# I am appalled by this ad for Diet Coke. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 18, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887 "2004-09-18T19:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/1 "2004-09-18T19:39:11Z")
I was in CVS today, and I saw the new ad for Diet Coke that they’ve got displayed prominently above the twelve-packs. It features a smiling Asian woman holding a bottle of Diet Coke. The slogan? “Treat yourself light.” :eek: I generally find unfortunately phrased advertising funny rather than, y’know, appalling, but I swear reading that made my jaw drop. So is the Coke ad department trying to be funny, or are they just completely freaking oblivious? ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/2 "2004-09-18T19:40:52Z")
I don’t get it… ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/3 "2004-09-18T19:42:42Z")
I imagine that coke’s response will be that it was merely a coincidence that the person was asian, and that the whole idea behind the ad was a “clever” rewording alluding to calories. Cynical as I am, I would tend to believe that’s the case. They would be insane to assume that the ad would otherwise be in any way acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/4 "2004-09-18T19:51:28Z")
> [@Duderdude2](#): > > I don’t get it… Treat yourself “light”, as opposed to “right”, being that one of those typical Asian stereotypes is the pronunciation of Rs as Ls. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/5 "2004-09-18T19:51:49Z")
I don’t get it either. Why would an Asian person be any less likely to drink Diet Coke? And why can’t you just explain what your beef is instead of being so cryptic? ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/6 "2004-09-18T19:52:47Z")
Ah, ok thanks. I guess I’m just not up-to-date on my sterotypes 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/7 "2004-09-18T19:54:20Z")
Well, as soon as I post that I see an explanation. So that’s the beef, that it resembles Engrish, and so you think it was intentional? :rolleyes: I swear some of you people walk around looking for stuff to be pissed about. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/8 "2004-09-18T19:54:47Z")
Heh, I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt. If they were really trying to be “clever” they’d probably have “tleat yourself light.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Coffee_Nerves)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/9 "2004-09-18T19:56:01Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > I don’t get it either. Why would an Asian person be any less likely to drink Diet Coke? And why can’t you just explain what your beef is instead of being so cryptic? Is the problem with this ad really that difficult to understand? As \*\*TellMeI’mNotCrazy \*\* just explained, > [@](#): > > Treat yourself “light”, as opposed to “right”, being that one of those typical Asian stereotypes is the pronunciation of Rs as Ls. Try reading next time before you go and spout off against the OP. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/10 "2004-09-18T19:56:02Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Well, as soon as I post that I see an explanation. So that’s the beef, that it resembles Engrish, and so you think it was intentional? :rolleyes: > > I swear some of you people walk around looking for stuff to be pissed about. Just for the record, I’m not offended by the ad - and I’m half Thai. I was just pointing out what the OPs beef with the ad was. Just for clarity an’ all. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Coffee_Nerves)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/11 "2004-09-18T19:57:19Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Well, as soon as I post that I see an explanation. I retract my last post then. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/12 "2004-09-18T19:57:47Z")
Isn’t the stereotype that they have trouble with L’s, not R’s? In which case there would be no slur anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/13 "2004-09-18T20:00:14Z")
> [@Mr. Coffee Nerves](#): > > I retract my last post then. Yeah, simulposts are teh suck. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/14 "2004-09-18T20:03:27Z")
Do I think it was intentional? Not necessarily. As I said in the OP, it could be that it’s an unfortunate coincidence. It’s very possible that there are similar ads featuring non-Asian individuals. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/15 "2004-09-18T20:04:42Z")
> [@trandallt](#): > > Isn’t the stereotype that they have trouble with L’s, not R’s? In which case there would be no slur anyway. Ya know, I thought about that after I posted. I think it works both ways. There’s the stereotypical “Herro” and then there’s “Flied Lice”. I guess the stereotype is just that they transpose them a lot? I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/16 "2004-09-18T20:17:47Z")
> [@Mr. Coffee Nerves](#): > > Is the problem with this ad really that difficult to understand? As \*\*TellMeI’mNotCrazy \*\* just explained, > > Try reading next time before you go and spout off against the OP. Actually, the “problem” with the ad was somewhat obscure–and it requires a specific knowledge of the photographed person’s ethnicity _in addition to_ ignoring the actual text of the ad in order for it to even be offensive. First, the woman is identified as “Asian,” but there is no specific clue as to whether she is Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. (It is not entirely clear that an American of European ancestry would be able to easily distinguish a Chinese person from a Japanese person any more than an East Asian could distinguish a Swede from a Pole–or that Asians or Europeans could clearly and easily distinguish even among their “own” ethnic groups). This is not an irrelevant observation: the stereotypes are that Japanese cannot pronounce /L/ and that Chinese cannot pronounce /R/–and those stereotypes do not even extend to the Koreans, Thais, etc. Therefore, the woman needs to be clearly identifiable as Chinese before such a stereotypical claim can be made. Then, there is the point already made that the word “treat” that begins the sentence contains a correctly identified “r”. As a “what was that?” moment, I would say that it works (and might have made an amusing, if sleight, anecdote in MPSIMS). As the basis for a rant, it is obscure and lacking in gravity. Now, if we decide to hijack this thread into a rant against overreactions or unnecessary heat. . . . ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/17 "2004-09-18T20:20:54Z")
Who cares. Go out to a movie or something. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/18 "2004-09-18T20:22:44Z")
I’m assuming it said light instead of right because it was an ad for DIET-coke who cares if it is an asian peron, this is the lamest pit thread ever. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/19 "2004-09-18T20:24:48Z")
yeah that should read person :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/20 "2004-09-18T20:33:01Z")
> [@](#): > > this is the lamest pit thread ever. Gosh, thanks! 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887.md?page=2)