Serving Size

I wonder if a certain percentage of this is economies of scale. Back then you had many different soda companies instead of the two major ones we have today. They also used heavier tin and glass for containers. Once 95% of all soda was made by a few companies using cheap plastic containers, you figure sizing up hardly cost anything and was an advantage over competitors. Also you couldn't open and close the containers back then.

But even at it's most basic, giving a larger portion is a selling point over the competitor, who then increases their size and back and forth over a few decades and voila!

Yeah, but it's all ice and just a drop of soda. I wonder how many true ounces of soda are in a 32 ounce cup that has been filled to the top with ice.

When you look at the break down with electricy and maintanance of freezers, the ice costs more than the soda itself.

Soda is a HUGE reason why people gain weight...especially sugared sodas but also unsugared. Why? They wash your food through your stomach making you hungrier sooner! I had RNY gastric bypass surgery...and am forbidden 1) soda period and 2) cannot eat AND drink. I just can't. Sometimes maybe a sip or two if something is dry. But generally my tummy is too small now for both. I lost nearly 100# over the last 16 months.

What's strange is, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seemed to have happened during my lifetime. Sometime after the 90's. I remember when things weren't huge as hell. I wish positive improvements would move that fast. Instead of wasteful fattening ones.

@Red Bunny
I have actually measured before. A 32 oz cup holds 12 oz of drink when ice is included.

I have a great fear and loathing of Soft drink makers.
They steal water. Water that is potable. Then they poison it and sell it to people that need the water. That would be all of us. Coke is killing people in south America that try to join a union to get better working conditions.

Corporations have taken over our planet like a cancer, and at the same time causing cancer. 32oz of pure crap filled water. People are getting fatter. Hmmm... I wonder why.

@Eli - If diet soda makes you fatter by "wash[ing] your food through your stomach making you hungrier sooner", wouldn't water do the same?

Congrats on the weight loss!

this is one reason obeseity is such a plague here

"They wash your food through your stomach making you hungrier sooner! "

that's the funniest & stooopidest thing i've ever heard

High-fructose corn syrup (hfcs) is the main culprit for weight gain. That's why it's somewhat laughable to see a fat person order a diet soda, thinking they're doing herself a personal favor.
Soda was originally made with real sugar. In fact, very few countries switched to hfcs, the U.S being one of them. Mainly because it is far cheaper to make soda with it. (Not to mention cookies, frostings, or anything sweet; check the labels, people!)

40oz large? :O

That's pushing 1.25 litres!

Our large sodas (In NZ) are usually around the 600-700ml mark.