Another controversy was faced by Pepsico in 1990, when a limited run of "cool cans" included one design that would spell out the world "sex" if you stacked two cans on top of one another and turned them. Like with the Diet Pepsi "Urban Life" can, the offending image was much easier to see if you already knew what you were looking for.(Pepsico)"We understand from some of our consumers that a Diet Pepsi can designed and sold in the Middle East portraying the growth of active regional cities has been misinterpreted. We are sorry that some people found this design insensitive, which was never our intention as the graphics on this can were inspired by the Dubai skyline. As soon as this matter was brought to our attention in October, we immediately stopped production of the can and took action to change the design. The new can, which features an abstract design, is already in the Middle East market. All old designs will be replaced over the next few weeks."
From Bare Naked Islam via ibloga: Those Pepsi cans were manufactured in Dubai. Is the image a rendering of the Twin Towers? Evaluations on that matter have been mixed. Excerpt from Bare Naked Islam (citing this source):
So yesterday I was in the chow hall on my Forward Operating Base here in Afghanistan, and, as usual, I grabbed a diet cola to go with my meal. The Diet Pepsi served in our chow hall is not from the United States. It is manufactured in Dubai by Pepsi Arabia and says so right on the can.Yesterday, for some odd reason I looked–I mean I really LOOKED–at the subtle “clip art” on the background of the can.And I did a double take. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing… I examined the can for several minutes while my food grew cold, wondering if my eyes were deceiving me.
But there was no getting around it. To either side of the Pepsi logo, there was an image of a jet airliner over tall buildings. Looking at the image, I couldn’t help but think it alluded to 9/11.Three other soldiers were sitting with me at my table. One of the other soldiers asked what I was looking at so hard. Instead of answering, I handed him the can and said, “Look at the artwork on this can. Do you see what I see?”
He looked. His eyes grew wide. He turned the can from side to side. The other soldiers at the table looked, too. None of us said anything. The phrase “9/11″ never passed from our lips. We could LOOK at each other and understand we all saw the same thing, a “sneaky allusion to 9/11.”
