Coke Zero and Diet Coke are Both Diet Friendly, So What's the Big Difference Between Them?

The battle over which flavor of soda is the best is age-old and fierce. People have strong opinions about which brand they prefer, which flavor they think is superior, and they will go to the mat to defend their opinion.

But even within brands, there are sub-groups that will fiercely defend their choices.

For Coca-Cola, the throwdown often comes between those who prefer Diet Coke and Coke Zero. They're both diet-friendly options for those who want to eschew the calorie-heavy Coke Classic. But what is the difference between them? Here's what we know about both zero-sugar options.

Diet Coke and Coke Zero both purport to have zero sugar, so what gives with the argument over which one is superior? If you ask fans of either drink, they'll tell you that the flavors are vastly different.

But the differences are far bigger than that.

To start with, let's look at the similarities. Both sodas have carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, aspartame, natural flavors, and caffeine.

However, as Taste of Home notes, Coke Zero has two ingredients that Diet Coke does not have: potassium citrate and acesulfame potassium.

And Diet Coke contains one ingredient that Coke Zero doesn't have: citric acid. With both offering zero sugar and calories, it's mostly up to the individual's needs and preferences which they prefer. The flavors are certainly different as well, which factors into why some people prefer one or the other.

But if you want a calorie-friendly version of Coke Classic, you're lucky to have two similar options.

However, Coke doesn't always hit it out of the park. When it came to their Holiday 2025 advertisements, the mega corporation really stepped in it with fans by incorporating AI-generated ads into their campaign.

Both ads featured AI-generated animals that were too cute to be real, and didn't really fool anyone. People were immediately furious, blasting Coke online for using AI images when they could have worked with real actors and artists.

Pratik Thakar, head of generative AI at Coca-Cola, made things worse by telling The Hollywood Reporter, "The genie is out of the bottle, and you're not going to put it back in," meaning the advance of AI into creative spaces is inevitable.

The internet immediately clamored for boycotts. While Thakar tried to brush the critics off as haters, the criticism was loud enough that the corporation had to take notice.

It's unclear whether or not they will choose differently about incorporating AI moving forward, but the weight of expectation is hanging over their future seasonal campaigns, advertisements, and videos.

The battle over whether or not to allow AI into creative spaces is large enough that even Coca-Cola, one of the biggest corporations in the world, isn't exempt from backlash. Whether or not that backlash is enough to inform their future behavior remains to be seen.