I like grape juice. No, that’s not quite right. I love grape juice. When it’s ice-cold it just goes down perfect. It’s got the right blend of tart and sweet. Man, it’s good stuff!

Last night my wife and I were at the grocery and I headed down the juice isle. There I noticed for the first time (yes, I can be very unobservant) diet grape juice.

“Whoa…” I thought to myself, “How can they make grape juice diet?”

I suspected an infiltration of Splenda or Equal or some other non-sugar type evil. I grabbed the package and flipped it over, scanning the label for signs of Aspartame. I didn’t see any.

I flipped it back over and looked at the front of it. It thought, “Huh, maybe I should get this. Juice has a lot of calories per ounce.”

It was about this time that a little voice in my head said, “Hey dummy, they can’t take calories out without putting something else in. Look again!”

So I checked the label a second time. This time I noticed the first ingredient in the list; “filtered water.” Turning the bottle around again I spied - in tiny print - the words “40% juice”.

This “diet” grape juice was just regular grape juice that had been cut with water! And it was about $0.10 more expensive to boot!

I cried out, “Nuts to you Mr. “Diet” Grape juice!” and bought the regular, 100%-juice, juice.

When I got home I poured about half a glass and topped it off with water. It tasted okay - a little diluted - but passable. I have to wonder how many people buy it thinking that it’s a miracle of our modern world they can get “diet” juice?

I still can’t decide if this is an example of brilliant marketing or deceptive packaging.