- Who will win the no-sugar soda war, diet or zero?
- Let's talk about that.
(upbeat music)
Good Mythical Morning.
- Now, it's not a huge stretch to say
that most adults experience some period
where they wean themselves off of soda.
And during that wean, that oh-so-important wean,
they'll try some no-sugar alternatives
before jumping into the healthy beverage deep end.
- Yep, both diet sodas and zero sodas
boast a lack of sugar to appeal to that wean,
but do you think that there is
an actual difference between the two?
Is it negligible? Is it all marketing?
- Well, I bring a bias to this.
I haven't a whole lot of zero and a whole lot of diet,
but the ones that I have had,
I think that I think that there's a difference.
And I think that I think that the zero
tastes more like the original formula
and the diet tastes more like diet, that's the bias.
- Is that because you think it's more for guys?
I think it's a marketing thing.
- For guys? - That's what I thought.
- I didn't think that at all.
- I'm looking for anything to make me feel
a little bit more... (grunts)
- Okay. Well, that shirt looks great.
Today we're gonna find out what's what. It's time for:
What's the Difference Between Soda Called Diet
and Soda Called Zero?
The First Person to Ask This Was Henry David Three-reau.
- "Three-reau?"
It's supposed to be "Thee-reau."
- Thee-reau.
- All right, after doing some
boopity-boop-boop boop-boop-boop research,
it seems that the main difference
between diet and zero sodas
all really comes down to the artificial sweeteners.
Sodas with diet on the label
tend to use the artificial sweetener...
- Aspartame! - Aspartame.
And sodas labeled zero or zero sugar
tend to use the one called...
- Acesulfame potassium!
- Good, I made you say that.
In combination with a few other sweeteners.
- Now, of course these will vary
based on the different brands,
depending on how that particular recipe overlord
decides what each one will taste like.
But on the marketing side of things,
more and more brands are adding
zero-sugar soda options to their roster
and sometimes even getting rid
of the diet soda options altogether.
- Is that because the zero option tastes better
or because we think it tastes better and they know that
or they want us to think it tastes better?
- It's because of the guys, man.
- We're gonna taste both
and we're gonna see if we can guess which is which,
and we'll also be talking about which one's better.
- And we're spicing things up a little bit this time
because we're gonna add extra stakes,
'cause we'll each begin with 100 DZ dollars,
that's diet zero dollars,
that we will use to bet
on how confident we are in our decisions.
And whoever ends the game with the most in the bank wins
and the loser will have to give the winner a massage
using soda cans in Good Mythical More.
- Great.
- Okay, we're gonna start out with the classic, Coca-Cola.
In one of these glasses we have Diet Coke
and in the other is Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, also...
Or formerly known as Coke Zero. They changed it.
- Let's start with our A's.
- Here's your A.
- [Link] I just feel like I instantly know what this one is.
- [Rhett] I feel very confident what this is.
- I feel very confident.
Now, we have 100 DZ dollars,
but we have a maximum bet of 20 start out with.
- [Rhett] But we gotta taste both of 'em.
The B's? - Trying the B.
I mean, I'm gonna bet 20.
And I'm not even looking at yours, 'cause...
- I'm betting 20 as well.
I'm not saying which one I like better.
- Which one do I like?
- I know that this is who I am.
- I've never tried them back-to-back.
I've just always thought that I like Zero better.
But I do like Zero better-
- I like Zero better as well. - If I'm right about this.
- So we both did the same thing, both bet 20. Okay.
- [Stevie] The Diet Coke is in glass A
and the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is in glass B.
- It's not as different as I thought it would be though.
You know?
- The zero sugar, especially with Coke,
which I think is one of the only ones that I've had
to be honest with you,
I would think that I was drinking Coke Classic.
- I wouldn't think that,
but it does allow more of the cola flavoring to come through
and that's why it's superior.
- You think that's what it- - Only for men!
- You think just the change in the sweetener does that?
- Yeah.
- I could've sworn it was more than that, but I don't know.
But I'm just a dude.
- Now let's move to Pepsi, diet and zero versions,
but let's go all the way to Wild Cherry Pepsi.
- I've never purposely had Wild Cherry Pepsi,
which means I may have never actually had it at all.
- Yeah.
The maximum bet's off.
You can ride it all on this one if you want to.
- Smells good though.
- Hmm. Whoo!
That cherry is kickin'!
- I like a cherry flavor. I do.
- I'm gonna start off by guessing that.
- Uh-oh.
- The cherry- - I am not confident anymore.
- Is not nearly as robust in B.
Is it?
There's other flavors that are coming through in B.
- These are remarkably similar to me.
- But doesn't A hit the cherry a lot harder?
- I don't know. Actually, I don't think so.
- What does that mean besides a stomachache? I hate this.
- Okay. - I'ma say...
- I'm not super confident here.
- The one that I like better I always assume is the zero.
- Oh, oh, whoa! We're different here.
We're different here. I'm only going with...
I'm only going with 10 on this 'cause I'm not confident.
- I think that there's more cola coming through here, so...
I'm gonna bet 20.
- [Stevie] The Pepsi Zero Sugar is in glass A
and the Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry is in glass B.
- Aw, man.
Well, I liked the diet better with this one,
which is interesting. - It was super subtle,
but I thought the one that I liked a little bit more.
But the cherry flavor throws everything off
because it's very dominant.
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- Okay, now we've got Red Bull.
Now, Red Bull's a little different.
- Is it?
- They don't have a diet option,
they have a sugar-free and a zero option.
And here's the weird part:
they're both made with acesulfame potassium,
but Sugarfree has aspartame and Zero has sucralose.
So this is screaming marketing alone,
to me, is what's happening here
because I think there's a difference
with the whatever the name of the thing is.
- Now, to further complicate things,
these are just our urine samples.
- Right. Yeah.
- No Red Bull. - Who's who?
- So you're going with the A first,
which is an alphabetical thing I guess, I'm with you.
- Tastes like medicine. Tastes like cough syrup.
That's the only thing that I taste.
- There's a nice tarty aftertaste.
- Tardy?
- So you're left forgetting that fake sugar taste,
which is nice.
I'm just gonna start with that on sugar-free.
- Don't tell me! - Oh.
Well, we're starting in the same place
'cause I'm looking on this one.
B?
It is different. - I taste more fakiness.
- Yeah.
It's not as medicinal tasting, but it's fakey.
And it doesn't have that really tart punch.
- Whoa, yeah!
They added a super, super sour aftertaste to one of these.
You think that's all happening
just with sucralose and aspartame?
- I mean, it's amazing how different these are.
The A leaves you with a tartiness.
This one's definitely tastier.
- Did you have a tardy problem in high school?
- No. No.
- I had to go to detention one time, because of tardiness.
- Oh, that's all it takes, man.
- And Benny was the guy in charge of detention.
- And did you make it out in one piece, man?
- Well, yeah. - What did they do in there?
- Because my keyboardist from my band
was the guy in charge of the detention center.
- Yeah. - I mean...
'Cause he was the bassist's dad.
- [Stevie] Why were you tardy?
- 'Cause you know me, I got things to do,
places to be, Stevie.
- Takes him a long time to wipe his butt.
- That too.
- I mean, just think about how long his crack is.
- I got a long crack. - No thanks.
- Just to traverse the whole thing once
is twice as long as a normal person.
- I got a long crack.
These are pretty different.
I'm doing a $20 bet.
$20 bet 'cause I got a little bit of a cushion here.
- I feel pretty confident that the zero
tastes better and more punchy.
I'm gonna go with a $30 bet.
- Okay.
- [Stevie] The Red Bull Sugarfree is in glass...
A. - Aw!
- [Stevie] And the Red Bull Zero is in glass B.
- Yes. (buzzer honks)
- No. - No, you were wrong.
- No, no, no. - Yes! I was wrong!
- That's why I went, "Aw!"
- I don't know. I'm seeing the back of this crap, man.
- Yeah, but we had the same guess
and I was expressing disappointment,
so you could've just gone with that.
- Oh! I thought we had the opposite guess.
- No, we had the same guess.
But you were lower than me to start with and bet more,
so now you're down by 40.
- So hold on. - Aw!
- Just which one do I order? - Yes!
- Which one do I order next time?
- What did you do? That was a good...
- Yes! - Yes!
Yes!
So which one do I order? I order-
- I like the sugar-free.
- [Stevie] You like the sugar-free better.
- Sugar-free's better. - Sugar-free's better, y'all.
- That's all I need to remember.
The doctor is in, with 23 flavors to boot.
We got a Diet Dr Pepper versus a Dr Pepper Zero Sugar.
Now, here's the thing.
- Diet Dr Pepper tastes more like regular Dr Pepper.
- But Diet Dr Pepper is my favorite diet drink by far.
(crew cheers)
But I have not even tried Dr Pepper Zero
and I haven't had regular Dr Pepper in 20 years
because the diet is so good.
Is that what I've been drinking for the past 20 years?
I don't know. My mouth is so confused.
- I mean, I would say that's Dr Pepper
'cause I don't like it.
- Ah. Ah.
Hmm, okay. All right. - This is subtle to me.
I mean, as someone who doesn't drink any form of Dr Pepper.
- I think I'm familiarizing, or re-familiarizing, myself
with a taste that I know and love.
Now I actually have to figure out which one I like better.
- It's so little difference. I can't even tell.
- The reason I think that Diet Dr Pepper
tastes more like regular Dr Pepper than other diet drinks
is because you're tasting so much
of the mediciny, doctory, syrupy thing,
which is what makes people hate it or love it.
It is the sort of polarizing quality of Dr Pepper.
- And I think that's what B has.
B is slightly more nasty that A, which is...
Just plain nasty. So nasty, nastier.
- I think I still liked my favorite
just because it's familiar,
but I think this one does taste more like-
- Boy, I'm really having trouble.
Are, are, are, are...
Do we agree?
- [Stevie] Yeah.
You agreed on the placement, you disagreed on your choice.
- I'm gonna go with a $20 bet again.
- Yeah, I really gotta-
- [Stevie] Did you say "in yen"?
- Yeah, this one's in yen.
Can I do my fourth-round bet in yen?
Because I am requesting that.
- Well, since I'm agreeing with you and I'm down by 40,
and you just bet what?
- 20. - What do I do?
(Rhett laughs)
How do I beat you? I can't.
- Hold on, this isn't the last round. Right?
- But I can't- - Yeah, you have one more.
- I can only catch up if we're both right and I bet more.
- But neither one of these is ketchup.
- I'm gonna bet 50 that he is right.
- [Stevie] The Diet Dr Pepper is in glass...
A. - Golly, I'm wrong!
- You're stupid!
(buzzer honks) What's wrong with you?
- I don't know! - I believed in you!
- It just goes to show how confused your palate can get
when yen are involved.
- [Stevie] I'm really intrigued by the Zero now though.
- But you need to switch. That's what you learned.
You like- - I like Zero better.
- Zero better and you didn't even know it.
- Yeah.
(Link belches) (Rhett laughs)
- That burp, it's like I could see it coming up.
It was like...
It was like you thought about it before it happened.
- Yeah.
It came from my scrotum. - And you really...
This is like going into Final Jeopardy
and the guy in second place cannot win.
Okay, last but definitely not least,
we have the soda that will eventually take over the world
if we don't stop them, Mountain Dew.
One is Diet Mountain Dew,
the other one is Mountain Dew Zero Sugar.
- Okay. Let's start with A. - A?
- See, now I'm back in a sweet spot.
I know what's happening here.
I've been to Mountain Dew. I've summited.
- Now, one of the interesting things that has happened-
- Not great.
- Is that in almost every round
I have preferred the zero and you have preferred the diet.
- Except for Coke.
- Yeah. - But those are ones-
- Three out of four rounds, I've preferred zero.
- But the ones that I've preferred,
it was like the lesser evil
'cause I will never order that cherry stuff
or that Dr Pepper stuff.
Or that Red Bull stuff. - You only order drinks?
What are you, just like a brunch guy?
- This is so much better than A.
B is clearly superior. Am I right?
- I don't think so.
No. You're very wrong.
And that's why I'm going with the one...
I think that I'm a zero man.
- A is a lot more lemony. And I think B is more limey.
- I think- - That's tough.
This one tastes more artificial to me.
I'm assuming that I like the zero better.
- I'm assuming that I like the zero better too
and I'm assuming that it's on the opposite side.
And I'm up by 70.
- I have $20 and I'm gonna bet it all.
- Okay.
I'm going to bet... (groans)
- Bet at least 70. - Okay.
- Come on. - I'm gonna bet...
- Make it interesting.
Be confident. Bet 90.
- I'm gonna bet...
49.
- You're boring.
- I'm gonna bet $49.
- [Stevie] The Mountain Dew Zero Sugar is in glass...
A. - Yeah! Okay.
- Shoot. So I do like the diet better and it is good.
- And I do like the zero better and it is good!
So, hey, the main thing we learned today
is that I usually win.
And the second thing is that I like zero, you like diet.
- Except for Coke.
- So next time we go to one of our fancy restaurants
and order... (chuckles)
- Yeah. - The drinks,
you'll order diet, I'll order zero.
- Huh. Who would've thought?
Who would've thought? I didn't know.
- Man.
All right, well, it looks like I'm getting a massage
along with my brunch in Good Mythical More.
- Where you gonna spend that $139?
- I don't know.
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All right, click the top link to watch us
discover which crazy Pepsi flavor is real or fake
in Good Mythical More.
- And to find out where
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