@packetcat sodas originally evolved from “health tonics” where the presence of stimulants was the main point (sometimes much stronger ones than the caffeine + sugar combo of modern sodas!) Eg. the cola in coca-cola comes from the name of the kola nut (which has a high caffeine content and had originally been popularized in Europe & the Americas through those aforementioned health tonics). Early soda advertising was quite similar to that of the older health tonics, putting a high emphasis on the stimulant-containing ingredients they used and their “invigorating” nature.

So kind of the real question is why we got so obsessed with making something who’s main point was being a questionable health drink chock full of stimulants delicious enough that a subset of the market wants to drink it completely stimulant free (a trend which is also evidenced with tea and coffee tbf)