Fun facts about Coca-Cola I saw at a Boston Market outlet:

• 94% of the world's population can identify the Coca-Cola trademark. It's the most widely recognized word after "okay".
• People drink nearly 10,450 soft drinks from The Coca-Cola Company every second of every day.
• If all of the Coca-Cola ever produced was poured into the famous contour bottles and placed end to end, the bottles would stretch to the moon and back 1,045 times.
• If that same amount of Coca-Cola were to gush from Old Faithful, the geyser would flow continually for over 1,685 years.

After the fizz, here's the damp towel - if Coke's that much of a slam-dunk hit with people all over the globe, why did the company deem it necessary to have this piece of not-so-modest advertising at a restaurant? A business brag? Or some quasi-subliminal messaging in their war against Pepsi?

Oh, and by the way - that whole thing about teeth dissolving in Coke is a lot of hot air; or cold fizz - in this case. Separate corroborations from a dentist and Discovery Channel's Mythbusters' show echo in their assessment that - "The amount of time taken by the drink to go from lip to throat can do nothing towards corroding your teeth". In fact, the Mythbusters let a tooth sit in Coke for about 48 hours, and it didn't deteriorate that badly - and it was far from "dissolved". It did discolor; but that was because it was left in an artificially-colored drink for 48 hours.

The caveat? Well, Coke by itself can't do much to your teeth. However, its sugar content can work pretty well with those interesting cavity-causing "things" in your mouth to make for cavity condominiums under your not-so-pearly-whites.

I can imagine you're probably going to think long and hard before you pop the tab of your next Coke can! I would suggest keeping the change aside for the little watery-coin-catching-thing at Taco Bell. Its an interesting game that's hard to win at, but if you lose, you lose the money to a charity - so it ain't exactly a total loss..

A few days ago, I wrote about making an early morning trip to Denny's. I left out a small detail - I'd dropped my card in their "fishbowl" to "win a free meal". Have I done this before? Yes. Have I won before? Yes. Did I win this time? Yes!!

Just received a call from "Nida Memon" at American Express, telling me that I had won a free lunch for up to ten of my friends, and that she would like to set up a time. By the end of the call, I'd figured out that this was a "free lunch with fine print". While I wouldn't be responsible for the tab I / we ran up,  I / we would have to sit through a spiel spun by Nida about financial planning blah, potentially sponsored by American Express. She would join us there.

I know what you're thinking. She picks up the tab and she does the dog-and-pony show while we stuff our faces and patiently nod along, making quasi-pleasant conversation and trying not to talk with food in our mouths. What do I have to lose? Well, nothing much really - other than the free meal is at a Denny's down the street from home, which isn't exactly next door to work. In addition, she just sent me an email asking for the names of my ten-or-lesser friends whom I would get along. Smells like someone could be fishing for additional contact information to market more financial planning services. In addition, I really don't know whom I would or could "invite" for this. If you're interested, send me an email!

So, will I turn this down? I don't know yet. She's set a tentative date for next Monday. Ample time to round up some friends willing to zone out during a financial services sales pitch, don't you think? I'll keep you posted. And the invite's real. If you're interested, you're welcome.

For those who did read my last post about Denny's - I guess all that talk about their fruity pancake did end up geting me a freebie, didn't it?! Bwaahaahahaahaaaa!

Slipped out to Denny's this morning for breakfast.  I must recommend the blueberry "Fruit pancake" breakfast to all those of you who order the Grand Slam without glancing at the menu. Its kinda like reading an instruction manual...one can often find a pleasant surprise buried among the technoblah.

Time for some DennyTrivia:

• Denny's was founded in California as Danny's Donuts, in 1953. In 1959, the owner of the chain renamed it to Denny's. No, his name wasn't Dennis. It was Harold Butler. Go figure.
• Denny's is the largest chain of full-service family restaurants in the US, with restaurants in 49 states and 2 territories (and two foreign countries, too - Japan's one). It was founded and is headquartered in California. So, to all of those who think California is full of "fruits and nuts from another planet", think twice before you waddle over to Denny's next.
• Its on the NASDAQ as DNNY / DNYY.OB. Its currently trading at $4.95 - about the price of an average breakfast item on their menu. Seems fair, doesn't it?
• In October 2004, NBC ran a documentary called "Dirty Dining" and examined health aspects of the top ten most popular casual dining and family restaurant chains, including - Chili's, Red Lobster, IHOP, Applebee's, the Outback Steakhouse and more. Denny's came out with the least number of violations that could adversely affect the customer's health. Yeah, I know you're wondering and here it is - Waffle House came out at the bottom of the list.
• In 2001, Fortune Magazine named Denny's as the "Best Company for Minorities", and it has been consistent in retaining its spot around the top of that list ever since.

No, I didn't know all of this before we walked through their door this morning. But now I do. And so do you.

Think I'll get a free fruit pancake breakfast for all the free advertising I just did?

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