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 In Berkeley alone, the American Beverage Association and its
members have spent at least $2.1 million, or about $27 per eligible
voter, to fight a ballot measure that would impose a new 1-cent per
ounce tax on sugary beverages that supporters say would reduce
consumption and battle obesity and diabetes.
In nearby San Francisco, the industry has spent $9 million, or about
$19 per eligible voter, to beat back a 2-cent per ounce tax proposal
on such beverages, which include soda and energy drinks, and would
add 24 cents to the price of a typical drink.
The industry argues that the taxes unfairly single out one product
category and would hit low income consumers the hardest.
The "No" camp has put up billboards and stuffed mailboxes in both
cities with flyers. "Enough is enough!" declares one, calling the
proposed San Francisco tax "regressive" and warning it would make
living in one of the nation's most expensive cities even more
difficult.
 In Berkeley train stations industry billboards declare: "Watch out
for loopholes" - a warning that the tax would apply to some drinks,
but not other high-calorie products such as chocolate milk,
alcoholic beverages or 100 percent juice drinks.
"What the soda industry is worried about is momentum, you win one
and it makes it easier to win the next one and the next one," said
Michael Roberts, executive director of the Resnick Program for Food
Law & Policy at UCLA Law School.
So far, the $76 billion industry, which has been struggling with
lackluster sales, has managed to stem the tide.
Since 2012, the industry has pushed back ballot measures in
Telluride, Colorado, and in the California cities of El Monte and
Richmond. In New York City, the state's high court this summer
struck down the city's ban on super-sized sodas.
In Berkeley and San Francisco, the industry has outspent supporters
10 to 1. But while it is never easy to get voters tax themselves
more, the taxes have a shot at passing, especially in Berkeley, a
university town known for pioneering a ban on smoking in public
places. The Berkeley measure needs a majority vote to pass, while in
San Francisco, a two-thirds majority is needed. There have been no
independent public polls on the ballot measures.
A representative of the association downplayed the significance of a
possible setback in Berkeley.
"Berkeley doesn't look like mainstream America," said association
spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger. "If politicians in the country
want to stake their reputations on what Berkeley is doing, they will
do so at their own risk."
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PUSH POLLS AND ASTROTURFING
The industry has been taking no chances in either city.
The beverage association collected money from member companies,
including Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo Inc, at least six months before
proposed taxes were even on the ballots in July, according to its
recent filing with California's election finance watchdog.
The association sent representatives to both cities in the summer
and created outfits called the Coalition for an Affordable City and
the No Berkeley Beverage Tax group to deliver the industry's message
at rallies and other venues.
Some industry tactics have drawn fire. Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, who
supports the soda tax, said his constituents have complained that
opponents conducted so-called push polls, a form of negative
campaigning in which callers ask questions in the form of a survey
with the aim of swaying the view of voters.
Critics also characterized the association's use of industry-funded
groups, such as the Coalition for an Affordable City, as
"astroturfing," a tactic that aims to hide the true sponsors of a
message.
Association representatives said the group has been transparent
about the industry's opposition to the measures.
Roger Salazar, a spokesman for the "No" campaigns, said industry did
not conduct "push polls," and that any polling it conducted was for
internal use.
While some three dozen states and the cities of Chicago and
Washington, D.C., have implemented small, special taxes on sugary
drinks sold in grocery stores and in vending machines, some
economists and public health experts say the heavier levies proposed
in Berkeley and San Francisco are more likely to curb sales.
That appears to have been the outcome in Mexico, where a soda tax
went into effect earlier this year. PepsiCo last month said volume
in Mexico declined 3 percent in the latest quarter, citing the tax
hike.
(Additional reporting by Ann Saphir in Berkeley; Editing by Tomasz
Janowski)
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