'Real Bears' Offers An Unhappy View Of Soft Drinks

Well, this isn't what you expected from the happy-go-lucky Coca-Cola polar bears. A new animated short film is hoping to educate the public about the perceived dangers of Big Soda. 

The Center for Science in the Public Interest produced the film, The Real Bears, with the participation of former ad man Alex Bogusky and even Jason Mraz, and the video takes what look very much like the iconic Coca-Cola polar bears through a much more tragic tale than the happy Coke commercials tell. This time, the bears face obesity, diabetes, and amputations rather than the pleasure brought by Coke. With the help of statistics (and a very cheery song from Mraz), the bears eventually realize what was killing them all along — soda. (The best tagline ever: "Be happy, damnit!") 

The video is part of an initiative to expose the soda industry, writes Michael Jacobson, the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, for The Huffington Post. "Coke and Pepsi aren't selling happiness," he writes. "They're selling a nutritionally worthless product that's over-consumed to the extent that it leads to amputations, erectile dysfunction, and painful dental decay." Watch the video and see for yourself — it certainly paints a different picture than the commercials.