Editing 346: Diet Coke+Mentos

{{comic
| number    = 346
| date      = 2012-08-04
| title     = Diet Coke+Mentos
| image     = diet_coke_mentos.png
| titletext = The cola+Mentos trick is up there with corn starch+water (vibrating platter optional) in scientific coolness out of common kitchen supplies.
}}

==Explanation==
This strip exploits irony using the popular meme of mixing Mentos into a bottle of soda. There was a period of time when a large portion of videos depicting this phenomena floated around the Internet, but the novelty starts to wear off once you've seen a bunch of these. So, you expect the character in the strip to show off the incredible phenomena to his friend, because it's "the coolest thing", but it turns out instead of fizzling Diet Coke everywhere, the friend's father magically shows up (presumably from the dead or from abandonment). That would surely be "cooler" than just some soda reacting with sugars. This hints that the author might consider the fad unworthy of too much excitement, and that he considers people's liberal use of the phrase "the coolest thing" unjustified.

==Transcript==
Friend 1: This is the coolest thing. You just drop the mentos in the Diet Coke...
Friend 2: Uh huh.
Friend 1: Give it a moment...
[Diet Coke starts to fizzle.]
[Someone teleports into frame in a magic puff.]
Friend 2: D-Dad?
Dad: I'm back, son. We can be a family again.

{{comic discussion}}
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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{comic
 | number    = 346
-| date      = November 19, 2007
+| date      = 2012-08-04
 | title     = Diet Coke+Mentos
 | image     = diet_coke_mentos.png
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
+This strip exploits irony using the popular meme of mixing Mentos into a bottle of soda. There was a period of time when a large portion of videos depicting this phenomena floated around the Internet, but the novelty starts to wear off once you've seen a bunch of these. So, you expect the character in the strip to show off the incredible phenomena to his friend, because it's "the coolest thing", but it turns out instead of fizzling Diet Coke everywhere, the friend's father magically shows up (presumably from the dead or from abandonment). That would surely be "cooler" than just some soda reacting with sugars. This hints that the author might consider the fad unworthy of too much excitement, and that he considers people's liberal use of the phrase "the coolest thing" unjustified.
-This comic's premise is a reference to the phenomenon of {{w|Diet Coke and Mentos eruption|dropping Mentos into a bottle of a carbonate beverage to create a geyser of said beverage}}. During 2007, a large number of videos depicting this phenomenon floated around the Internet.
-[[Cueball]] wants to show this phenomenon to his friend, because it's "the coolest thing". However, instead of achieving the standard result, a geyser of Diet Coke, the friend's father magically appears (presumably from the dead or from abandonment).
-An alternative interpretation is that the friend's father is resurrected/returned in an event unrelated to the geyser, undermining the geyser's coolness.
-The title text shows that Randall considers (or at least then considered) this trick to be as cool as mixing {{w|Non-Newtonian_fluid#Oobleck|corn starch and water to make a non-Newtonian fluid}} that reacts wildly with vibrations and impact.
 ==Transcript==
-:[Cueball and his friend are sitting on the ground, with a bottle of Diet Coke between them, and Cueball appears to be putting mentos into the bottle.]
+Friend 1: This is the coolest thing. You just drop the mentos in the Diet Coke...
-:Cueball: This is the coolest thing. You just drop the Mentos in the Diet Coke...
+Friend 2: Uh huh.
-:Friend: Uh huh.
+Friend 1: Give it a moment...
+[Diet Coke starts to fizzle.]
-:[Diet Coke starts to fizzle.]
+[Someone teleports into frame in a magic puff.]
-:Cueball: Give it a moment...
+Friend 2: D-Dad?
+Dad: I'm back, son. We can be a family again.
-:[Someone teleports into frame in a magic puff. Cueball's arms are raised, with a package of Mentos in one hand.]
-:''POOF''
-:Friend: D-Dad?
-:Dad: I'm back, son. We can be a family again.
-==Trivia==
-*The "corn starch+water" trick from the title text is illustrated here at [http://what-if.xkcd.com/36/ what-if].
 {{comic discussion}}
-[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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-[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]