While it's true that Animalians had to be more careful with the sweets that they ate, particularly avoiding chocolate, sodas aren't as toxic to them as some people might assume. Admittedly, they had to be a bit more careful with how much they drank as so much concentrated sugar can be hard to metabolize. While unlikely to get diabetes, an Animalian on a sugar rush could get into more trouble than a human and the ensuing sugar crash was not pleasant at all.
Anyways, soda companies have been seeking Animalian endorsement as soon as Animalian advertisements began. Marcy and Chilly already had a solid contract with Coca-Cola. And naturally, PepsiCo. has been trying to get similar endorsement. The problem PepsiCo. was that Coca-Cola already had a solid ad campaign featuring polar bears even before Animalia and PepsiCo. didn't have any particularly animal-based ads or logos. Well, there was SoBe, but finding the right lizards for the role was trickier than they thought. Until Andre and Melissa came along.
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Andre walked into the apartment carrying a crate. "Melissa, we got another package from SoBe," he said.
"Must be more of that refined formula," said Melissa, "Though honestly, I don't see what was wrong with the original. It's not like we couldn't drink it."
"Yeah, but after so many bottles, you get too buzzy, want to run around, and then you want to drop and sleep halfway through," said Andre, "With this stuff, we should be able to drink without going crazy."
"Well, it's not like tea is as packed full of sugar as soda," said Melissa, "Still, at least it'll appeal to people who are more sugar-sensitive."
Andre put down the crate and said, "Well, I don't mind the taste of this stuff. And I'm extra glad that PepsiCo. sends us their other products."
"Yeah, I'm glad I'm still able to drink Mountain Dew," said Melissa, "If I had to choose being an Animalian and giving up Mountain Dew forever, I might have forgone the tail and scales."
Andrew lifted an eyeridge, "Even if you still be missing your legs?"
"Some things are just worth it," said Melissa. Not that she didn't appreciate her new legs. They were partially responsible for her getting this deal with PepsiCo.
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Lyre already had a skate park so it wasn't uncommon to see Animalians there. Though considering that Animalians tended to outsize humans, they needed sturdier skateboards that wouldn't break under them. But that wasn't as hard to make. Andre was a skateboarder before he became a lizard and while he may be on the top-heavy side, that didn't keep him from going to the skate park. And he wanted to show his girlfriend how it was done.
"I think I get enough of a rush on a motorbike," said Melissa, wobbling a little on her board.
"The motorbike is the one doing all the work," said Andre, "You're the one making yourself go on a skateboard."
"I think gravity and inertia are the main factors for skateboard movement," said Melissa.
"Now, Melissa, everyone falls off when learning to skate," said Andre.
"Yeah, but most people don't have large tails that are painful to land on wrong," said Melissa.
It was around then that the PepsiCo. representative walked up to them. Andre was a little surprised since he hadn't heard much from them since February. Part of it was them refining the recipe to make SoBe appealing but low-sugar as possible. And another part was they they were hoping that Andre would find a partner to work with him. After all, the SoBe logo was of two lizards, not one.
Eventually, the discussion got involved enough for Melissa and Andre to go back to their apartment to talk about it. However, Andre had absentmindedly left his skateboard out in the hall, which later lead to 'Missy' tripping on it. Andre still wondered if he should apologize to her for that or not. Still, this deal meant not only a good source of cash, but all the SoBe they could drink. Though Melissa talked them into throwing in Mountain Dew as well. She just couldn't do without Dew.