I actually think he might be right. At some point during the 2000s, the media was coming out with a ton of articles and stories about “X has Y calories” as part of a shaming campaign. I think a number of brands changed their formulas, only to decline because they didn’t taste as good.

That being said I also seem to remember a law being passed that banned big gulps, so I could just be misremembering and things. I was a kid.