Why Soda Cans are Shaped Differently in Hawaii 

We were on a US domestic flight recently, and my wife was served a Sprite that tasted diet, despite not being diet. Upon closer examination it was bottled in Great Britain, and their Sprite recipe has sugar and aspartame (no HFCS). The can was also slightly shorter than normal and only 330ml instead of 354.8ml (12oz). I realize this is not very interesting, but when you're stuck on a plane, it doesn't take much to interest you. I studied the can thoroughly before the trash cart came around.

I used to work for Ball Corp (yes the one that owns the plant)as a Metal R/D Engineering (literally doing the R/D to make cans lighter and launch the new Ball Aluminum Cup) and know all about this, and Sam got it exactly right. The technical term for the "neck" of the Hawaiian can is called a "Quad Neck". It necks the can in 4 large operations making that distinct look from the 70's, versus the modern 211 cans with 202 ends have 14-20 necking operations making a smooth neck.

I love how HAI can make an answer as simple as ”retooling a factory is too expensive” into a 5 minute video.

I collect vintage and international soda cans and I always thought it was odd that hawaiian cans looked almost exactly the same as some cans from the 80s. Now it makes a lot more sense.

The Engineering Guy video on this topic is the single most educational video ever released on RU-vid. I'm not even exaggerating. It's fantastic.

"Okay, so Hops as Interesting isn't real." You raised my hopes and dashed them quite expertly, sir. Bravo!

Hawaii felt like it’s own country when growing up there. The fast food menus are unique, 7 eleven sells actual food there that is good and worth buying, and even my poor public school had hand made meals every day.

Fun fact about the Ball Corporation, they have an aerospace division which does some cutting edge work. For example they provided the main mirror assembly of the James Webb Space Telescope (you know, like arguably one of the most important parts of a multi billion dollar telescope).

I live in Hawaii and I learned something new today. I've always wondered why Hawaiian Sun and Aloha Maid cans looked different.

I feel like we need a hops as interesting now

Sometime mid-pandemic, I picked up some food from a local cafe and a soda which had a 206 cap. I live in Alaska, so I can only assume that supply chain issues (plus maybe reduced demand in Hawaii from tourism) resulted in us getting some 206s. We get 202s normally.

These might only be found in Hawaii within the US, but they are found in many other countries and places. Here in Okinawa, Japan, they are somewhat common, for example.

Fun fact: Ball actually doesn't make Ball jars anymore. They sold off that part of their company years ago and license the Ball name to use on the jars. I think it's Jarden that actually makes them now.

I moved to the mainland many years back, and I sometimes thought I was noticing a minute difference. I figured I was either imagining it or it was just shrinkflation in action.

Japan actually makes a lot of cans with that same shape, I remember buying a can of pocari at an import shop and it had the same can shape. It was also noticably thicker and I suspect it was made out of steel but I never tested it so I don't know.

Thanks! I lived in Hawai'i for 10 years, and I never noticed anything different about aluminum cans there. Living there definitely made me aware that shipping is priced by weight more than volume, though. Something as basic as canned soup is a fortune on the Islands compared to the Mainland.

I've had 206 cans containing imported coconut water (from Thailand I believe). Or at least, that is what I now believe they were. They had the weird neck thing. But they were really much heavier, not just the lid, everything. I found it odd that a non-carbonated drink was in such an overbuilt can.

As a soda can in Hawaii, I can confirm that I am built different.

Yup, can confirm here in NY that Pepsi dominates. PepsiCo headquarters is in Purchase, Westchester County. There's an iconic vintage Pepsi-Cola sign right on the Long Island City waterfront and the reason why that is because Pepsi-Cola once had a bottling plant in Long Island City and the sign used to be on top of it. The facility has since closed and Pepsi moved its Queens operations to College Point, but the sign has remained and was relocated to Gantry Plaza State Park where it was designated a NYC landmark in 2016. I will say though that the point you have for Brooklyn at 2:31 should be on the neighborhood of Canarsie since that's where their Brooklyn bottling plant actually is.

Thank you for the size comparison to the EPCOT ball- I wouldn't have understood it otherwise!

Truly, the most substantial of subjects being covered. Keep it up.

“Canufacturing” excellent 😂

3:48 "In a market as small and remote as Hawaii's, changing all the equipment in the can factory, not to mention the bottling plants to suit the *larger* lid" "larger" should be "smaller"

What I love about our cans, is that you can fit one of those little plastic lids that you get your to go dressings from directly on top of it; fits perfectly. Also keeps it from getting stale or flat.

Went to Puerto Rico 20 years ago, where they also used 206es for soft drinks back then before switching to the standard 202 cans.

Love the callout of the Hawaiian Nene. Great birds.

I've never been 100% sold on your channel, but this is a really fun and fascinating little trivia video! Loved it!

I did always wonder why Hawaiian Sun fruit juice cans were shaped that way, now I know. Thanks, HAI! Good luck on your brewing license!

0:54 Me, an American, hoping they would give me a metric conversion.... ..."Epcot Golf Ball..." Yeah, what the actual F kind of scale is that

I suspect that Ball gets to use a lot of their old machinery and spare parts from their old factories elsewhere (before the switch) in Hawaii, so that helps too.

I live in Hawaii and I literally have a Made in Hawaii Pepsi can, a Hawaiian Sun and a regular Mountain Dew can on my desk right now... I was wondering why they were different

One question: Why is Hops as Interesting not a thing?

That’s interesting. I was born and raised in Hawaii up until I moved to NJ. And I’ve always thought the “Hawaiian” can design would be the same even on the mainland. I guess I’ve never really noticed the difference lol

This is actually surprising, as I suspected (wrongly) it was due to shipping the cans and the shipment needing more stable stacking, with the larger lids providing that more stable foundation for stacking.

My great uncle, who was an engineer, worked for the company contracted by Coors in the 70s. He was on the team that invented the push tab style cans we have now.

I'm guessing this is probably why Puerto Rican soda cans are also different compared to those in the states as well, except they're probably easier on the aluminum considering that the lids are smaller than those of Hawaii

How long will this last? I imagine the tooling will wear out eventually, and then it will be economical to retrofit to the modern can lid diameter?

Okay, allow to explain what the Epcot Golf Ball actually is: It's Spaceship Earth and it's not a golf ball but a GEODESIC SPHERE. And inside this geodesic sphere is a whole omnimover (a special system created by Disney's Imagineers) ride with a time machine experience learning the history of communication as you ascend. Originally the ride wasn't supposed to be inside the sphere completely as an early concept model from 1978 showed it would've had a bigger building attached to it for the ride and only enter the sphere briefly but they made all inside because...why not? That wand next to it in the pic at 0:46 was added for the Millennium Celebration but wasn't removed until 2007...good riddance.

Hawaiian BBQ/Poke shops/restaurants that have a Hawaiian theme in So Cal carry those Hawaiian theme sodas.

I love laying on a Hawaiian beach just enjoying the view of all the cans.

4:04 the disclaimer is so funny tho

Thanks for your comparison to the Epcot Golf Ball as it really helped me understand the concept

As someone who previously worked in the beer industry and visited Hawaii a few times, thank you for this. I always wondered why. Those 206 cans stack so much better than the 202s.

If by "anywhere else in the world" you mean America (as so many Americans often do) then yes, you're correct. If you've been to anyway in Asia though, you'll likely have seen this can shape before. I've been to Vietnam and saw these cans there, and I get beverages from Japan and Taiwan too where these cans are also used. So it's by no means "only used in Hawaii". And what you identify as the Ball Corp Container factory is the Coca-Cola bottling plant near the airport. The Ball Corp factory is 13 miles west on Komohana St in Kapolei (south-west end of Oahu...coincidently 500 yds away from the Coca-Cola Syrup Plant). What you identify as the Coca-Cola Bottling plant is the Pepsi Bottling plant (which is only 2 miles north of the Coca-Cola plant).

In my country up until about 20 years ago, the soda cans also had those rolled ridges at the top, but that was because the cans were made from steel. The moment they switched to aluminium it became smooth.

3:38 hey I've delivered pizzas to that manufacturing plant!

Fun fact, the 202/206 denomination is just their diameter in mm. Metric is simpler, 3 numbers instead of a whole math equation. And if you want it in larger units just move the . One spot and you got cm (20.2), or 2 places from the 202 to get meters (0.202) or even 6 places to get km (0.00202km) And the unit tells how much to move. Centi-meter is one cent of a meter, i ie 100 less, ie 2 ceros, 2 spots. A kilometer is a kilo (a thousand) meters, ie 202 / 100 / 1000

Here’s another fun fact about Hawaii vs Mainland things: the McDonald’s Apple pie is still deep fried in Hawaii while it’s now baked in the mainland! (I’m born and raised in Hawaii)

I'm already looking forward to seeing "hops as interesting" on shelves 😂

At 3:49, you described how it would not be profitable to switch to the larger lids, when what you meant is that it wouldn’t be profitable to switch to the smaller* lids.

Parts of Canada was still making steel soda cans with rivets up the side, up until 1988.

Sam, if you ever get into the business, we will expect you to deliver on Hops as Interesting

Chat GPT told me it was for cultural reasons. I gave it this explanation instead and it went: “oh you’re right! I was just speculating before.” It’s not coming for our jobs yet folks

Hey Sam, good job on this!! Even if a few details were a bit off, you clearly put in a lot of effort to understand a complicated topic, and I appreciate you.

I think this is the first time one of your videos that I had actually asked the question to myself before seeing this video. I lived there for 3 years and noticed the difference but didn’t know why

Continue with these nice videos with questions every single human has!

I would make this video 10 seconds long ! Just tell us already why they shaped like that

I live in Hawaii, and I thought it was odd that A&W had a smaller top (202 lid). Now from this video, I can deduce that it probably means it was shipped here from the Mainland. Also I did notice that all our Pepsi cans say "Made in Hawaii."

We had been getting them in Alaska, at least for Coca-cola products, but that was probably as a result of that factory taking up some slack when supply lines were struggling during Covid and Hawaii likely not having their previous demand without tourists but that is all speculation.

Until recently, cans that look similar to the 206s were used in Singapore by the Jia Jia company (selling Asian herbal tea). They've made the switch to "normal" cans recently

I'm from Germany and even I recognize the "Ball" can brand immediately. They're everywhere.

This definitely should have been a Wendoiver video. This was WAY more than Half as Interesting.

Just wanted to say you nailed the pronunciation of Kapolei

Finally! One of those tidbit channels with actual good script writing 👏👏👏

I work as a beverage packager! Thanks for making this video, cans don't get a lot of love!

2:35 If i was the CEO of Coca Cola right now, i would be advertising "Proudly Made with Capilano Reservoir Water" here in BC. Had no idea bottling plants had to be close to their target destination. You can do so much advertising with that bro. We here in Vancouver love our water quality, and love our first nations history. The advertising oppurtunity would be insane considering they basically dont have to change anything lol

Thank you for telling me this I’ve been losing sleep over this and now I finally know

I went to Hawaii 12 years ago and was puzzled by this since... until today

You sometimes find drinks in asian stores in the UK in these cans. I'm assuming they're actually Hawaiian, I know there's a massive japanese influence so I can see "asian" drinks actually being manufactured in Hawaii.

I never knew that soda is packed locally wherever it is bought. But it makes sense cause as you said, why should you have to spend money transporting water instead of just the syrup?

yep and my dad was involved in the change from 3 piece welded cans to 2 piece aluminum cans in Hawaii at the Dole Can plant.

I laughed out loud and almost choked on my coffee when “Hops As Interesting” popped up… geez… you almost killed me, Sam 😂

being from hawaii, i had to go check my coke zero can and a Kirkland can and wow.. never realized that

I don't think those cans are exclusive to Hawaii. During my time living in Tokyo, I notice a lot of cans shaped like that in Japanese vending machines.

RU-vid, where it takes five minutes to explain things that would ordinarily take thirty seconds

I was a truck driver and used to occasionally pick up some beer from budweiser. I would then drive 48,000 lbs of beer nearly 600 miles to its distribution facility.

what can a can do that another can cannot? 🤔

I think I would actually buy and drink at Hops As Interesting drink honestly. If ya'll made it, i'd support it.

I vaguely remember when they changed the cans. I remember when I first bought sodas with the new smaller tops, and thought they looked odd. I liked the bigger lids better.

I never knew nor needed this, but I'm glad I did

Hey Sam! Quick question, how do you apply for a copyright on a brand name? Asking for a friend of course.

So next time you're enjoying a refreshing drink in Hawaii, take a moment to appreciate the unique design of the can!

Crazy. I just happen to be on holiday in Maui and noticed these cans and wondered why? Good timing HAI!

I remember the larger style lids here in the contiguous states

Who else came here from smosh?

Enjoying the content so I can tell my spouse about it and she gives me the look of "why do I care" Which is where I tell her, now you have a little bit of trivia to talk about when you're sitting there with awkward silence

mistake @ 3:47 : "...to suit the larger lid...", it's to suit the SMALLER lid. Though the cc subtitles show the correct version. 😉

Hey I was just in Hawaii in December and I noticed the same things with the canned coffee. And Fun fact, the cans are also a lot heavier and thicker, you know how easy it is to crush a soda can into itself with one hand regularly? Well not in hawaii, I have no idea why but their cans are so thick that you need both hands to wrap around the can to even make a dent in it, me and my friends were all fascinated by it, it was so cool!

I can't wait for the HAI canned bathwater

“The ball corporation mason jars that your neighbor sells her home made jams in” me laughing in alcohol

I want to let you know that Amazons AMM77X made it this year. Any better way to start a global change? Don't get me wrong I know they are not like altruists or something but they keep doing the right thing to improve the situation, power the ecomonmy and so much more. We need players like them and we can always jump in the train at good spots such as this one

I went to Hawaii on vacation recently and I noticed this bit didn't think too much about it. When I was there I bought a few canned drinks like Thai Tea with boba and plain old Coke. The can's feel very different. Another thing to know is that aside from the size being different the shape of the opening is different. Thank you for informing me on this topic. I now know *why* the cans are different

I've lived in Hawaii for about 15 years now, never noticed this. Going to have to keep an eye out next time I'm in the store.

I grew up in Fairfield. I was going to mention the Ball factory there, but then you did it.

The year began and something is already making it better than the entire 2022. Amazons AMM77X came out and it's such a great thing no matter where you come from. Everyone can participate and it is making many things easier than they have been. For example I live in France and this is something no one else could do for me here, if I just keep sitting on my toes for the next 5 years I'd simply go broke, now I can change that.

In this video you implied that the ball corporation makes the glass jars, but that product line was given to a subsidiary that spun off into its own company in the 90's, so technically the ball corporation does not make glass jars. Besides that it was a great video!

Ball also sells aluminum cups that they sell at the grocery store. I find them a good option as a college student who's too lazy or busy to do dishes, but still wants to recycle instead of throwing tons of plastic into the landfill. They're reusable so if you want to do dishes and get more use out of them, you can. But if you just can't be bothered, you can recycle it.

I’ve lived here for almost a decade now and always wondered why this was. Thank you so much!

I've always wondered this. Said no one ever 🤣

Today's fact: The world's tallest bridge is the Millau Viaduct in France, which stands at a height of over 1,000 feet, is supported by beams and is suspended by cables.