Whenever I go to lunch with other girls, I always feel like I have to pick and choose which calories I actually want to eat in front of them. When I eat with guy friends, bring on the pizza or burgers! So when I heard about a new soda that was not diet (no aspartame=no cancer!) and only 10 calories, I was all about it! But then I saw the commercial.
Dr. Pepper's new product, called Dr. Pepper Ten, has a completely revolutionary campaign-- they are marketing exclusively to men. While that in and of itself is not new, explicitly saying "It's not for women" or "For men only" is.
See for yourself: this is Dr. Pepper's newest commercial for Dr. Pepper Ten.
Source:youtube.com channel: drpeppervideos
According to Nick Harrison of Chicago Business, 40 percent of the people who buy Dr. Pepper Ten have been women. This is because in most families, the primary consumer is the woman.
In addition, I have never heard any guys worrying about their calorie intake, but I guess they must be out there. Harrison makes a good point that beer commercials often do this more tastefully, and I would have to agree. He says, "Women can find the humor in a man not being 'manly.' But the ads don't discourage women from buying the product themselves. And, at the same time, the ads depict Miller Lite as being 'manly.'"
It seems, then, that Dr. Pepper has made a mistake in marketing this only towards men. What happens if women drink it? Will I spontaneously combust? Become infertile, as my fellow blogger Mike suggested when I brought up this story? Will I start gaining testosterone by the sip? This is totally exaggeration, but I'm curious: why would anyone not market something with fewer calories to the women who are always counting them?
What do you think? Ladies, would you buy Dr. Pepper Ten? Gentlemen, how worried are you about the amount of calories in your soda? I can't wait to hear your feedback in the comments section below!
--Amanda
Everything you need to know about cooking and eating on and around South Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA.
I think Dr. Pepper made a HUGE mistake. First of all, even if the product is more likely to be used by a male demographic, it is still sexist to advertise it as "For Men Only." What makes a SODA for men only? The commercial itself is also extremely sexist. Why can't a woman enjoy an action film? I loved "Saving Private Ryan" and my dad loves "Phantom of the Opera."
ReplyDeleteWould I have bought Dr. Pepper Ten? Before seeing this advertisement, absolutely yes. I don't drink diet soda because I don't want the aspartame and I don't drink legitimate sodas because I don't want all that sugar.
After seeing it? No. You just lost a potential customer, Dr. Pepper.
While Dr. Pepper made a mistake making men the sole target audience of the drink, I can see why they might have directly pitched their new soda to men. Women are normally searching for healthier, calorie conscious food and drinks. As mentioned in the blog, women are often the main consumer for the household. Maybe Dr.Pepper selected to do the ad this way to grab the attention of men? Perhaps they realized men would be the tougher audience to sell. Needless to say, they still have a little work to do in refining their technique because they would hate to lose their true fan over a sexist advertisement.
ReplyDeleteI think that the ad is being slightly sarcastic for the reasons you mentioned above, most low calorie drinks are marketed towards women. By alienating them in the commercial, I think it has a reverse psychology effect on women by intriguing them into wanting to try the product. If you tell someone they can't do or have something, they are more likely to want it.
ReplyDeleteAlso our generation has started to place the male figure on a pedestal beside the female figure. Men with nice bodies are idolized in our society, and the image the media presents as the 'ideal' man is usually attractive, stylish, and in shape. Being bombarded by images of muscled men in the media puts pressure on your 'average joe' to want to emulate those images, leading him to invest in things like low carb diets, p90x, and even a low cal soda in the hopes of cutting fat to show off lean muscle. This soda is marketing to this demographic, the common american male who feels the need to look 'movie star hot' so he cuts his calories and fat, and ups his protein.