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Diet soda is ladylike but low-calorie soda is manly. It might seem like a subtle difference, but that’s the only thing that’s subtle about the blundering marketing campaign for Dr. Pepper Ten.
The advertising for Dr. Pepper Ten came as a surprise to me. I’m interested in the idea of mid-calorie soda. But rather than playing on the benefits of the drink or telling people why they might like it, it tells us in a camo-clad cry, “It’s not for women!”
That’s right; it’s a marketing campaign that actively looks to exclude half of its potential market.
The action film pastiche commercial is patronizing to both men and women in its reinforcement of what I had (perhaps naïvely) hoped were outdated stereotypes.
Now, this is shamelessly provocative marketing – and it may well work to boost sales for that very reason – but that doesn’t make it any less crass.
What is clear is that it’s a strategy that gets people talking – and asking questions. It deliberately picks at the edges of our comfort zones. Is it OK to be sexist if it’s done with irony? In a post-feminist world, is it OK to exclude women on the basis that women are no longer oppressed? And an even more pertinent question: Are women still oppressed?
Diet imagery isn’t macho
According to the company, Dr. Pepper Ten targets men aged 25-34 who “prefer the full-flavor experience of regular Dr Pepper but want a lower-calorie option without the diet imagery”.
I’m not a part of that demographic, but guess what, I’d like that too! It doesn’t matter how many pink-packaged ‘diet’ candy bars and soft drinks are marketed to me as a woman, I can’t believe that these are anything more than cynical ways to appeal to the image-obsessed stereotype of my gender – and I refuse to swallow them.
Provocation is a blunt instrument. It may prove effective for sales – perhaps as effective as sexually explicit marketing – but it is still crude and obtuse.
If any publicity is indeed good publicity, then I’m aware that I’ve just done my bit for Dr. Pepper, but I hope I’m wrong.
As a final thought, I’ve seen a few bloggers asking another provocative question: Would this ad be offensive if it involved a bunch of redneck clichés and proclaimed “it’s not for blacks”?
You bet it would.
14 comments (Comments are now closed)
You're not alone!
I found the ad to be shockingly offensive as well. It seemed as if they outright backslapped half of their potential market. What were they thinking?
It's fine to target market, but there's ways sufficiently less crude. Look at Axe and Old Spice.
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Posted by Valerie Lynn
02 November 2011 | 05h48
Grow Up
You can only find offence in this advert if you are going out of your way to find it!
I dont hear anyone saying the now iconic diet coke adverts are sexist, though they portray three women oogling at a musclebound lift repar man or window cleaners etc, it all but screams this product is for women only. In fact, most diet products are marketed towards women, this is sexism but simply responding to the market.
Unless women are refused sale of this product there is no sexism at all, just some good old fasioned fun!
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Posted by Peter Luker
01 November 2011 | 14h03
Oh?
Since when did we start living in a post-feminist world? Really? I will be a post-feminist in a post-patriarchy.
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Posted by post
16 October 2011 | 05h00
Why can't companies sell to whoever they want?
Everyone has a target market, why can't companies just honestly sell directly to that market? If the male/female roles were reversed here, would you even notice? And as the Jupiler hater says, just don't buy it. It shouldn't be wrong to know your customer and sell to them. If you feel excluded, do like the anti-Jupiler in the above comment and drink something else! It's not about you, really.
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Posted by contrarian
15 October 2011 | 21h27
Slow news day
It must be a slow new day for the author to tee off on this ad. The only thing Ms. Scott-Thomas is correct about is she has done great PR for Dr. P but made herself look very small.
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Posted by DZee
14 October 2011 | 17h18
Same thing with Jupiler (beer brand) in Belgium
The same trick has been used by Jupiler in Belgium for quite a while now. Jupiler is apparently only for men and "Men know why"... oh, wow! impressive. Result: at home, both my man and I drink Maes, their direct competitor! hahaha, now that's funny! ;-)
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Posted by Yo
14 October 2011 | 12h06
Author response
Thank you all for your comments.
It seems I may be in the minority here, but this ad sparked thoughts for me about the societal issues that could lead to such a marketing approach. Perhaps it is reflective of a general acceptance of gender stereotypes - as comments so far would suggest - or perhaps it is part of the reason that these stereotypes perpetuate, albeit maybe a small part.
Either way, I'm glad this has triggered such lively feedback.
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Posted by Caroline Scott-Thomas
14 October 2011 | 10h51
Caroline, get over yourself
Instead of applauding Dr Pepper that they have come up with an exceptional ultra-low cal beverage - you find some obtuse reason to beat it down. Everytime I see a souped-up Jaguar advertised to men, do I get offended as a woman? No. That's what advertising is, it's geared towards certain consumer groups.
Your'e bound to find something negative in everything if you try hard enough. Get off your high horse!
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Posted by Barbie
13 October 2011 | 22h08
Dr. Pepper 10
I see the campaign as being completely tongue-in-cheek and amusing. The reaction expressed in this editorial reminds me of the old joke,
Q. How many militant feminists does it take to change a light bulb?
A. That's not funny!
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Posted by DPBF
13 October 2011 | 21h55
It is for women
Very clever. Reverse psychology. My bet is women will buy it because they're told it's not for them. Congrats to the marketers behind the campaign!
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Posted by TSFM
13 October 2011 | 20h51
Ad is a bit insulting
Diet soda is ladylike, but low calorie soda is manly? Sounds like the ad is saying that ladies are fat and need to diet. But, men are sensible about calories. I am a 90 pound lady, and never drink diet soda because of the artificial sweeteners and other unhealthy ingredients. I assume the low calorie manly version isn't any better. Let the men have it all, as far as I'm concerned. They are welcome to it, regardless of what the ad says.
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Posted by DJ
13 October 2011 | 20h34
Relax
This is not a gender bias issue nor a PC faux pas. Women are not maligned simply because a product is targeted toward men. I am an educated woman and I find the ad silly and fun and not in the least bit offensive negative. Hardly worthy of your diatribe.
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Posted by Ms. Olsen
13 October 2011 | 19h59
Please unwad your undies!!!!
It's a commercial and it's fun. Clearly, you are entirely too uptight to have any fun so fly to Dr.Pepper HQ and picket for your right to Crass-Free advertising.
You really wanna make the world boring, how sad.
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Posted by Yuuglibich Bugof
13 October 2011 | 19h24
Really?
Seriously, is this just political correctness gome mad?
In the UK a couple of years ago there was a similar campaign for the 'Yorkie' brand of chocolate bar, which was hugely successful. Is this because in the UK people understand what humour is?
I think it is better to actually question why the writer felt it necessary to actually take time to write the article, and why anyone thought it was value for money for her to even do thi
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Posted by Steve
13 October 2011 | 19h14
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