We like to think of choice as personal. Coke or water. Chips or fruit. But often, the “choice” has been engineered long before you make it.

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In Chiapas, Mexico, Coca-Cola didn’t just sell soda—it designed an entire environment:

Hook the brain: Coke hit the bliss point with sugar and fizz—two liters a day means ~200 grams of sugar, four times the daily U.S. recommended maximum.
Make it the easiest choice: Public water was scarce, chlorinated, or unsafe. Tanker-truck water was inconsistent. Bottled water was expensive. Coke? Always cold, always cheap, stacked in every corner shop.
Slip into culture: Ads since the 1960s showed Indigenous Chiapans in traditional dress, speaking local languages, drinking Coke. Shamans began using it in rituals; burps after drinking were framed as releasing spirits. Coke became not just a product but a custom.
Protect it with policy: NAFTA (1994) slashed prices, Vicente Fox—a former Coca-Cola executive—later became president, and soda taxes or warnings were watered down. Policy kept the system intact.

The result? In San Cristóbal, people drink over 2 liters of soda daily, more than five times the national average. Diabetes is now a leading cause of death. Dentists extract rotten teeth from 3-year-olds. Families spend up to 10% of income on water—while Coke profits from both soda and bottled water brands.

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This isn’t just a Mexico story. It’s a blueprint for engineered addiction:

Design the product to hook the brain.
Design the market so the hooked choice is the easiest choice.
Defend that design with politics and policy.

And when an addiction becomes this pervasive, it doesn’t just shape habits—it reshapes culture. Coke became so integrated it turned into ritual, tradition, even identity.

So the hard question is: if corporations can design your cravings, what does it take to reclaim choice?