The ‘fridge cigarette’ rivalry

Today, we’re talking about a conversation that plays out with work friends at 3pm, or while ordering a seedy Uber Eats meal on Sunday: are you a Diet Coke or a Coke Zero person? Coke has been at the centre of culture for a long, long time, thanks to the Pepsi x Coke rivalry and huge celeb endorsements, but a new competition has been taking place in the last few years: Coke Zero vs Diet Coke. So, how exactly did Coke Zero dethrone Diet Coke?

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Big thanks to BIODERMA (bioderma.com.au) for making this episode of Style-ish possible! Find the BIODERMA Hydrabio range at leading pharmacies and beauty retailers.

Your hosts today were Rhiannon Joyce (@rhiannonjoyce (instagram.com/rhiannonjoyce/?hl=en)) and Maddison Sullivan-Thorpe (@maddisonsullivanthorpe (instagram.com/maddisonsullivanthorpe))

And here’s a link to the reccos we made throughout: Kylie (netflix.com/au/title/82075657) on Netflix, Go-To Skincare (gotoskincare.com/?tw_source=google&tw_adid…), and ‘Love Diet Coke? You Have My Dad to Thank for That (foodandwine.com/diet-coke-history-sergio-zyman…)’ from Food & Wine

Sources mentioned: ‘The Ice-Cold Civil War Between Diet Coke and Coke Zero Drinkers (wsj.com/arts-culture/food-cooking/coca-cola-wa…)’ from The Wall Street Journal, ‘Coca-Cola exec says Coke Zero is “far and away our best innovation ... over the last 25 years” – and it's powering a sales turnaround (finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/article/coca-…)’ from Yahoo Finance, fridge cigarette TikTok (tiktok.com/@reallyrachelreno/video/75136471196…) by tiktok.com/@reallyrachelreno, ‘Celebrities take aim at Steven Bartlett for claiming two glasses of wine “ruined his life for three days” (metro.co.uk/2026/06/02/celebrities-take-aim-st…)’ from Metro, and @tinx’s response video (tiktok.com/@tinx/video/7644214567874071821)

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Style-ish's producers are Lucy Hunt (@lucyhunt3 (instagram.com/lucyhunt3/?hl=en)) and Cait Emma Burke (@caitemmaburke (instagram.com/caitemmaburke/?hl=en)).

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We’ll see you back here next Wednesday.