TakeAway: Diet Pepsi’s new skinny can is being met with controversy because of the perception that skinny is better and that this will influence the image issues young people face nowadays regarding their body types.
Pepsi on the other hand thinks it’s a new skinny can will provide as a marketing tool for people to “get the skinny” on what is trendy and in. Who will win the battle?
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Excerpted from AdAge, “Skinny Pepsi Can Launch is Heavy with Controversy” by Natalie Zmuda, February 21, 2011
It’s hard to imagine that a brand the size of Diet Pepsi spent only $500,000 on measured media in the past three years combined, but that’s exactly what happened.
With the focus on programs such as Refresh Project and brands such as Pepsi Max, Diet Pepsi was pushed to the sidelines. …
“We are going to actually start talking to our consumer again. … We have our loyal followers that are a specific psychographic, and we want to make sure we talk to them on a one-to-one level.”
To that end, the brand is introducing a new package, the Skinny Can, and building a major marketing program around it, slated to run throughout 2011. The can will become part of Diet Pepsi’s permanent lineup. (Pepsi’s Skinny Can is a full 12 oz. serving. )
… Ads promote the can but also convey the idea of “getting the skinny” or the inside scoop on the latest in culture, fashion, style and design. …
A slew of partnerships and retail promotions are also a part of the effort. A promotion that gives consumers $5 off a purchase at Target when they buy a four-pack of Skinny Cans and a People magazine is launching late this month. …
To help conceive the effort, it formed a “Pop Culture Council,” …that was presented with various ideas and advertising concepts and told to “pull them apart and rebuild them.”
“They were saying you need to stop thinking as a staple product and think as we think in the fashion and design industries,” …
The effort is not without controversy. The National Eating Disorders Association put out a press release saying it “takes offense” to the idea. “Pepsi should be ashamed for declaring that skinny is to be celebrated,” …
“It’s the new shape of a product. We’re not talking about the form or shape of a woman,” she said. “And it’s also the marketing platform, getting the skinny, the inside scoop, on fashion, style and design.”
Eric Gustavsen, founding partner at creative firm Graj & Gustavsen who has no connection to the project, said … “This particular idea is simple enough and understandable enough that it may very well have mass appeal. It’s cool and different. That doesn’t mean it’s going to redefine what a soda can shape is, but there’s nothing wrong with breaking away and experimenting.”
Edit by HH
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The Homa Files 
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