Look! Diet Pepsi makes a can and calls it "skinny". How clever! Unfortunately, there are many in the fashion world that aren't pleased or humoured.
Jill Beraud, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo said in a statement, "Our slim, attractive new can is the perfect complement to today's most stylish looks..."
Jonathan Asher, senior vice president at Perception Research Services International has a different take: It feels like a cheap shot to get publicity and it would be a shame if that’s what it was. I don’t think calling this can the skinny can and associating it with Fashion Week is going to do much to contribute to the very serious problem of eating disorders...”
I ask you to take the can in context. Pepsi isn't saying that the thin can will make you thin. Diet Pepsi has been around for 40 years...we KNOW it wont be a suitable substitute for fruit and vegetables or water. It's a sexy looking can, and EVERY company worth it's salt tries to package their product in a way that is appealing!
Of course, choosing to use 'Fashion Week' as the time and place to make it's debut is clever/not clever. If you are going to make a statement in front of a group that takes eating disorders seriously...you have to brace yourself for the backlash. Sure, it's a media coup...but it looks like some non-fans were made!
Remember - the soda INSIDE tastes the same. So judge the can in stride and remember to drink wisely...especially if you are dieting.
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3 comments:
You totally took Jonathan Asher's quote in the wrong context. Here's the full quote from the orginal Marketing News article "Diet Pepsi's New Skinny Can: A Brand Heavyweight?":
“This package is different in a way that so suits the product proposition. It’s a sleek, thin, slender, stylish can. That imagery is so fitting for a diet soft drink,” says Jonathan Asher, senior vice president at Perception Research Services International, a packaging and shopper research firm
based in Fort Lee, N.J.
As for NEDA’s comments, “It feels like a cheap shot to get publicity and it would be a shame if that’s what it was. I don’t think calling this can the skinny can and associating it with Fashion Week is going to do much to contribute to the very serious problem of eating disorders,” Asher says.
Full article can be found here: http://www.prsresearch.com/prs-insights/article/diet-pepsis-new-skinny-can-a-brand-heavyweight/
Good Add, James -
I dont think I so much misrepresented Asher as much as I just didnt publish the full comment. But I totally see your point.
Overall, I think it's a cool looking can...but it was a silly PR stunt to debut it during fashion week.
Great post thanks
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