Stub
May 30, 2012: Mayor Bloomberg Seeks to Restrict Large Sugary Drinks
People were unhappy with the soda ban from the start. With a new nickname, "Nanny Bloomberg," the mayor of New York City immediately sought to show that the ban was not to limit consumer choice, but to fight growing obesity rates. He told The New York Times, "Your argument, I guess, could be that it's a little less convenient to have to carry two 16-ounce drinks to your seat in the movie theater rather than one 32-ounce... I don't think you can make the case that we're taking things away."
June 2012: Everyone Freaks Out
Of course we loved the celebrity reactions to the New York City proposal to ban large, sugary drinks. Jerry Seinfeld's response: "I don't think I'm in favor. I'm in favor of continuing the accelerated Darwinian process of early death and weeding out most of the population through sugary drinks... I say, 'Fatten them up, kill them off, and move them out.' That would be my philosophy."
June 2012: Starbucks Freaks Out
Frappuccino lovers in New York also began to panic, while the CEO of Starbucks wondered whether the proposed soda ban would make a difference. Said Howard Schultz on CBS This Morning, "I'm not sure that he's going to achieve the results that he desires as a result of this initiative... I'm not sure it's the right approach, but we're obviously going to follow suit and respond to him because he's trying to do something that's quite important."
June 2012: Other Cities Begin Thinking About Soda Bans
The first city to consider a similar proposal? Cambridge, Mass. Mayor Henrietta Davis proposed a similar ban in a city council meeting, where it was met with opposition from other members of the city council. Then, Councilman Mitchell Englander in Los Angeles proposed a ban of soda vending machines in libraries and parks on top of an existing soda machine ban in schools. Richmond, Calif., also jumped on the bandwagon with a proposal to require businesses to have a license to sell sugary drinks, much like a liquor license.