Pepsi Goes Skinny!

Skinny and all variations of it ala size zero is out. In fact, it’s seen as being incredibly icky to see a lady show bones with no meat. But healthy, is definitely in. Why do you think healthy Sonakshi Sinha is preferred over overly slim (and plastic) Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor? And you would think Pepsi, one of the most popular soft drinks in the world, would realize this sheer fact. With their new add in which they display their new look for the Diet Pepsi can – chunky to skinny, the normally curvy Sofia Vergara into an underweight lass albeit her assets.

Naturally this hasn’t sat well with a number of nutrition organizations who cannot fathom, or understand, why Sofia is made to look, well, skinny much like the can.

If Pepsi really wanted to take on a sexy celeb who was on the skinnier side, they could have easily chosen one that was already underweight. In fact, by ridding Sofia of what she is well known for, Pepsi has shot themselves in the foot. What is the point of taking her on as the brand ambassador then? A number of people view this move as nothing but insensitive. A noted ad agencies’ representative went on to question, “Why did Pepsi feel necessary to basically eliminate any hint of Vergara’s true body shape from the ad…Oh wait. Because women with big boobs are stupid and God forbid Pepsi lead us to believe stupid people drink their products!”

In a quick rebuttal, Pepsi’s CEO clarified the controversy by claiming that the new Skinny Pepsi is “the perfect complement to today’s most stylish look.” Right and so Sofia had to be photo shopped to be skinny and stylish, is it? The real question is what kind of message is Pepsi trying to give out by literally belittling Sofia to such atrocity? Are we saying that healthy isn’t sexy? Or that the new Diet Pepsi is only meant for the skinny? Either way, both messages are incorrect and politically unsound.

For the most part, the advertising world is unaware of the effect that they have over the youth around the world. Young women, who look to Sofia for inspiration and admire her for being curvaceous as well as healthy, are all of a sudden seeing a Sofia they never knew; skinny. This is rather odd especially since the television actress has always spoken highly about her fitness regime and the need for a healthy lifestyle.

Look everyone knows the need for perfection and the innate use of photo shop/retouching for advertising. All we’re saying is to keep it real. Sofia is not skinny, so why portray her as one? And forget that! We can barely even see her face. One has to look really carefully to eventually recognize who the face hiding behind the huge blue hat is. And then when you finally do, you are shocked to see Sofia in an avatar which is really, not her. How and why celebs put up with this, well, their bank balances say everything, but is it worth it? An agency takes on certain celebs because they feel their personality, their image and their admiration can attract more people to the brand. In the case of Diet Pepsi, they obviously felt the need to skinnyfy, Sofia; only then would she be Pepsi friendly.
 

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