Pop Rocks and Soda- Urban Legend

“When I was a kid, there was always this urban legend that if you eat pop rocks and drink soda together, your stomach will explode and you will die. At the time, I was scared and refused to try it. Then I saw a movie called Urban Legends and it was mentioned in there. Now that I am older, even though I still haven’t tried the combination, I know that there’s no way there is any truth to this.”

Urban Legends are popular among children because they are somewhat ridiculous, but since kids do not always have a firm grasp on logical explanations, they are often not able to discount them. Likewise, they are named to signify their date in history as being from preindustrial times, meaning that children can often times identify with and relate to what is being told to within their own lives. For instance, pop rocks and soda are readily available and the urban legend’s terminus ante quem has to be relatively recent due to the fact that pop rocks have not been around for very long. This makes a child’s worst nightmare as close as the nearest supermarket.

I know that the makers of pop rocks suffered a major hit from this urban legend and the company went great lengths to try and convince people of the urban legend’s falseness. Pop Rocks actually went off the shelf for a period of time due to the failure of sales that the rumor caused. People misinterpreted this disappearance, however, as being proof that pop rocks and soda were so dangerous that one ingredient was forced out of consumers’ reach for their own safety. However, Pop Rocks have recently made their return and occasionally still enjoy their unique sensation, sans soda, though I must say I am eventually planning on finally putting an end to my suspicions once and for all.