It’s like a smoke break, but with aspartame instead of tobacco.
Picture this: It’s a long, stressful day at work, and you’re only halfway through. You need to let off a little steam. How about you crack open a cool, fizzy “fridge cigarette”?
The term “fridge cigarette” — also known as a Diet Coke — has recently taken off online, thanks to a video posted on June 8 by TikToker Rachel Reno.
“overheard someone call Diet Coke a ‘fridge cigarette’ and nothing’s been more true to me since,” her caption reads.
In it, Reno is seated atop a blanket on the grass with a wrapped-up sandwich and Diet Coke. After she opens the can — its carbonation audibly greeting the audience — and she takes a sip.
Reno’s TikTok, which has garnered more than 3.8 million views to date, highlights a prevailing idea among Gen Zers and millennials that we all deserve a little treat — like a crisp Diet Coke — especially during the workday.
Other TikTokers are picking up what Reno is putting down.
“almost 3pm? time for my daily fridge cigarette,” one user captioned their beverage break video.
“a little fridge cigarette to take the edge off,” posted another.
Other users took the analogy a step further, sipping their sodas as if they were taking a drag of it.
Reno reiterates that she didn’t actually coin the term “fridge cigarette,” but she really did overhear it from a coworker a little over a year ago, and says it’s been incredible to see the response from people online.
“The best insights are ones that we don’t have to explain to each other, we just ‘get it’ — and people just get the analogy,” Reno tells TODAY.com. “Even though Diet Coke might not want to be associated with cigarettes, it’s a truth about the brand that resonates with millions of people.”
While the term “fridge cigarette” is new to the internet’s lexicon, the idea of treating oneself to a Diet Coke break is not.
In spring 2023, the hashtag #dietcokebreak racked up millions of views on TikTok, which led some publications to deem the practice “Gen Z’s version of the smoke break.”
“A Diet Coke break is something I do look forward to when I am in the office,” Dedrick Boyington-Warmack, a then-27-year-old marketing manager, told Fortune in 2023. “I usually don’t bring soda into my home.”
And a June 2023 post on X described Diet Coke as having “cigarette aesthetic.”
The comparison may persist because of the idea that sodas — even diet ones — are not good for you. A 2020 study found that those who drank many beverages with artificial sweeteners had a higher risk of heart disease than those who didn’t consume them.
On June 9, Reno posted a follow-up video expanding on the orginal idea, categorizing regular Coke, Coke Zero and other diet sodas into types of cigarettes.
“People mentioning La Croix or sparkling water, respect to you, for me, that is a juice treat,” she says, adding that they are tantamount to prop cigarettes in plays. “A few people have asked about full-fat Coke in the glass bottle, and I said, ‘That’s a cigar.’”
About The Author
