If you’ve ever cracked open a bubbly, icy-cold “fridge cigarette,” Coca-Cola’s CEO would like a word.
The beverage giant’s CEO, Henrique Braun, was asked about the phrase — a popular slang term for a can of Diet Coke — in a Tuesday interview with Yahoo Finance, and appeared unimpressed.
He first answered by promoting the company’s growth, before being pressed for his thoughts on the nickname.
“The consumers call it the way they want to call it,” Braun said. “The most important thing to us is that we don’t position Diet Coke in that way.”
“It’s a great-tasting product, which connects with the consumer in a very unique way.”
Coca-Cola did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Merriam-Webster defines “fridge cigarette” as “a cold, refreshing, and addictive soft drink,” noting that it’s especially used to refer to Diet Coke.
The phrase first gained traction with Gen Z through a viral TikTok video in 2025, which has nearly 4 million views. It showed a woman opening a can of the soda, with the text: “Overheard someone call a Diet Coke a ‘fridge cigarette’ and nothing’s been more true to me since.”
It makes sense that Braun would rather avoid any comparisons to cigarettes, especially given some previous bad media for Diet Coke.
Aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in the soda, made headlines in 2023 after the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified it as possibly carcinogenic to humans.
However, this classification only means there is limited evidence in humans and less-than-sufficient evidence in animals. Health bodies and regulators globally have maintained their acceptable daily intake levels of aspartame. An adult weighing 150 lbs would have to drink at least 17 cans of Diet Coke a day to exceed the safe amount.
Diet Coke contains more caffeine, the use of which can lead to dependence, than regular Coca-Cola.
To most people, “fridge cigarette” instead evokes the relief from drinking a soda. An excuse to step away from work for a moment and indulge with a gratifying treat.
Rachel Reno, who posted the viral TikTok, told The New York Times in 2025, “I feel like it’s one of those things that doesn’t need a lot of explanation.”
She added that people who understand it know that “the crack of the can is like the spark of a lighter,” and then after the first sip, “all the worries and cares in the world go away.”
Braun’s interview came the same day as Coca-Cola’s quarterly earnings, which narrowly beat estimates with $13.4 billion of revenue.
The CEO told investors on an earnings call that Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero grew by double digits. Coca-Cola’s share price is up 33% since the start of the year.
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