Dr Pepper Omitted the Words “Under God” From a Quote of The Pledge of Allegiance On Patriotic Soda Cans-Truth!…Sort Of!
Summary of eRumor:
This message says that Dr Pepper is coming out with a set of soft drink cans with a patriotic theme. One of them is to have the Statue of Liberty on one side and the Pledge of Allegiance on the other. But, the phrase “under God” was not included in the pledge. Some versions of the eRumor include an 800 number for you to call Dr Pepper and complain. Others urge you to send a note of protest via their website.
The Truth:
According to the Dr Pepper website at www.dpsu.com, there is a special patriotic edition Dr Pepper can. A statement by Dr Pepper/Seven Up says the cans are to “…show support for the patriotic fervor that has been sweeping America since the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, and to show the world that we are a united nation of people who place a high value upon freedom.”
One side of the can includes the Statue of Liberty and on the other side are three words from the Pledge of Allegiance, not the entire 31 word Pledge. The words on the can are “One nation…indivisible.” In the actual Pledge, that phrase is “One nation under God, indivisible.”
Critics say that omitting the reference to God is an act of political correctness by the company and that those who believe in God should complain about it. The Dr Pepper/Seven Up folks say their purpose was to reflect the unity of the country, not to make an anti-religious statement and that 90 percent of the rest of the Pledge did not appear either.
Most of the questions to TruthOrFiction.com have been from people who thought the entire pledge had been quoted on the can but with the words “under God” left out. There is at least one version of the eRumor that claims that.
The protest arose when a 12-year-old girl wrote a letter to the American Family Association in Mississippi to complain about the partial quote from the Pledge of Allegiance She said there could be enough room to include the phrase “under God” and the American Family Association suggests that it was more a matter of choice to avoid reference to God rather than mere graphics.
Forty-one million of the cans have been distributed in more than a dozen states and have been discontinued as of February.
There is a virtually identical version of the eRumor that says it was Pepsi that took the words off the patriotic can. That one is false.