AriZona Iced Tea Defies Inflation & Hijacks Evolution

For AriZona Iced Tea, the 99 cent price printed on the festive southwestern design of its big old cans might as well be carved into tablets lugged down a mountain. Marketing-wise, it's word-of-God stuff. 

So the company's decision not to raise prices in 30 years became a fun story republished all over the place during the volatility of this inflationary period. "Billionaires Buck Economy Itself ... for the Little Guy!" is kind of the takeaway. But AriZona's founder, Don Vultaggio, knows a little marketing secret that'll keep us coming back: humans are primates.

It's true! The Iced Tea Economic Standoff sends us in search of some answers about taste itself, and where it comes from, and why we like the things we like. We talk about how our moms influence our preferences before we even have a chance to rebel, and the evolutionary origins of our love of salt, sugar, and big-ass eggs. 

It's our ancient wiring that gets us into trouble, dietarily speaking. And especially so when companies know the easiest, sweetest way to a buck (or even 99 cents) makes us both obese and malnourished. 

Print that on a can and gulp it down!