[eric970]

"Diet" and "weight loss" are often used interchangeably, sure, but can you think of any instances in which diet Pepsi or diet Coke has been advertised as actually causing weight loss (ie; the product itself is a weight loss supplement)?

I think the name "diet soda" needs to go, as it really is misleading, but (and I could be wrong about this) I don't think these companies have ever claimed their products make you shed pounds by simply drinking them.

[speeder]

People KNOW the meaning of diet?

Diet definition 3 from Merriam Webster: "the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason"

(by the way: who the hell thought it was good idea to put on your dictionary site a ad for wallmart with sound, and REALLY LOUD sound, that plays automatically?)

Diet products were intended, and advertised, as sugar-free stuff, for people that need sugar-free dietary needs (ie: diabetics mostly)

It was the weight loss desperate people that figured that it might result in weight loss and generated lots of confusion.

Here in Brazil the government even passed a law, that to market anything as "diet" the requeriment is that it has 0% sugar, for safety of diabetics. And whoever decides to sue a company because their "diet" product has more calories or more fat for example, is their problem, because "diet" was not meant for that.

[coldtea]

>Diet products were intended, and advertised, as sugar-free stuff, for people that need sugar-free dietary needs (ie: diabetics mostly)

Nope, they were advertised as the "healthy" choices for people that care about their sillouette. This is obvious from their advertising (not to mention that they also say it explicitly in ads).

Oh, and diet coke in Europe is code "coca cola LIGHT".

So much for the dietary connotation.

(And, yes, people do NOT know the meaning of diet. The majority understands it only in the sense of "weight loss diet").