# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/41 "2004-09-19T02:25:43Z")
> [@bizzwire](#): > > Let’s just hope that the ad for Coke with Lime doesn’t include any British women, lest we offend anyone’s sensibilities. As long as the ads don’t say, “Try a Limey today”, things should remain calm across the Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/42 "2004-09-19T03:35:01Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > All evidence i have seen of the “/L/ and /R/” stereotype suggests that it is quite frequently used for Asians in general, and used without respect to specific nationality. So, you’re saying that it’s a stereotype for asians to confuse lateral palatal approximants and voiced uvular fricatives? Or perhaps you meant /l/ and /r/?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/43 "2004-09-19T04:42:06Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > So, you’re saying that it’s a stereotype for asians to confuse lateral palatal approximants and voiced uvular fricatives? No, i’m saying that plenty of westerners apply the stereotype to all Asians. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/44 "2004-09-19T04:56:54Z")
Having done some reading, the “treat yourself light” ads also feature Adrian Brody and Kate Beckinsale, so I doubt it was intentional. That said, I was offended by the mistake. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/45 "2004-09-19T05:06:17Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > As opposed to by, say, Abercrombie & Fitch, right? 🙂 > > Again, I’m not jumping to conclusions. I’m not ascribing any sinister motives. But considering that I’m not the only one for whom the unfortunate juxtaposition of slogan and model came immediately to mind, I’m surprised this wasn’t flagged and nixed in the development stages. It’s not as if it’s a smashing and witty slogan standing alone, anyhow. “Treat yourself light” doesn’t even make that much sense, even as a play on “treat yourself right.” “Live light,” for example, is a far more euphonious construction, and one to which I would be more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt. > > But anyway, the title of the OP overstates things. Not appalled. Mildly gobsmacked. _shrug_ But YMMV. Oh blah…blah…blah… It was lame. Lame I say! Now assume the position for your spanking for being an ethnographically oversensitive, multi-culturalist linguistic pedant. This attitude correction will be delivered in swift, firm strokes with a woven rattan paddle. One! SMACK! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/46 "2004-09-19T05:32:47Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > So, you’re saying that it’s a stereotype for asians to confuse lateral palatal approximants and voiced uvular fricatives? Damn straight, whatever you just said. ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/47 "2004-09-19T06:50:05Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > Having done some reading, the “treat yourself light” ads also feature Adrian Brody and Kate Beckinsale, so I doubt it was intentional. That said, I was offended by the mistake. It seems to me that you are looking to be offended. This will only serve to irritate you and those around you. Get a grip, girl. You are better than this petty little garbage. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/48 "2004-09-19T08:18:06Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] \ 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”. \QUOTE] My own experience has been that confusing “r” and “l” sounds is pretty common among Asians. The Japanese do it and I can personally attest that Thais do as well. Oddly enough, the Thai language uses both r and l and has letters for both but they are commonly swapped around for no particular reason I can find. In any event, I’ve never met an Asian that gave a damn one way or the other. I kid my wife about confusing Pray and Play while she harasses me about failing to pick up the tonal characteristics of Thai, resulting in some monumental screw-ups that have me blushing even years after the fact. :eek: Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/49 "2004-09-19T08:26:22Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > Treat yourself “light”, as opposed to “right”, being that one of those typical Asian stereotypes is the pronunciation of Rs as Ls. ?? you mean vice versa? ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/50 "2004-09-19T08:29:01Z")
_sigh_ I guess it’s a negative sterotype if you think of Asian’s “confusing” their L’s and R’s. Or "mistaking’ them. Or congradulating them on “properly” prononcing them and disparging those who might say they arn’t good enought to talk like us. But the fact of the matter is it has nothing to do with “proper”. Many Asian languages just don’t differentiate between the two liquids (which is what l and r are) and more than English differentiates between…well, now here’s where i should come up with a really good example…but i don’t have one. You’ll have to trust me, you don’t have to compare farther than English and German to find subtleties of pronunciation that English lacks. Anyway, my bet is they did a lot of these ads with a lot of different models. You just saw the Asian one. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/51 "2004-09-19T09:52:19Z")
There’s a Diet Coke ad running here in which a woman _throws herself down a flight of stairs_ just to meet a guy. Now that is appalling. ---
**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 19, 2004, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/52 "2004-09-19T12:02:31Z")
[QUOTE=Testy] > [@tomndebb](#): > > I kid my wife about confusing Pray and Play while she harasses me about failing to pick up the tonal characteristics of Thai, resulting in some monumental screw-ups that have me blushing even years after the fact. :eek: > > Regards > > Testy This is why I can’t give my mother phone messages. Because she asks me if it was “Duem” or “Duem” that called (one rising, the other even, apparently). I have no idea, all I know is, it was “Duem”. I just tell her to call them both. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/53 "2004-09-19T13:16:54Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > This is why I can’t give my mother phone messages. Because she asks me if it was “Duem” or “Duem” that called (one rising, the other even, apparently). I have no idea, all I know is, it was “Duem”. > > I just tell her to call them both. Heh! I do this all the time. Watch those tones though. On one **very** memorable occasion I told an elderly and very “starchy” lady in BKK about a fat doctor I know. Unfortunately, I used the falling tone instead of the rising tone on “maw”. Instead of “fat doctor”, the phrase turned into "huge c\*nt. Not that precise word, but close enough. I now have the reputation for being a bit of a perv in certain Thai communities. 🙂 Regards Testy ---
**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 19, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/54 "2004-09-19T13:20:37Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > ?? you mean vice versa? As I clarified earlier, it’s either-or. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/55 "2004-09-19T13:22:48Z")
None of the 9 occurrences point out what some would see as a politically incorrect faux pas on the part of Coca-Cola. [http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q="treat+yourself+light"+"Coca-Cola"&meta=](http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22treat+yourself+light%22+%22Coca-Cola%22&meta=) Was it or was it not deliberate? In the end, who cares? Were I Asian, I don’t think I would be overly offended by this. When **Gadarene** brought it up initially, I instantly saw what I considered to be a fairly inocuous ‘play on words’ if you will. Nothing more. And perhaps, just perhaps, Coca-Cola wanted to appeal to the Asian consumer, among others. Put your linguistic guns back into their holsters, PC police… There’s not much to see here. ---
**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 19, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/56 "2004-09-19T13:22:55Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > As I clarified earlier, it’s either-or. OK, for some odd reason, my messages time warped, and your post appeared at the end of page two for me. Odd. SOrry, carry on. And **Testy** … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/57 "2004-09-19T16:30:59Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > From what I’ve read here on the boards, [Japanese speakers can’t pronounce either.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4972042&postcount=16) I know this is the Pit and everything, but I’m getting all misty seeing one of my posts cited like this. It’s almost like all the time I spend online isn’t a total waste! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![High\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8797f3/32.png) [@High\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/58 "2004-09-19T17:26:12Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > 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? I don’t know if this has been addressed or not, but: the stereotype is Asians pronouncing _Ls_ as _Rs_, as in Roger C_r_emens. Yes the ad is playing on the words light and right…to advertise _Diet_ Coke. Light is an oft used term in the industry to inicate a lesser amount of something in the product that may not be desirable. In diet coke, the exploitation is _Light_ referring to a lack of carbohydrates relative to the non-light version; not Asian linguistics. A few years ago, it was determined that the products of consumption could not attain the level of “fat-free” without being totally free of fat. Hence the term “light” became an indicator of products that had less less-desirable ingredients but were not wholly devoid of the ingredient. So of course clever ad execs starting equating right with light because: Asians mispronounce the two all the time and it would make for some entertaining advertisement? No. Because: Light and Right rhyme (key concept in advertising) and consuming a **light** (less harmful, so they say) product is the **right** thing to do? I think. I’m not sure if this is a law. I believe it is; but I am unclear. Could someone help here? Anyway, the term “light” is a huge, huge push in the consumable products industry. Are you suggesting that Asians cannont be participants in any of this advertising because some of them may have, perhaps, idiosyncratic English pronuciations. That is discrimination. I find it equally appalling that someone would be offended by this advertisement because they think/believe some/all Asians speak this way. ---
**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 19, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/59 "2004-09-19T18:08:45Z")
> [@High Cheese](#): > > I don’t know if this has been addressed or not, but: the stereotype is Asians pronouncing _Ls_ as _Rs_, as in Roger C_r_emens. Yes the ad is playing on the words light and right…to advertise _Diet_ Coke. OK I generally would not say anything but seriously; we’re on page two of this thread. You really thought we’d gotten this far without someone pointing out what the stereotype is? If you’d read just a few posts you’d see that it had. You don’t know whether it’s been addressed or not because you haven’t read any of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![High\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8797f3/32.png) [@High\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887/60 "2004-09-19T18:13:58Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > OK I generally would not say anything but seriously; we’re on page two of this thread. You really thought we’d gotten this far without someone pointing out what the stereotype is? If you’d read just a few posts you’d see that it had. You don’t know whether it’s been addressed or not because you haven’t read any of the thread. Actually yes, I read all of them, but admittably after posting. I wanted to post quickly lest I lose any of my thoughts. The “I don’t know if this has been addressed” portion of my post referred to _everything_ in my post, not just what you have snipped here. Having now read the entire thread, I see that, indeed, most of what I posted had not been discussed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-appalled-by-this-ad-for-diet-coke/264887.md?page=4)