Soda Jerks

Why do people such as those in the American Beverage Association have to be such dishonest hacks?

Obesity is huge problem (ugh, bad pun) and simple sugar shit like this is a major cause, but they refuse to do anything but continue to try to profit from it. How do they sleep at night? When I was a kid, I had a chubby neighbor who was my age and I always wondered why he was pudgy. I mean, he liked activity, lived on a farm, played sports... what was the deal? Well, he invited me to dinner one night and I was absolutely flaggerasted that his family served pop rather than milk. Years later he dropped the pop and then dropped the weight. The same thing happened to me at about 23 when my metabolism dropped in a big way... I got fat, but switching to diet was a big factor in me subsequently shedding 30 lbs. (Now if they only made a tasty diet bacon double cheeseburger... mmmmm)

This probably sound naive, but why can't someone come forward and say "Yeah, this non-diet drink ain't health food... but damn, it tastes great!" I think it would be so much easier and consumer-friendly... being obstructionist to all bad news about your industry isn't always the best or only option...