Coke is indeed ‘the real thing’ if reality is about shrewdly offloading risk and responsibility in order to make loads of money. In Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism, Bartow J. Elmore, an environmental historian at the University of Alabama, tells us that the answer isn’t “either/or.” Citizen Coke and Killer Coke are conjoined twins, each providing the other with essential life support.
