There has been a weird thing going on with soda. Like cosmotic says in the sibling comment, they're often on sale.

But, like, really often and for a different deal each time. One week they may be at the full price, then the next it's "3 for $10.99 (Must buy multiples of 3)", then it'll be "$3.00 off when you buy two", then back to the crazy price.

It's annoying as hell, and all I can guess is that they're segmenting the market across time. The bargain hunters will wait for the sale and stock up (me), the normies will just put it in their cart each week without looking at the price.

But it's been this way for many years. Only in the last couple have I seen the craziness that is $10 for a 12-pack. It used to be ungodly expensive when I saw a 12-pack for $6.99.

So they've been doing this game for a while, and upped the limit when inflation provided cover.