MANILA, Philippines—Headlines generated by President Benigno Aquino’s comparison of his love life—or lack of it—to the decreasing degrees of Coca-Cola sweetness appears to have prompted a rival soda brand to come up with a full-page ad telling lovers of life to go from “zero to max.”
Asked if the President should take action on Pepsi Cola’s print ad following his remarks in China that his love life can be compared to Coke, Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang drew laughter when he said, “For reasons which I’m sure you’ll understand, the Palace will not involve itself in the cola wars.”
Speaking before members of the Filipino community in Beijing last week, Aquino indicated how busy he was by likening his love life to Coca-Cola, saying it used to be “regular,” then it got “light,” and now it’s down to “zero.”
Based on its varying sugar content, Coca-Cola has three products—regular, Coke Light and Coke Zero.
Rival Pepsi’s sugar-free variant, on the other hand, is called Pepsi Max.
Appearing in a broadsheet a day after Aquino’s joke on his love life made headlines, the Pepsi ad read, “Love life? Go from Zero to Max,” indicating a needed switch from one to the other if a person loves life.
Pressed on actress Iza Calzado’s denial that she and the President have been going out, Carandang said, “That’s like WikiLeaks. We don’t comment on the President’s social life so I will not comment on that.”
Carandang has said Malacañang wouldn’t comment on WikiLeaks reports on alleged internal communications between agencies.
