Coca-Cola is known for experimenting with new flavors, often ones that we can easily imagine based on our past experiences: vanilla, cherry, lemon. However, their latest creation is quite different. Called Y3000, this flavor is inspired by the distant year 3000 and developed with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Y3000 has a distinct fragrance reminiscent of circus-peanut candies and a predominantly Coca-Cola-like taste.
According to the company statement, this futuristic soda aims to evoke a positive future. Its bottle features a label with a color palette of silver, violet, magenta, and cyan, giving it a futuristic appearance. The Coca-Cola logo on the Y3000 bottle consists of fluid dot clusters that symbolize the connections between individuals on our future planet. Customers can scan a QR code on the bottle to access a website that utilizes the AI model Stable Diffusion. This website can transform images of their surroundings into visuals with a similar color scheme and science fiction aesthetics, revealing a sleek and pink future.
Y3000 is just one of the recent unconventional flavors offered by Coca-Cola that doesn’t resemble any known terrestrial tastes. These flavors have names like “Ultimate” (Coca-Cola with the electrifying taste of +XP, a type of point in video games) and “Soul Blast” (Coca-Cola that tastes like the Japanese anime Bleach). “Starlight” is described as “space flavored,” “Byte” tastes like “pixels,” and “Move” tastes like “transformation.” “Dreamworld,” adorned with an M.C. Escher-like illustration, aims to tap into Gen Z’s fascination with the limitless potential of the mind and explore what dreams taste like. While Coca-Cola declined to comment, Oana Vlad, the senior director of global strategy, acknowledges that people might wonder what these flavors truly taste like. She told CNN in June that they won’t straightforwardly answer that question, but the flavor profile is always around 85 to 90 percent Coke.
Coca-Cola is already an abstract blend of various ingredients, including cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and citrus, with a few secret elements. Introducing flavors like “pixel” and “dream” is a brilliant strategy to generate attention. The inclusion of AI is a logical progression for the company, especially after its venture into NFTs. Since the emergence of ChatGPT, the world has been captivated by the technology and the possible apocalyptic or wondrous future it holds. AI is now appearing in unexpected places like our cola, creating a sense of confusion and intrigue. Sean O’Keefe, a professor of food science and technology at Virginia Tech, states that Coca-Cola’s shenanigans are always fascinating, despite not being a soda drinker himself. If Y3000 is an AI-designed soda that promises to taste like the future, he feels compelled to try it. Consumers are drawn to limited-edition products, like the Grimace Shake that took TikTok by storm, which are more about experiencing them once and sharing them online, rather than incorporating them into their daily lives.
Allie Wist, an artist who specializes in food-related artworks, describes these types of products as spectacles. She holds a master’s degree in food studies and often delves into the subject of food in her art. Wist draws parallels between artificial flavors and processed foods and the simulation world of images and videos created by our modern society. Rainbow bagels, chips with synthetic smoke flavoring, and future-flavored cola all represent an aesthetic fantasy or lifestyle rather than a mere act of eating. Wist suggests that capitalism plays a role in introducing increasingly provocative flavors to the market, even those referencing a future where cities may no longer be habitable.
Before taking a sip of AI Coke, I found myself inhaling its scent about 10 times, experiencing a sense of familiarity. At first, it reminded me of bubblegum, although that is not a real flavor either. It closely resembled the taste of Juicy Fruit gum, which O’Keefe describes as a combination of pineapple, banana, and citrus. This familiarity is crucial for avoiding alienating consumers. Wist raises an important point about capitalism, emphasizing that it removes the genuine value of exchange and lacks inherent morality or purpose. This is why a company like Coca-Cola, which already earns billions of dollars annually, continues to introduce ever more daring flavors, even those that hint at a potential future where many cities may cease to exist.
Reflecting on a postapocalyptic dinner party organized by chef Jen Monroe, where guests sampled a rectangle of gelatin that was half deliciously strawberry-flavored and half repulsively blue, I realized that serving food we dislike could become a sci-fi reality. Monroe explained that such extreme measures would highlight the abandonment of food as we know it. Although melancholic, it also offers a peculiar form of enjoyment. It made me contemplate the idea that, at least at the end of the world, we can still experience something peculiar and unfamiliar.
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