What To Know
- CNN faced criticism after viewers accused chief data analyst Harry Enten of sneaking soda ads into his poll coverage.
- The network denied the soda breaks were sponsored, stating Enten genuinely enjoys soda.
- Some viewers and commentators remained skeptical.
CNN has responded to criticism that chief data analyst Harry Enten is slipping product placement advertisements into his poll coverage while live on air.
This came after recent coverage of President Donald Trump‘s approval ratings, during which Enten took two brief “soda breaks.” In the first, he interrupted his own polling segment to crack open a can of Coke Zero, then gave his review of the fizzy beverage.
“All this talk has gotten me a little bit thirsty here. So, this week I’m going for a classic, a nice Coke Zero,” he said before taking a sip. “Ah, quenches the thirst, but more than that, it gives me the energy,” he continued before pausing to take another mouthful, “for the rest of our time together.”
In a later segment, Enten said, “All this talk of water, the Strait of Hormuz, I’ve been talking about Death Valley, made me very parched for thirst.” He then grabbed his “soda of the week,” a can of Diet Coke, and took a sip. “Quite good,” he added.
Enten’s soda segments garnered attention after socialist influencer and popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker reacted to them on stream. “Is he doing an ad? Was that just another f****** ad?” Piker asked, while also criticizing CNN for its partnership with prediction market Kalshi.
CNN denied Enten’s soda breaks were sponsored, telling The Huffington Post, “This is not an advertisement or sponsored segment.”
Zeteo News columnist Justin Baragona shared a similar statement on X, writing, “A CNN spokesperson denies that Harry Enten was doing a Coke ad or this was paid product placement, telling me Enten ‘honestly just really likes soda. Always has as long as I’ve known him’ and ‘if it were sponsored we would disclose it, but it’s not in this case.’”
However, not everyone bought CNN’s claims. “Harry Enten’s CNN segments should be viewed as entirely ads,” wrote one X user. “CNN has a partnership with Kalshi and Enten largely “reports” on Kalshi betting markets as though they are statistical odds. It’s one of the clearest examples of corporations buying journalists.”
“CNN is selling Harry Enten segments to anyone holy s***,” said another.
Another pointed to one of Enten’s old tweets, in which he wrote, “When I write that I like diet coke, then you’ll know that either a. A PR firm is helping me or b. I’ve been taken over by the pod people.” Another of his tweets from 2018 read, “Diet Coke really isn’t good.”
One journalist defended Enten, writing, “I gotta stand up for my friend Harry… I can’t speak to the Kalshi stuff, but Harry is a well-documented fan of soda. You could even say he’s obsessed with it. I believe I’ve seen previous segments like this one and he often works sodas into them.”