dr. pepper evolution adWith issues like international economic strife, climate change, and unrest in the Middle East facing the world, who would have ever thunk that soda pop would be such a MAJOR point of contention? But it is -- this week, especially! First, NYC bans supersized soda in an effort to quash the city's obesity epidemic. And now, Dr. Pepper is under fire for the "Evolution of Flavor" ad you see here. Yep. Seems safe to say the world has gone mad.

An ad -- which Dr. Pepper ran on its Facebook page -- uses the tongue-in-cheek motif that man "evolved" by swiggin' their soda. Seems innocent enough. But no ... A vocal minority of Creationist commenters came out hatin' on the ad, leaving comments like, "Forget evolution ... Jesus all the way!" and "My ancestors were created in the Garden of Eden. I ain’t no freaking chimp. No more Dr. Pepper for my household." Face. Palm.

Pretty soon, there was a war of words between those hating on the ad and others defending it, noting, "The day your faith is shaken by a Dr. Pepper ad is the day you should probably start reconsidering your faith."

Wow. How about everyone take a step back and ... simmah down now?! This is nothing more than a harmless, humorous ad, meant to make you smirk and think about how tasty Dr. Pepper is, then get on with your life. No way was Dr. Pepper trying to get us all riled up about Darwin's Theory of Evolution! They just want us to think, "Mmm, ice-cold, sweet can of soda ... Gimme!" Tell me, what's so incendiary about that?

And just like ads for any other kind of food or beverage, you can get on the bandwagon ... or not. "Like" it, "share" it, go buy a six-pack of it ... or don't. But as far as I can tell, there's nothing remotely political or religious about this ad. It's associating man's progress with soda -- which is completely giggle-worthy, no matter what your views are.

How do you feel about this ad?

 

Image via Dr. Pepper