The Yes on E camp, who would like you all to vote for the controversial 2-cent tax on sugary beverages on Tuesday, took to Dolores Park and elsewhere in town over the last several days with some performance-type demonstrations including a pile of severed mannequin legs to remind you of diabetes-related amputations.* The Examiner reports on a demonstration on Sunday in which Prop E supporters brought about 200 of the legs legs to strew around the park and raise awareness of the health effects of Type 2 diabetes.
According to the CDC, approximately 250 legs, feet, and toes are amputated from diabetics per day in the U.S.
In previous days a different group* had also brought the big can of Diabetes cola to Dolores, as well as to Patricia's Green in Hayes Valley, Crissy Field, and Berkeley High School. It's been dubbed "Canzilla."
Supervisors Scott Wiener and Eric Mar brought the initiative to the ballot, and the beverage industry has already spent an estimate $9 million fighting it through TV ads and direct mail.
As the AP earlier reported, San Francisco and Berkeley could end up being the last stand on soda-related referendums, given that these are two of the most liberal cities in the country. Since 2009, about 30 special taxes on sugary beverages have been introduced in cities and states around the country, and none has passed. The thinking is that if the beverage industry and anti-taxation advocates can prevail even in the Bay Area, this fight could be dead.
In September, former President Bill Clinton even spoke out against soda taxes like this, after he got Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group to pledge, under the aegis of the Clinton Global Initiative, to expand their selection of low- and no-calorie drinks and reduce Americans' sugar-calorie consumption by 20 percent in the next ten years.
@Youthradio: Have you seen #soda #canzilla roaming around the Bay Area courtesy of @youthspeaks and @BigPicCampaign? pic.twitter.com/LbLii7aRDG
— Soda Free Summer (@sodafreesummer) October 30, 2014
@SFoodie check out @DrinkDiabetes and the amazing @BigPicCampaign @youthspeaks @ucsfcvp pic.twitter.com/339waUK1DA
— Janna N Cordeiro (@jncordeiro) October 31, 2014
Correction: The giant soda can, while timed right before the election, is the work of a guerrilla marketing campaign that apparently has nothing to do with Prop E.
The "Diabetes" inflatable soda can was a guerrilla marketing tactic orchestrated by Youth Speaks, UCSF's Center for Vulnerable Populations, The Bigger Picture, and a PR Firm based in Los Angeles as part of an effort to bring awareness to the health risks related to drinking sugary drinks; specifically Type 2 Diabetes.
Previously: Exclusive: Supe Scott Wiener, Coalition For An Affordable City, And Locals Debate The S.F. Soda Tax