Pepsi Omits 'Under God' in Patriotic Can Promotion
Baseless email campaign protests the alleged omission of the words 'under God' in an excerpt from the Pledge of Allegiance on new Pepsi cans.
Description: Email flier
Circulating since: Aug. 2002
Status: False
Email example contributed by P. Neal, Aug. 23, 2002:
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Subject: New Pepsi Can
Pepsi has a new patriotic can coming out with pictures of the Empire State Bldg. and the Pledge of Allegiance on them. But Pepsi forgot two little words on the pledge, "Under God." Pepsi said they did not want to offend anyone. If this is true then we do not want to offend anyone at the Pepsi corporate office. If we do not buy any Pepsi product then they will not receive any of our monies. Our money after all does have the words "Under God" on it. Please pass this word to everyone you know. Tell your Sunday School class tomorrow and tell your Pastors so that they can tell the whole congregation. Christians stand up and let your voices be heard. We want the words "under God" to be read by every person who buys a can. |
Comments: This false and utterly pointless call to arms is a variant of an email protest targeting the manufacturer of a different soft drink, Dr Pepper, in February 2002. Dr Pepper cans did, in fact, carry such a patriotic slogan during a brief promotion in 2001-2002 and featured an excerpt from the Pledge of Allegiance. However, Pepsi — which is manufactured by an entirely different and unrelated company, I hasten to add — has never run such a promotion, nor announced any plans to do so.
Official statement from PepsiCo:
We wanted to clarify an erroneous report that has been circulating around cyberspace for some time. Pepsi has not created any packaging containing an edited version of America's Pledge of Allegiance. A patriotic package used in 2001 by Dr Pepper (which is not a part of PepsiCo) was inappropriately linked to this rumor. Dr Pepper's position is very clearly articulated at: http://www.brandspeoplelove.com
Further reading:
Pepsi-Cola False Rumor Alert: Patriotic Cans
As published on Pepsi-Cola's WebsiteRumor: Dr Pepper Omits 'Under God' in Patriotic Promo
Variants of the original email protest targeting Dr PepperOne Nation, Under Carbonation
The Capital Times, 20 October 2003
Last updated: 03/24/04
