Coca-Cola Spent $100 Million in an Attempt to Prove Soda is Healthy

You can probably guess how that one turned out.

By now everyone on Earth likely grasps the fact that soda is unhealthy, but that didn't stop Coca-Cola from dropping more than $100 million in an attempt to prove otherwise. The beverage giant revealed Tuesday "that it spent $118.6 million on health research and partnerships in the U.S. over the past five years," reports the Associated Press.

Coke spent $21.8 million on "scientific research," while the company spent the other $96.8 million on "health and well-being partnerships," says AP. That would include the sketchy campaign launched earlier this year in which Coca-Cola partnered with so-called "fitness and nutrition experts" to suggest that soda can be a "healthy treat" or a good snack.

A section of Coca-Cola's website titled "Our Commitment to Transparency" allows the public to see all of the organizations the company has partnered with and the research efforts it has funded. Somewhat hilariously, "organizations it has provided money to include The Obesity Society and the American Diabetes Association," not to mention the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation.

Perhaps some of those stacks Coca-Cola dropped trying to win over nutritionists would have been better spent on the IRS: The Atlanta-based corporation just received word that it owes $3.3 billion in back taxes, reports Bloomberg, largely due to big profits in foreign countries. Coca-Cola reportedly plans to challenge the tax notice in court.

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