As you can see in this screen cap from last night’s “South Park,” Trey & Matt are still insisting that their cherubic little characters occasionally slurp up some delicious and refreshing Dr Pepper brand soft drinks. Granted, the cans in question are actually labeled “Dr Pep-er” (and they’re not, as I previously believed, just Photoshopped in), but in the immortal words of Jimmy Valmer, cuhm awn. That’s clearly the official Dr Pepper can design, animated with more rich detail than anything else in the shot.

I tweeted @drpepper about this whole “South Park” thing the other day to try and get some solid answers RE: paid product placement. Would you believe they never answered me? Sheesh, it’s like they’re trying to run a multi-national beverage company down there or something. I’ll try calling their customer service hotline tomorrow to see if the phone jockeys have been fed any kind of PR gold regarding the so far unspoken and unholy Dr Pepper/”South Park” union.

Again, what makes this whole thing suspect is the fact that the characters never comment on their “Dr Pep-er” consumption. “South Park” has worked name brands into the show before, but usually as some kind of major plot device (KFC, Wal-Mart). With this Dr Pepper thing, the kids just drink it and that’s that. You’ll notice that the other soda can in the above shot isn’t even labeled—it’s just a green can of soda. Thus, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn Dr Pepper is paying “South Park” to pimp their pop (minus a P, for some reason).

Meanwhile, Cartman never eats his beloved and no-longer-fictional Cheesy Poofs anymore. What up with that? Sigh. I suppose we have to take this one issue at a time.