You can fry anything, say the Texans I know. And indeed, much of my favorite food lore is fried things from the state and county fairs of the South and Midwest. There are the ever-infamous fried Snickers bars. Deep-fried macaroni and cheese. Deep-fried strawberries. Most favorite of the moment, though, is deep-fried Coke.After hitting Texas state fairs this September, deep-fried Coke won the "most creative" title in Dallas. And it does sound creative, although I'm still a little confused as to what it is. MSNBC calls it a "gelatinous cola-infused snack" and Matt Corbin has a detailed photo essay on flickr that shows the truth: it's doughnut dough, mixed with Coke concentrate, fried, topped with whipped cream, and served in a soda cup.
While it's arguably great PR for Texas (they're creative! even if they won't live all that long, they sure are bigger and better), this can't really strike love and joy in the hearts of the PR folks at The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO). See, deep-fried with whipped cream on top isn't exactly the perfect brand image right now. Everyone's trying to be healthier, from The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)'s campaign to take its Princesses off nutritionally unworthy snacks, to PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)'s struggle to push baked options in the inner city, even and especially Coca-Cola itself, which is about to release its calorie-burning green tea drink, Enviga.
What was the biggest thing in earnings news yesterday? Well, depending on your investing bias, it was either Burger King (BKC), which reported its first public quarter with a seven cents per share loss; or Whole Foods (WFMI), which is down big after reporting a good profit yesterday, but missing estimates on sales and offering what analysts are calling "confusing" guidance for full-year 2006 and 2007 sales. Bear Stearns rates Whole Foods at "underperform" and UBS has a "neutral" rating.
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