It’s a nice sunny day in May, right after school ends. Me and my 3 friends all walk to the corner store where we live, a crisp $5 sitting in my book bag. We enter the store, pick up 4 AriZona’s in total, and head to the register. As we set our drinks on the counter, I pull out my perfect 5 dollar bill- “Your total is $6.” What kind of world are we living in? The 22oz AriZona tea markets itself as only 99c on the can. This is the original price, that is no lie. However- stores don’t care.
The first reason why stores should sell AriZona tea at the original price is that prices today on items are unstable, one day they can be at the normal market price, and then the next day the prices skyrocket and you’re stuck wondering whether or not you should buy the thing or take a gamble, hoping that the price doesn’t double.
This is exactly what is happening with drinks, Cassandra Yorgey, Journalist and freelancer, says “A simple 12-pack of brand-name soda has gone up 89% since 2020. Five years ago, the average price was approximately $5.18, but now it has increased to $9.79. Two-liter bottles haven’t gone up quite so much, changing from $1.94 to $3.14 per bottle.” (Yorgey.)
Holy cow 89%? The prices are only gonna go up. Imagine you plan the night before to bring exactly 9 dollars and 79 cents for a 12 pack of soda, only to find out the next day that you should’ve brought 10.
With everything going on in the world today, war and corruption, it should be a no-brainer that prices will go up, not just for drinks but for everything in general. 30 years from now housing will be barely affordable, not that it already isn’t, but let’s say you use up most if not all of your money on housing and when you finally have time to relax, you head to the store wanting to refresh yourself and BAM- 5, 6, 8 dollars for a damn drink. Seriously? Has the greed from corporations and evil higher ups not drained us off our money? Of our lives?
The second reason why stores should sell AriZona at the base price is that even though prices can vary by a couple cents to even a dollar more than the regular price for a can of AriZona is that it IS a huge difference, Don Vultaggio, Co founder of AriZona, says “We’re successful. We’re debt-free. We own everything. Why? Why do people who are having a hard time paying their rent have to pay more for our drink?” he told Sellers. “Maybe it’s my little way to give back.”
Vultaggio said he doesn’t intend to raise prices “in the foreseeable future,” adding that his company is “gonna fight as hard as we can for consumers.”” (Lamour.)
This is the correct mindset that companies should follow. People and families struggle every day financially. Even if the difference in prices for a can of 22oz AriZona Tea can vary by a couple cents to a dollar, that is still a huge difference for many people. People shouldn’t have to worry about how much a drink should cost- its a drink. However, now families and customers will have to plan ahead before their purchase in order to know whether or not they should spend the last of their money for the day, month, or year, on a drink. It’s a damn drink, not a luxury.
So the next time you find an AriZona for 99c, or $1.25, just know that it might be the last time you’ll be able to buy it without selling a liver or a lung.
Works Cited
—.Lamour, Joseph “Why Arizona Iced Tea Costs More than 99 Cents at Some Stores.” TODAY.com, TODAY, 4 July 2024, www.today.com/food/news/why-arizona-iced-tea-costs-more-than-99-cents-at-some-storwwwes-rcna160216
—. Yorgey, Cassandra “Soda Prices Are up Nearly 90%, plus 9 Other Things That Got Ridiculously Expensive.” FinanceBuzz, 19 Nov. 2025, financebuzz.com/news/things-with-large-price-increases. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
