Dr Pepper Responds to Consumers Regarding its Patriot Can [missing "Under God?"]

Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc - corporate website ^ | Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc

[RonDog]

Dr Pepper Responds to Consumers
Regarding its Patriot Can

A Note to Dr Pepper Consumers:

In recent days, several news media outlets in the country have reported on a special edition Dr Pepper can that was created to show support for the patriotic fervor that has been sweeping America since the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, and to show the world that we are a united nation of people who place a high value upon freedom. 

Much of the information being circulated on this subject is incomplete or inaccurate.  Here are the facts:

The can, released last November, features an image of the Statue of Liberty along with the words "One Nation … Indivisible."
The special packaging was designed to reflect our pride in this country's determination to stand together as one.
The Statue of Liberty and Pledge of Allegiance were chosen as two of the greatest symbols of American freedom.

Due to space limitations on the can, only a few of the 31 words from the Pledge of Allegiance could be used. The available area for graphics limited the amount of verbiage on the can.
Of the 31 words in the Pledge of Allegiance, only three were included. More than 90 percent were not included.

We at Dr Pepper/Seven Up strongly believe that the message on these cans is a resoundingly patriotic, bipartisan message that we are a united nation.

More than 41 million special edition cans were ordered by Dr Pepper bottlers in portions of a dozen states.  Because the limited edition patriotic can is to be retired in February, you will soon see regular packaging graphics for Dr Pepper at your local retail stores.

Sincerely,
Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.

[RonDog]

So what do YOU think?

Should we:

1 - FReep Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. for being "God-less" scum,
2 - Give them a pass for being "insensitive" money-grubbers, or
3 - Add this e-mail campaign to our collection of "Urban Legends?"

See also:
The UN - Godly Pledge of Allegiance ...
Posted on 2/8/02 1:46 AM Pacific by davidosborne

From: B. Lee Pemberton
To: Dr Pepper/7-UP Pres. Doug Tough
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 11:59 AM
Subject: Dr Pepper/7-UP's offensive commercials, and corruption of the Pledge of Allegiance

Dr Pepper/7-Up Inc.
5301 Legacy Drive
Plano, Tx 75024-3109
1.800-696-5891
e-mail: Consumer_relations@dpsu.com
Mr Doug Tough President

Mr Tough;
I recently observed a 7-UP commercial that I found to be both vulgar, obscene and offensive to Christians and other people of any moral persuasion: an actor is walking down a street, removing his clothes until finally he is wearing nothing but his undershorts. He removes the shorts and a crowd around him is depicted staring at him.

I have a question: is business so bad at Dr Pepper/7-UP that you must resort to filth peddling in order to make a buck? What on Earth is the connection between a fine product like 7-UP, and a pervert who takes off his clothes on a public street, and why would such a lascivious display make anyone want to run out and buy your products? Are you now touting 7-UP as the refreshment of choice for flashers and other sexual deviants who expose themselves to an unwilling audience?

And why was the phrase "under God" left out of the Pledge of Allegiance, on the new Dr Pepper can? What anti-God, anti-American heathen among your employees decided that Dr Pepper/7-UP had the right to re-write this patriotic anthem to exclude reference to the God Who caused America to become the greatest nation ever to grace the face of the Earth?

Do you honestly believe there are enough "politically-correct" Socialists and Marxists in America to keep your Company floating -after all the Christians, and other people with some measure of moral standards, stop purchasing your God-less, deviant products? You had better hope so!

Personally, I can assure you that none of your products will pollute my home or office for at least six months after you remove your prurient advertising and un-God-ly Pledge of Allegiance cans from the public view, and I will ask everyone I can contact to do likewise.

Most sincerely,
B. Lee Pemberton
Pastor

Church of the Lion of Judah
Post Office Box 1484
Sarasota, Fl 34230-1484
"Surfing for souls on the Internet!"

Dr. Pepper omits "under God" from Pledge to Flag
Posted on 2/1/02 9:16 AM Pacific by smokinleroy

I heard on the Darrel Ankarlo show on KLIF radio (Dallas/Fort Worth) this morning that some students in Iowa are launching a letter-writing campaign to protest the actions of Dallas based Dr. Pepper. It seems on a recently issued can with a patriotic theme including a picture of the statue of liberty that they printed the Pledge of Allegience to the Flag in which they omitted the phrase "under God". When inquired as to the reason, the company representative said that there was not enough room. Anyone else hear this story?

[RonDog]

"Under God" ping!

What say you?

[dep]

i say they're spineless lice, and henceforth it's moxie or nothing for me!

dep

[Pharmboy]

My G-d! I never drank that p*sswater anyway, but now I'll discourage anyone else from ever drinking it. Including all my kids.

They can't cite separation of church and soda, can they?

[Tigercap]

They made their choice regarding the can.

Fine.

I'll exercise my family's freedom of choice by staying away from Dr. Pepper.

[steveo]

is a resoundingly patriotic, bipartisan message that we are a united nation.

So are you saying that if "under God" is mentioned it becomes a un-patriotic, partisan message? As in that the opposing party doesn't believe in God? We knew that already.

[KJMorgan]

And they also left out ;"...with liberty and justice for all." All they are trying to say is that we are a united country.

Some people aren't happy till they can find something to be offended about.

[sonofagun]

Much ado about very little, in my opinion.

Looks like Dr. Pepper got dinged by the overly sensitive right.

[Pharmboy]

Interesting that in their response they never mention that G-d plays a part--anywhere in anything(even though He was left on the cutting room floor).

[VA Advogado]

I vote for #3. After seeing the can I have no problem with it. Your efforts are silly and wasted energy.

[Huck]

Hey RonDog! Looking at the can, and reading their explanation, I can see what they were shooting for. They probably wish they'd just said "United We Stand." Seems like that's what they meant, but they chose to express the idea with words from the Pledge. Had they put the whole quote, it would have taken up more space, and while it might have been considered a good message, maybe it wasn't what they wanted to emphasize. Personally, I'd give 'em a mulligan and not sweat it. But that's just me.

[VA Advogado]

Some people aren't happy till they can find something to be offended about.

Some people (see Rondog) have way way way too much time on their hands.

[Cicero]

I never had a Dr. Pepper in my life, and I'm not about to start now. But their response seems reasonable enough. They didn't put the whole pledge on the can and omit one phrase, "under God." They just used three words, "One Nation . . . Indivisible." That seems reasonable enough to me. I think the complaints were misleading. The Dr. Pepper folks may be villains, for all I know, but not for doing this.

[Charles Henrickson]

I think getting upset because Dr. Pepper had the words, "One Nation . . . Indivisible," and jumping to the conclusion that therefore they were deliberately omitting the words, "Under God"--I think that is stupid and silly. It's not like they printed the whole thing and left out only the words, "Under God." That would be a different matter entirely. Then I could see a reason for being upset. But as it is, I could only commend Dr. Pepper for a very patriotic display.

[katnip]

The original post from a few days ago, as I recall,
said the entire pledge was written on the can, but left out "One Nation under God".
I'm glad Dr. Pepper cleared this one up.
Complaints about this are absurd.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

"Separation of church and soda". LOL!

By the way, in trying to explain away their gaffe, looks like Dr. Pepper has dug itself an even deeper hole. Their explanation states that there was room for only a limited amount of the "verbiage" from the Pledge of Allegiance.

The main definition of "verbiage" is:

"An excess of words for the purpose; wordiness."

Looks like Dr. Pepper has some more "splaining" to do!

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Dr. Pepper probably has a lock on the atheist soft drink market. They wouldn't want to offend their customer base.

[Recovering_Democrat]

After I saw this can, I don't have a problem with what Dr. Pepper did. I don't consider them anti-religion or anti-God. Now, if they had published all of the pledge except the words "under God", there would be an argument. But just to say we as a nation are "indivisible", I'm fine with that.

[sugar_puddin]

We at Dr Pepper/Seven Up strongly believe that the message on these cans is a resoundingly patriotic, bipartisan message that we are a united nation.

NO God = NO Dr. Pepper. We were Dr. Pepper drinkers too. My family is united under God, so it's Hastala Vista Dr. Pepper!

[bleudevil]

R.U. Sirius?

[RonDog]

I vote for #3. After seeing the can I have no problem with it. Your efforts are silly and wasted energy.

Actually, I will register YOUR vote as "foolishly jumping to conclusions without sufficient information."

If you will read more carefully, you will see that I posted:

- the press release from Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. and
- two articles posted by OTHER FReepers.

The extent of MY editorial input was:

So what do YOU think?

Should we:

1 - FReep Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. for being "God-less" scum,
2 - Give them a pass for being "insensitive" money-grubbers, or
3 - Add this e-mail campaign to our collection of "Urban Legends?"

FWIW, I also vote for #3, but that you for validating the point of my post:

"Look before you FReep." ;)

[Endeavor]

They left off 31 words, they chose 3 that are representative of our country. This is a non-issue, and yes, I am a Christian.

[The Real Deal]

It's OK, I don't have enough room in my life for any DP/7up. They don't need people like me any way? Right?????????????

[dighton]

verbiage . . . 2: manner of expressing oneself in words: DICTION, WORDING < messages and orders must use concise military verbiage -- G.S. Patton >

-- Webster's Third.

[RonDog]

The original post from a few days ago, as I recall,
said the entire pledge was written on the can, but left out "One Nation under God".
I'm glad Dr. Pepper cleared this one up.
Complaints about this are absurd.

With a little help from ME, posting their explanation here. ;)

I found it while INVESTIGATING the claims alleged on the two previous "Dr Pepper/Under God" posts - as any OTHER sufficiently motivated researcher could have done. I prefer to have as much information as possible before expending energy. I only have so much "FReep time," and attempt to maximize that effort where it will have the greatest impact.

I am OBVIOUSLY not always successful in that effort. ;)

[connectthedots]

They left off 31 words, they chose 3 that are representative of our country. This is a non-issue, and yes, I am a Christian.

As a very consevative Christian, I agree that this is a non-issue. This much-ado-about-nothing only supports the notion that right-wing-wackos really do exist. As Freud said, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"; but that was before Bill and Monica.

[dighton]

Look before you FReep.

Amen.

[ARA]

"Church of the Loin of Judah" ? What is the "Loin of Judah"?

[Down South]

I'm about as conservative christian as they come, but I don't have a problem with this.

Their intent was to state that our country is United. To do that, they took the relevant words from the Pledge. Had they taken the whole pledge and edited out those 2 words, then I'd have a problem. This is no problem.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Please refer again to my post and you'll note that I mention that the stated definition, describing "verbiage" as an excess of words, is the "main" one. The definition you provide is stated as being "#2". What is the first definition in that dictionary?

[roylene]

Dr. Pepper is sooooo disgusting I would not drink it anyway.

[ARA]

Oops... Never mind... My Dyslexia at work again. It's Lion of Judah... not "Loin" I Got it. Never mind....

[over3Owithabrain]

Shame on the people here and elsewhere who cried wolf. Dr. Pepper did not recite the entire allegaince and blatantly leave out God. They just put a couple words on the can to show support of America. One should make sure they have the facts straight before posting inciteful statements - it severly hurts the cause they claim to represent.

[The Right Stuff]

I agree with your interpretation. They only used three words from the Pledge. I was subject to many hysterical emails on this, and it sounded like they used the whole pledge only omitting "God".

After having seen it, I think the hysterical ones owe us all an apology. The intent of Dr.P. is obvious. Given the Left's antipathy to the Pledge, it was courageous of them to use it at all! I'm surprised the ACLU hasn't sued them!

[katnip]

I should have also thanked you for clearing this up.
Mea Culpa...

[Drew68]

Since when is it up to soda companies to start preaching religion?

Yep! When I drink soda, I alternate detween Dr. Pepper and Pepsi. Why? Because they taste good (IMHO). Now if each can came with an ad saying that proceeds of this sale will go to the Democratic Leadership Council or Earth First, I'd have to reconsider.

Much ado about nothing indeed.

[good_ash]

Great way to reward a company that tries to be patriotic, everybody!

They printed only 3 words on the can - not the whole pledge. Maybe I should protest the fact they left out the rest of the words.

Anybody who is getting in a huff about this needs to get a life. Now I think I'll go have some 7-up.

[dighton]

(#s 16, 27, 33)

In Webster's III, the first definition of verbiage is approximately what you gave. I supplied the second definition to counter suggestions -- OK, your suggestion -- that the word was used pejoratively. You requested and received 'splaining.

If you have a quarrel with definition #2, take it up with General Patton (quoted therein).

[eno_]

They can do whatever they want to with their cans, but their response is clearly dishonest. Why should I drink anything made ina factory run by liars? Does not sound like a good idea.

[tubebender]

One good outcome of this Brouhaha might be that Madison Ave not be so flippant with their prose as per the anti gun Jeep ad.

[cajun-jack]

the two words.."under God" takes les space than indivisible does...so their argument is moot.....point, set, match!!!

[Endeavor]

ditto

[RonDog]

After I saw this can, I don't have a problem with what Dr. Pepper did. I don't consider them anti-religion or anti-God. Now, if they had published all of the pledge except the words "under God", there would be an argument. But just to say we as a nation are "indivisible", I'm fine with that.

Precisely. I know a LITTLE bit about marketing, and would venture to say that THIS beverage can:

Dr Pepper I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

would not stand out on a crowded supermaket shelf as well - and PERHAPS, as a result, not SELL as well - as THIS one:

from Stephen Wooding:
"Did you ever notice that lots of drinks have the title Dr.?
Many of these are ripoffs of Dr Pepper, and I collect them."

But that is just one dog's opinion. ;)

[rwfromkansas]

Dr. Pepper is flat-out lying. Just by looking at the can design, they could fix the problem by making the statue of liberty a bit smaller so the torch could go far enough down to move the words all the way to the left of the design. God would fit in there. Also, they could simply make the font smaller. There are options if one really wanted to have God on that can.

[Hank Kerchief]

I recently observed a 7-UP commercial ... an actor is walking down a street, removing his clothes until finally he is wearing nothing but his undershorts. He removes the shorts and a crowd around him is depicted staring at him.

Most sincerely,
B. Lee Pemberton
Pastor

Why in the world would you be watching something like that, and watching it to the bitter end, Pastor? Why were you even watching TV. Did God have nothing better for you to do?

Hank

[rwfromkansas]

they could not have fit that in....it is VERY CLEAR that they could have fit under God in....and it would have even looked better by not having Lady Liberty jutting right againt the normal Pepsi design. Just making lady liberty a bit smaller so more words could fit would have done the job. Dr. Pepper is spreading a bunch of crap, frankly.