It's a way of cutting back on inventory; we'll see what happens in a Friedman unit when companies are willing to spend for customers.

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The "variety" is a marketing gimmick by the manufacturers to get shelf space. Coca-Cola doesn't care if you buy Coke, Diet Coke, Caffeine Free Coke, etc, etc, etc -- as long as you don't buy a Pepsi product. If a retailer has to stock all of the Coke products, they will have less room for other brands.

Consumer choice, not so much. (Diet Coke Black Cherry Vanilla? Bleah!). Most people can't tell the difference, anyway.

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Coca-Cola doesn't care if you buy Coke, Diet Coke, Caffeine Free Coke, etc, etc, etc -- as long as you don't buy a Pepsi product.

They actually do care. It's a waste of money for a company to develop a new product if most of the people who buy that are simply switching from another product sold by the same company.

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