To start I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about this topic- but at least in the United States why are soft drinks sold in 2 liter bottles instead of a more ergonomic gallon jug with a handle? Is this an economic decision? Do people actually prefer the hard to grip bottle over the jug? Am I crazy? Are there soft drinks sold in gallon jugs in other parts of the world?
Thank you.
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Other explanations cover part of it, but the shape of a soda bottle is also iconic. Plastic soda bottles were made to approximately replicate the shape of glass soda bottles. They could have tried another shape, but the shape of the plastic soda bottle was the best spot between the need for it to “look” like a bottle of soda and still have the (weaker) plastic contain the pressure of the carbonated soda during shipping and in hot conditions.
They used to sell soda in 3 liter bottles. It went flat faster than smaller bottles and it was big, like the customers who purchased it.
Gallon milk jugs are made out of a different kind of plastic that is easier to mold into complex shapes that have a handle in them. But, this type of plastic and the shape with a handle is not particularly good at containing pressure. Since soft drinks are pressurized with CO2 the containers need to be made differently and they don’t work well with a handle.
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