Hasta La Creative!

It's usually off-putting when inanimate objects have faces, but in this new Japanese Vitaminwater commercial, which features a person with a boom box for a head and spinning turntable eyes, that wasn't weird enough.

Nope, they had to go all out for a new coconut-flavored drink, and it's one of the weirder (but not gross!) things I've seen.

They had to have Heems from Das Racist rapping as Turntable Head dashes around to some of New York's latest trendy spots. It's all part of the New York remix, which is New York culture's way of giving old things new life, says Heems. (Ugh.)

Apparently the new coconut flavor is Queens-born Vitaminwater's own New York remix.

OK then!

H/T: Nerve's Liam Mathews.

The idea? Play off Canada's bilingualism by jumbling English and French words on bottle caps of Vitaminwater. The result? The phrase "You Retard" appeared on the lid of a young woman's drink. Even worse (if that's possible), the girl has a half-sister with cerebral palsy.

The snafu came to light this week after Edmonton photographer Blake Loates found the message on her Vitaminwater lid while eating at a restaurant. She sent a photo to her father, Doug Loates, who fired off a lengthy (and tremendously poignant) letter to Coca-Cola demanding an explanation. He described how "the R-word is considered a swear word in our family," primarily because it's a slur that some might use against his 11-year-old daughter, Fiona, whose cerebral palsy has caused cognitive delays and requires that she use a feeding tube.

"What would YOU do if you opened up your bottle of Vitamin Water and on the bottom of the lid it read, 'YOU RETARD?' " he wrote to Coke's board of directors. "I bet you'd be pissed if you had a Fiona in your life!"

Coca-Cola Canada spokeswoman Shannon Denny tells the Metro newspaper that the words used in the promotion were reviewed only from the perspective of French speakers, for whom "retard" means "late." "We did not mean to offend at all. We are certainly very apologetic for this oversight," she says. The remaining lids were reportedly destroyed, and as of Thursday, Coke was drafting a formal apology to the Loates family.

Read Doug Loates's full letter letter to Coke below.

Freebies are a welcome thing and for people taking the AirTran Airways route, AirTran Airways and the Coca-Cola Company announced today that fans heading to the big games in Detroit this weekend will be well hydrated thanks to vitaminwater and Atlanta’s low-fare leader.

Passengers flying from Atlanta to Detroit on AirTran Airways today will be served complimentary vitaminwater beverages at the airline’s gates in anticipation of this weekend’s championship games.

“We’re excited to be able to partner with our friends at the Coca-Cola Company to offer free vitaminwater to our passengers that are headed to the big games in Detroit this weekend,” said Tad Hutcheson, AirTran Airways’ vice president of marketing and sales. “Staying well hydrated is as important in the air as it is on the court no matter which team you’re pulling for this weekend.”

(Source) Press