Is this unprofessional?

[Midlifecrisisxamillion]

Is it unprofessional to drink a can of coke in a virtual work meeting?

Some say internal meeting ok.
Some say external meeting ok.
Some say external meeting ok but not with a 'more important' or newer client.
Others just say it's unprofessional and only water would be ok.

This has caused much debate at work today 😅

It's fine, no different to drinking tea, coffee or water during a meeting.

My thoughts exactly, @anon168231245630.

No. What a crazy discussion.

Slow day at the office, OP?

I guess if you work for Pepsi it would be bad :)

Can of coke yes

Line of coke no

In my line of work anyway, depends what you do I suppose.

Out of the can or from a glass?

Can

Glass is fine, can isn't. I don't know why, it makes no sense. Similarly I wouldn't drink from a water bottle if on a video call.

Only if you work for a rival drinks company would it be bad surely?

I got sacked for doing this.

Diet Coke or fat coke?

Now that I think of it there is a bit of a double standard here. A cup of coffee is fine but a can of coke feels a bit different and more unprofessional but I can't explain why! On balance I would say it's fine as long as it's silent, so no opening the can during the meeting and no slurpy noises

I struggle with this. I will sometimes drink it on an internal call but I wouldn't on an external call. Sometimes I pour it into a mug so it looks like I'm drinking a tea or coffee. I have absolutely NO idea why I do that.

I have noticed that very few people seem to drink on calls at the moment. Sometimes I get bored during our team meetings and keep count. My excuse is that I can often be in back to back calls so wouldn't drink otherwise

Internal call fine. I try not to drink at all on client calls, other than out of a mug. You could put the coke in a mug and no one would question it then…

Cross post 😂

Not from a can no. Unless the office is quite casual and it's normal to drink from cans there. I wouldn't with clients though.

Drinking from a glass would be fine. Gulping from a can looks quite casual and unprofessional I'd say.

Coke feels wrong, I don't know why, I wouldn't think it unprofessional, just odd, but that's probably because I don't drink soft drinks unless it's tonic or lemonade with gin in it and that would be unprofessional in a workplace.

We have people come to our office to do training courses and quite a lot of people turn up with a can of 'energy drink' in the morning. I always do a double take because some of them look like a can of lager.

Yes, that is appalling. Pepsi in virtual meetings. The real thing is for the real ones

I think it's OK if you can guarantee that you won't belch.

Its the can / lack of a glass which is the social manners bit and degree of friendship.

You are a formal setting you decant the red wine and the port and pop the white wine on ice.

You decant all to a glass and sip.

You dont do that at a BBQ.
You open the can and chug from it.

In a formal setting it waayy over home time when you are chugging direct from the bottle.🤨

Agree with most other posters. There's something about chugging from a can that looks unprofessional and perhaps a bit immature. It's not something I'd do because it would instinctively feel wrong in a meeting. I think the can itself is the problem. It's subconsciously considered "uncouth" to swig from a can or bottle, but not from a mug or glass.

Glass, fine.
Bottle or can you’re swigging from, only OK in an informal setting.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Diet Coke, Irn Bru or water, a proper drinking vessel makes it more acceptable.

There are limits - swigging Jim Beam from the bottle will always be a bad move, and no matter how ornate your drinking horn, mead is probably a bad move for a meeting. 😉

Legal sector.

Only water from a glass.