Commercial Tangent - Turning 23 (at least I think so)

Dr. Pepper's new ad campaign combines the theme of "23 flavors" in every can of Dr. Pepper, with the old Vapors' single "Turning Japanese." The lyric is revised from the original new wave tune's "I'm turning japanese, I think I'm turning japanese, oh yes I think so" to Dr. Pepper's "I'm turning 23."

Back in the early 80's we all knew that "Turning Japanese" was british slang for masturbation ("no sex, no drugs, no wine, no women, no you, no wonder it's dark . . . that's why I'm turning Japanese").

When I hear the Dr. Pepper commercial "turning 23", my immediate reference is back to the Vapors' "turning japanese" and then to. . . then to wonder, what exactly are those "23 flavors"?

Did anyone who actually knew the old Vapors tune when it originally appeared take part in choosing this song for a national advertising campaign. Were they aware of the reference and did they choose to ignore it (on the theory that only a few aging hipsters might recognize it)? Do they even worry about whether people make these connections (and hey, if anyone thinks the problem here is that my mind is in the gutter, it's Dr. Pepper who started this, not me). I remember that when Esso changed it's name to Exxon, it undertook a world wide search to determine whether the word/sound/combination of syllables "Exxon" could be deemed offensive in any existing language or country. So I, think they do take this sort of thing into account sometimes - especially for larger companies with global marketplaces.

Which leads me to wonder. How long before Dr. Pepper stops airing this particular commercial?