, other community leaders are taking up the effort, but the soda industry is fighting back. The companies claim that soda is not entirely to blame for America’s obesity problem, and that the companies have been unfairly targeted. The vice-president of the American Beverage Association told CNN in April that soda consumption has declined and obesity is still increasing. She also said that to say that sugary drinks are responsible to obesity would be a gross miscalculation.

However, the soda industry’s attempts to battle the charges has caused a surge in social responsibility ads, and the journal PLoS Medicine believes that the companies are using this ploy to avoid the fact that the drinks are dangerous to public health. The corporate social responsibility campaigns, also known as CSR campaigns, are similar to the tactics that the tobacco industry used in the 1950’s to market their wares to an increasingly concerned public. These ads target the responsibility of the corporation to the consumer and help to prevent any government regulation. They are also explicitly intended to target teenagers.

A researcher at the Berkeley Media Studies Group says that the CSR campaigns need to be put into perspective. They are a distraction to the public, he says, and mislead people into false assumptions of the healthy qualities of these harmful beverages. One of the campaigns is Pepsi’s Refresh project. In these advertisements, Pepsi asked consumers through social media what charities or projects they favored, and then donated about $20 million to the entities that received the most votes each month. The philanthropic gifts promoted the sale of beverage because the people who voted were given 100 additional power votes if they purchased specially marked beverages with codes. Time Magazine says that the campaign targeted young people because it used social media as its main mode of communication and hire popular musicians to take a part in the advertisements.

Coca-Cola has created a similar campaign, which is called “Live Positively.” In their ads, the company has launched educational campaigns that talk about balanced living and the importance of medicine. They also support refurbishing basketball courts and soccer fields. Some critics believe that the ads point the obesity problem off of the sugary drinks and instead blame it on American’s lack of exercise or upbeat attitudes. However, Time Magazine says that soda is just as dangerous as tobacco. Scientists are starting to note that there is addictiveness to caffeine and sugar and this can create dangerous habits. People who habitually drink soda instead of water will end up having worse health later on.

The American Medical Association believes that sodas should be treated as a form of candy. The high fructose corn syrup that is present in almost all of these beverages is associated with poor development of collagen and can cause people to develop liver problems similar to those that are associated with alcohol. As well, aspartame, which is used in diet sodas, is a neurotoxin that is known to cause cancer. The caffeine in these drinks stimulates the adrenal gland without providing any nourishment. Children who drink too much soda can end up with adrenal gland exhaustion. The phosphoric acid in soda can cause calcium loss, and the water normally contains high amounts of fluoride. Traces of citric acid and the artificial flavors in the soda normally contain MSG. All the ingredients combined often cause men and women to have gastrointestinal distress which can cause stomach lining erosion. Keep aware of the potential dangers of drinking these sodas as the government continues to work through how they should best deal with this problem.