Coca-Cola CEO responds to Diet Coke 'fridge cigarette' moniker: Consumers call it what they want

We all know a co-worker who heads to the fridge at 2 p.m. to grab a Diet Coke, or what has come to be called a " fridge cigarette ."

Younger Americans coined the term in 2025 to refer to any cold soft drink people crave, but especially Diet Coke, which has grown in popularity in recent years.

"Consumers call it … the way they want to call it," Coca-Cola ( KO ) CEO Henrique Braun said in response to the viral nickname.

Braun is no stranger to the fandom that surrounds the Diet Coke brand. He took over as CEO of the Coca-Cola Company earlier this year after working there as an intern over thirty years ago.

"Coke, it's one of those brands that continue to recruit the next generation of consumers," Braun added.

"The most important thing to us is that we don't position Diet Coke in that way [as a fridge cigarette]," he said. "What we do is that it's a great-tasting product which connects with the consumer in a very unique way … We've seen that with our engagement with consumers end to end from social media all the way down to transactions."

Diet Coke's popularity continues to boost Coca-Cola's quarterly results . In the third quarter, Braun said both Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero volumes grew in the double digits in North America, helping to offset flat overall growth in the US.

Diet Coke is "having its moment," CFO John Murphy told Yahoo Finance in July. He chalked up the brand's success to its taste profile.

"It's not much more complicated than that," he said.

Follow Brooke DiPalma across social channels at @ BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.