There's a lot of reasons Carbonated Sugar Water, Inc. isn't a $200B business, and Coca Cola (tm) is, that "just a lot of sugar" doesn't even begin to explain.

Coca Cola is often mentioned in the first lesson of a marketing class. The product would collapse without the huge amount of money they put in advertising every year.

Distribution network and marketing.

that's a very oversimplification of it. how people can be willing to consume a beverage that can be used to eat the corrosion off of battery terminals is beyond me. so they'd be missing that on top of the sugar, unless of course they are drinking the sugar free versions, then it's just the battery cleanser

> how people can be willing to consume a beverage that can be used to eat the corrosion off of battery terminals is beyond me.

Wait 'til you find out what water can do.

I do get your point, but really, it's just corrosive in a different way than the usual highly corrosive stuff we consume daily.

> can be used to eat the corrosion off of battery terminal

That's just acidic, orange juice will do the same thing. But perhaps you are amazed people are willing to consume orange juice too!

Luckily I have zero battery terminals inside me. Any acid would eat the corrosion off a battery terminal. Orange juice probably works.

Chemistry is scary to those who don’t understand it because it gets used for this type of sophistry.

I'm drinking a coke right now. The reason? I like it.

Also I'm not sure how the pH level of a food is relevant to anything

The PH level of a food in fact can make it delicious.

Sour is one of the main "flavors"

About the same acidity as lemonade. Less acidic than the stomach it is going into. There are far more pressing things to worry about in this world.

Lemonade (made from real sugar, water and lemons and nothing else) can also eat the corrosion off of battery terminals...

Let me tell you about this thing called saliva…