On New Cola Advertising

Here’s a switch: a near-naked couple drops into a hot tub, but there’s no talk of other “ladies” or a “journey.” Nor does the evening end with the question, “Amber, will you accept this rose?”

That’s a relief. Instead, this latest Diet Pepsi commercial features what seems to be a committed late-thirtysomething guy and his good-looking blond, bikinied sweetie. We don’t know whether, as with all the “ladies” on the latest Bachelor, she is in pharmaceutical sales, but we do know that she’s married, because as they immerse themselves in the steamy, bubbly water, they clink their Diet Pepsi cans in a toast, and we see her wedding band.