scam stealing coke secrets fizzles

there are a number of things that are an icon of georgia. peaches, peanuts, delta and, of course, that fabulous concoction, coca-cola. devoted addicts of that sweet bubbly drink (aka, georgians and fellow southerners), affectionately dub it "coke", along with all other forms and brands of soft drinks, soda, pop, sodapop, colas, and what-have-you.

its recently hit the headlines that "the real thing's" trade secrets were offered to arch rival pepsi-co a few weeks ago. even more appalling is that the secret leak actually came from a coke executive at some level near the top.

somehow the situation involved that atlanta-based coke executive smuggling secret documents and even a sample of an uber secret new drink in the works out of the coke headquarters and sending it to the contact in new york, who sent the letter offering the secrets for some booty.

though i'm obviously a coke fan, i do have to give props to pepsi, who immediately (so they say) reported the reception of the letter at their new york plant to coca-cola. way to not get tangled up in crazy legal issues, because it was bound to come out. we all know that two can't keep a secret...and surely not three, which is how many were discovered to be involved in the secret-stealing scheme.

the fbi sting involved a few thousand dollars worth of transactions for the secret documents and a girl scout cookie box. a girl scout cookie box for goodness sake! for one, i'm not sure if the 30-year-old man dressed up like a brownie, if he had his daughter stuff the cash inside and do the dirty work, or why a cookie box would be any less suspicious. in addition to that, its like smuggling drugs inside a cute and cuddly teddy bear. it just makes the wrong even more wrong. i find myself asking this a lot: what is this world coming to? they were offering $1.5 million for the sample of the new product. only?

but all you coke lovers can rest assured tonight, the secret formula hasn't been compromised...at least for the time being. who knows, maybe the formula will be printed on the front page of ny times sunday morning paper.

well, thats my summary/interpretation...which doesn't mean its fully factual. want to read the story for yourself? check it out here.