The 100-Calorie Can: An Unlikely Story About Metrics, Meaning, and Misperception

It happened in a quiet moment between sessions at a conference in Puerto Rico. I was in a conference room where the snacks were stacked—rows of glossy packaging and carbonated indulgences meant to keep us upright through long afternoons of slides and strategy. Normally, I don’t drink soda. But I was dragging a little. So when I saw a cold can of Pepsi glistening in the mini-fridge, I thought: What the hell. Maybe just this once.

I hesitated. Not because of the caffeine, but because of the calories. I’m conscious of what I consume, and I know what a regular can of soda typically means: about 140 calories of sugar and regret. But this one said 100. One hundred? That’s nothing. Practically water. I smiled, gave myself permission, and poured the whole thing into a glass with ice. I even chose the regular Pepsi over the diet version. Go big or go home, I told myself, delighted by this loophole in the nutritional matrix. A hundred calories for the real thing? Incredible.

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