Coca-Cola has recently apologized to a family after one member purchased a VitaminWater with a bottle cap bearing the words "YOU RETARD."
Metro Calgary reported Edmonton-based photographer, Blake Loates and her husband discovered the cap while out for dinner on Tuesday night and were immediately shocked. Loates' younger sister, Flona, is living with cerebral palsy and autism and was taught that the "R-word" is completely unacceptable.
"The R-word is just something we don't say in my family," Loates told the Metro Calgary. "My dad is quiet upset and is on a rampage."
Loates' father, Doug, wrote a letter of complaint to VitaminWater's parent company Coco-Cola, seeking an explanation for the offensive cap.
"What would you do if you opened up your bottle of Vitamin Water and on the bottom of the lid it read, "YOU RETARD"?" Doug Loates wrote in his letter swearing off the beverage company for life. "Think about it. I bet you'd be pissed off if you had a Fiona in your life. Can you imagine if SHE had opened this bottle?"
Representatives for Coca-Cola have since stated the language inside of the cap was the product of a competition pairing one random English word with a second random French word. In French, "retard" means "late" or "delayed." The word's English connotation was missed during the review process, a spokesperson said.
"We have spoken to the family to offer our sincerest apologies and to explain the production process to them," Shannon Denny, director of brand communications for Coca-Cola Refreshment Canada, told ABC News. "This is certainly not an excuse in any way for what has occurred. We wanted them to know that this was in no way intentional and was a mistake on our part during the review process. We also wanted to share that the promotion has since been cancelled and we are no longer producing bottles with those caps."
Denny said the company would also be posting their apology on the VitaminWater Canada Facebook page and sharing through twitter on both @vitaminwater_ca and @cocacalaco_ca.
David Thomson, vice-president of still beverages for Coco-Cola, said the remaining caps in their facilities have now been destroyed.
"We have learned from this and it was a mistake," he said. "At no point in time did we intend on offending anyone by any stretch and we have cancelled and moved on and have dealth with his as soon as possible."
