New Coke
Submitted Monday, August 9, 2010 - 5:27:44 PM by Klaitu

Greetings, Readers! I know it's been quite some time since I've posted anything unique, but here's something I've got for you that's new.. or rather old. It combines 3 of my favorite things: Science, History, and Soda.. so without more introduction, let's take a look at something strange that happened way back in the year 1985, let's look at the weirdness of "New Coke".

In the early 1980's, the price of sugar increased causing soda makers to swap the sugar in their forumlas for High Fructose Corn Syurp, which was both cheaper and sweeter. The last holdout was Coca-Cola, whose formula had not varied since the 1930's (when it sought to become kosher).

For reasons known only to them, the Coke people decided that as long as they were changing their formula to put HFCS in, they might as well engineer an entirely new soda. To that end they brought in taste tests and focus groups and market data and they crafted the most perfect beverage ever devised by the hands of men. This beverage would end up becoming "New Coke".

It's not like they didn't throw some money into this decision.. based on their taste tests, the overwhelming majority of people preferred the new formula to the old formula, so the go-ahead was given to switcn the Coke product line into "New Coke" which made the original Coke entirely unavailable.

The result? Well, it was an interesting study in group dynamics because the New Coke was met with a tremendous backlash. Everyone tried it, and lots of people liked it, but even the people who liked it wouldn't buy it because the vocal minority became so vocal that "New Coke" became "uncool". Nobody would buy it, and the campaign was such a disaster that it only lasted for 77 days.

So, what went wrong? The taste testers loved it, the focus groups loved it, and even consumers loved it.. why didn't anyone buy it? They overlooked some important taste tester data: when people picked the flavor they liked the best, and that flavor turned out to be NOT their favorite soda, they got pissed off. Yeah, that's right. People prefer drinking stuff they like less because it is associated with tradition and branding. It turns out that the outside of the can is more important to consumers than the inside of the can.

Quite an oddity in human behavior, wouldn't you say? It explains a lot about how humans think, and why sometimes our society makes stupid decisions, even though we know those decisions are stupid when we made them.

In the end, Coke released "New Coke" as "Coke" and the old coke became "Coca Cola Classic". New Coke was rebranded as Coke 2 in 1992, and was discontinued in 2002. Coca Cola Classic got its original name back in 2009, so now when you drink Coke, you're drinking the 1930's forumlation, except with Corn Syurp instead of sugar.

Predators
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:54:20 PM by Klaitu

You've probably heard this review from people that you know:

Predators is suprisingly good, it's not like Predator 2 or Aliens vs Predator.. it's a lot like the first one.

And that review is pretty accurate. This time instead of taking a helicopter into the jungle, our protagonists awaken while they are parachuting into a mysterious jungle.. they don't know where they are or how they got there, but they're being hunted.

It's not quite as awesome as the first film, because it's just not the same with no Arnold, but it's still a decent movie and fun to watch!

Overall Score: 8 of 10

Michael Moore Hates America
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:50:03 PM by Klaitu

Not a statement that I am making, it's the title of a documentary that I watched that posits that very question.

Although the movie never really does determine if Michael Moore Hates America, it pokes holes in a lot of his documentaries. The film revisits the places and people that Moore talked to during his films, and they explain how they were misrepresented by Moore.

The documentary also reveals that Moore's production offices are actually a Mailboxes etc store.. which I thought was amusing.

Overall Score: 7 of 10

This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:42:26 PM by Klaitu

This is a film about controversial film ratings, it threatens to "expose the corruption" within the MPAA, but the filmmaker completely and totally misses the point of the MPAA ratings system, so this movie primarily complains about how porn can't get an R rating.

The documentary contents that the MPAA is corrupt because the people who rate the movies are anonymous, and the appeals board is made up of industry insiders.

In reality, films get rated NC-17 because filmmakers want to "push the envelope" and get as much crap as they can into their R rated film. The documentary treats the NC-17 rating like a purposeful ban on artists, but the MPAA actually uses NC-17 to categorize movies that nobody wants to watch because they are stupid.

If you're a filmmaker, and you want to make money.. don't make porn you idiots.

The documentary guy submitted his film to the MPAA for review, and since it contains clips from NC-17 films.. guess what it got rated? Yeah, NC-17.. DUH!

Coincidentally, the title of the film is wrong because he did that.

Overall Score: 2 of 10

Super Size Me
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:31:28 PM by Klaitu

The infamous documentary that made McDonald's change the name of its Super Size Menu.

I have mixed feelings about this movie, as I appreciate the experiment of it all, but I don't understand exactly what Spurlock is trying to preach with his documentary.

Everyone already knows that fast food is no good. It didn't even put a dent in McDonald's sales.. It just seems like Spurlock got himself hooked on delicious food to prove something that everyone already knows.

He also seemed to indicate that more people should pay attention to nutritionists, which are as ridiculous as the people who came up with the Body Mass Index.

Overall Score: 3 of 10

Robin Hood
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:24:44 PM by Klaitu

This is a BBC TV series that was made to appeal to audiences coming out of Doctor Who (which holds the timeslot before it).

The show is alright, but in much the same way as Merlin, has a lot of modern spin on the plot. The show is fun for the first season, but the show fizzles out after that. It's mainly the same plot run over and over again. The repetition gets pretty mind-numbing.

Overall Score: 3 of 10

Zombieland
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:21:40 PM by Klaitu

When this movie was out in the Theaters, everyone raved about it.

Zombieland is the story of 4 people trying to survive in the zombie apocalypse. Well, 4 people and Bill Murray. Along the way there's some romance, but mostly it's a pretty light on plot.

I thought it was alright, but I dunno why people raved about it so much.

Overall Score: 5 of 10

Tango and Cash
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:15:11 PM by Klaitu

Can you believe that I had never seen Tango and Cash?

Well it's just as well, the movie wasn't very good. It stars Sly Stallone and Kurt Russell. Stallone is a sort of Beverly Hills Cop, and Russell is a jeans-wearin blue collar cop.. and together they are framed by a drug cartel because they're too effective and shutting down their trafficking.

Overall Score: 5 of 10

Heart and Souls
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:10:28 PM by Klaitu

This one is a movie from 1993 with Robert Downey Jr. In which he gets linked to several spirits after they die. The spirits follow him around for a few decades until the bus driver that killed them shows up and tells them they were supposed to fix what went wrong in their own lives with his help.

Hilarity ensues.

The movie is alright, but nothing noteworthy.

Overall Score: 4 of 10

The Man from Earth
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:05:16 PM by Klaitu

The Man From Earth is another film I spotted on Netflix. This one has Dr. Phlox and Commander Kern from Star Trek in it.

It's about a teacher who is packing up to leave his town after 10 years for parts unknown. He reveals that in fact, he is a caveman who has been alive for several thousand years. Some of his guests believe him, and others don't.. but either way, he has a pretty interesting story.

Overall Score: 6 of 10

Outsourced
Submitted Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - 3:01:02 PM by Klaitu

I was introduced to this film through the modern miracle of Netflix. Outsourced is a romantic comedy about a US call center worker whose job gets outsourced to India, but he has to train his own replacement.

Along the way he manages to clash with Indian culture and fall in love. The movie is actually pretty funny, and features some exotic filming locations to enjoy.

Pretty good movie!

Overall Score: 7 of 10