the idea was part of mayor michael bloomberg s effort to fight obesity. the beverage companies, restaurants, movie theaters and others went to court to fight back against what they called a nanny state. just hours before the ban was to take effect, a state supreme court judge invalidated the city s rule, saying it is arbitrary and capricious because it applies to some, but not all food establishments in the city. it excludes other beverages that have significantly higher concentrations of sugar sweeteners and/or calories on suspect grounds. lattes and other drinks that were at least half milk were not on the list. and supermarkets and convenience stores were also exempt. but the mayor has vowed to appeal. if we are serious about fighting obesity, we have to be honest about what causes it, and we have to have the courage to tackle it head-on. reporter: the american beverage association considers the block a victory. the court ruling provides a sigh of relief to new yorkers and thous
exempt. but the mayor has vowed to appeal. if we are serious about fighting obesity, we have to be honest about what causes it and we have to have the courage to tackle it head on. reporter: the american beverage association considers the block a victory. the court ruling provides a sigh of relief to new yorkers and thousands of small businesses in new york city that would have been harmed by this arbitrary and unpopular ban. local businesses were worried about their bottom line, like this theater that says 30% of its business is from large beverage sales. this is the largest size. it s 44 ounces. this is the smallest. it s 22 ounces. the theater would have had to lose those large sizes in favor of 16 ounces or less. it had general manager russell levinson worried his small theater would lose tens of thousands of dollars in sales. on an independent theater like ours, it s a pretty significant hit. reporter: the portion control battle continued on late night.
let s discuss this in the lightning rooooouuuunnnddd. lightning round. there you have it. is it more of a business move or is it coke really serious about fighting obesity? i don t know what pr person told them this was a good move. everybody knows consuming calories makes you heavier. there is nothing new here. to say we are talking to scientists to tell us how to reduce these, that s ridiculous. just don t drink the cola. however, having said that, don t get between me and my 16 ounce. you heard it here. gerri willis says talking to scientists is ridiculous. is this all boomburg s fault 1234 who is consuming con suiting coca-cola. it is like the guy who made the dawment tree? who are those who dibts know
slogan, not really and not really is thawr slogan. that s the message of their ad campaign that addresses obesity. it highlights efforts to cut calories from their beverages. it is running on cable newschannels like this one. cnn and spike tv, let s all drink it in together. we will continue to work with scientists and nutritionists on innovative things like zero calorie all natural sweeteners. beating obesity will take action by awful us based on one by all of us based on one fact. all calories count no matter where they come from including coca-cola. if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you will gain weight. of course, critics are reacting critically saying that if coke were serious about fighting obesity they would stop fighting soda taxes. said one nonfanned of the brand, and i quote, it looks like a page of control 101.
francisco and bob, thank you so much. thank you. eric: this is not going anywhere. we ll have a more discussion tomorrow night on record with greta van susteren whose guest is new mexico governor martinez. she has been outspoken about immigration reform. we have her thoughts tomorrow night 10:00 p.m. jamie: also, one college is taking a new approach to fighting obesity. taking money from sports programs and shifting it literally to the student body. can it work? we ll take a look.