Yes, expensive soda is the problem of our times.
Price gouging should be stopped everywhere. The soda companies have taken full advantage of the pandemic and should be punished at the very least for colluding.
Just don't buy it.
I do understand the govt looking into it for reasons of keeping a slightly more level playing field between large and small retailers. from the article: The companies’ pricing strategies are being scrutinized under an obscure law known as the Robinson-Patman Act, the people said. The law prohibits suppliers from offering better prices to large retailers at the expense of their smaller competitors. The largely dormant 1936 law is aimed at promoting a level playing field between small retailers and large chain stores.