Dr Pepper For Men Ads

I don't think the difference between "manly" and "anti-woman" is really that distinct to criticize this commercial while other manly advertisements are acceptable. Slim Jim has commercials about a guy being wimpy because his girlfriend is riding a motorcycle and he's sitting behind her. Burger King's "I'm A Man" song mentions things like "saying goodbye to tofu," implying that women like to eat tofu and salads while men don't. In short, by celebrating masculinity at some point you're going to have to "demean" that which is on the other side.

But in most cases, this falls into Rule of Funny. It's not sexist to point out differences between the genders as long as you don't use it for an actual argument (IE men are better than women because...). Action movies have more male viewers, romance movies have more female viewers, and the commercial here over-exaggerates this to be funny. YMMV on whether the joke is successful or not, but Dr. Pepper isn't seriously saying that men are superior and very few people who watch the commercial will say, "you know, they're right, women suck."

The commercial is so obviously goofy it's pretty much impossible to interpret it as actually being sexist. Things like shouting "CATCHPHRASE!" and the thing where the Dr. Pepper can is thrown in order to activate a trap which raises a net is supposed to be an obvious hint that they're going for humor here.

I am a fan of the drink, and I practically facepalmed at the sort of implications this advert has. I mean, they are trying to have men try a low-calorie variety, but that... that is a seriously poor choice of words ("For Men Only" and "It's Not For Women"? I mean, WHAT THE FUCKING HELL!), and left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth.

edited 23rd Oct '11 1:48:38 PM by EarlOfSandvich

You see, if it was just that one ad, I might've been able to just right it off as Unfornutate Implications, but its a whole campaign. I watch a Foot Ball game and I see a guy say "Dr Pepper Ten: it's NOT FOR WOMEN" I see on facebook a HORRIBLE page filled with misogynist "Man-cronyms" and a mini-game were you shoot unicorns, and then I see there ad execs and other assholes say it all ok because it's "just a joke?" No. Fuck you!

I'm guessing TV Tropes forgot what a parody is. The "It's not for women!" thing is clearly a Take That! to most "men" diet drinks, which usually try to imply that "diets are girly, but men should like it too so they buy our product."

My fucking God, it's a damn joke of a campaign, not some subliminal message to say men are the dominant gender.

Ways to Ruin Your Argument #71: End it all with a "Fuck you!"

Lighten the hell up, man. I mean, what the hell do you think this one damn soda company's evil plot is? I'll tell you what it is: to get men to drink diet sodas. That's all. That's fucking all. There's no hidden agenda of Dr Pepper executives trying to enforce an idea of male superiority or bias. It's a fucking campaign. A damned advertisement.

edited 23rd Oct '11 3:43:30 PM by HeavyDDR

Yall know how bad artificial sweetener in diet soda is?

Yes, an advertisement that bases itself on flagrant anti-female perceptions and conceptions, and uses the perceptions of the ignorant masses like you can laugh it all because it's "just a joke."

Would you be so gun-ho if this was a Fried Chicken "parody:" commercial where a straw hatted, barefooted Ebonics speaking black man yelled out in a southern accent "Man did sho is sum gud nigga chiken!” Hell no! But because socially (if not fiscally and politically) woman are on a lower rung of the "Minority ladder' ignorant bullshit like this gets a crap as long as the rich white men in charge can write it off as "just a joke" and have people like you slurp it down.

Looks like they're trying to take a page out of Old Spice and failing horribly.

Old Spice commercials are an obvious parody of extreme manliness, with beautiful delivery of its humor. This commercial flies over parody into just plain awfulness. It is now indistinguishable from genuine misogyny.

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:12:49 PM by annebeeche

You're looking into this way too much. Settle the fuck down for two seconds and realize this is just a joke. It's a way to get attention so people notice their product and pay money to buy it. This isn't dehumanizing women, it's over-the-top manliness which a lot of commercials aim to do, this one just goes the extra mile to say "it's not for women."

I ask again: What do you think Dr Pepper's evil scheme is behind all this? To create some man-ruled world... using a soda?

If anything these advertisements point out the cliches of pro-masculine ideas, like action movies, "catch phrases," etc. It never once said "heh, women belong in the kitchen" or "good thing women can't vote" or anything that would actually be anti-female. You're throwing a big fit over nothing and thinking the world is suddenly going to hell over a damn soda commercial. I've seen ads for Axe Body Spray worse than this.

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:14:09 PM by HeavyDDR

There's no evil scheme; it's just dumb and sexist, you CAN be an asshole without having some just twirling plan. There's a difference between being Rated M Formanly and being anti-woman. Just as there is is difference between saying "Black Power" and "Kill Whitey" You're "Just a Joke" apologetics are the reason why stuff like this was able to exist.

First off, quit trying to make me a scapegoat for this commercial. I didn't make it, and I'm barely standing up for it. You're acting as if I support this with my whole heart and trying to bastardize me into some ignorant mass of people to make a man-ruled world. Stop it.

Second, I point out that this isn't anti-female. It isn't anti-anything. It's bullshit to think that this one commercial is trying to do anything outside of getting men to drink diet soda.

Here's a lesson for you: Men don't typically drink diet soda. Diet soda is typically purchased by women - which is stupid in itself, but it's a fact. Men hear "diets" and automatically think of feminine traits, such as women focusing too much on their bodies or getting healthy. You'll notice that with ANY soda company, especially Coke and Pepsi, they're doing quite a lot to get men to purchase their diet drinks. They're tying to appeal to a wider audience. That's all this campaign is trying to do while having some tongue-in-cheek humor about it. That's all!

So, YES, it is just a joke. As much of a joke as any masculine commercial.

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:22:17 PM by HeavyDDR

Just because it's a joke doesn't mean it isn't ridiculously offensive. Did you not see my above link?

Oh, it's only a silly salt shaker in the visage of a caricature of a servile black woman, it's just a way to get people to buy the product!◊

It makes a huge difference when there are a lot of these derogatory images of groups of people, (as there usually are, this commercial is far from the only thing that stereotypes men and women), and they are allowed to continue to exist.

The people who made this commercial were probably innocent people just trying to make a joke, but they are still, consciously or not, channeling derogatory views of men and women, and thus adding to a far larger problem.

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:29:09 PM by annebeeche

You'd probably quit being offended if you just look at it like a damn commercial instead of some political message or some shit. I can't figure out how someone could look that deep into a commercial but somehow you have. It's not like Dr Pepper is saying anything bad about women, at least anything bad that's important. I mean who really gives a fuck if some man on a TV said "women aren't allowed to drink this sub-brand of soda?" Who really gives a fuck? I'd understand if Dr Pepper said something like "this drink is like voter's rights: women shouldn't have them" or "don't keep this in a kitchen, because a woman might take it."

It's a damn soda. Why can't you see it as it is? No women in this campaign have been depicted as less of a being than a man. It has only depicted over-the-top masculine people drinking this soda, no different (aside from being less funny) than the Old Spice commercials depicting an over-the-top masculine man using Old Spice. (Or at least, having been hinted to have been using Old Spice.)

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:32:23 PM by HeavyDDR

Death of the Author is being invoked, it seems. When it comes to advertisements, the usual rule of "what the author/creator wanted to say is more important than what you think it says" goes out the window because the entire object is to get the consumer to think. If they think bad things of your product, well, you've failed miserably, and the commercial was pointless.

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:32:26 PM by USAF713

The person who made the Mammy salt shaker probably wasn't trying to [intentionally] send a political message either and was just copying a familiar image directly out of the American culture, because he was entertained by that image himself and knew it would sell to people.

Does this justify the existence and implications of the salt shaker? Absolutely not, because the person who made that salt shaker still made a contribution to many decades of racist paraphernalia, and enabled racism.

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:36:22 PM by annebeeche

Not saying anything bad, eh?

"Women only like to shop and are physically weak."

'Women abhor violence."

"Women dislike sports."

"There are things only for men, and you can’t have them."

And on the man side.

"If you like romantic comedies, you're not a real man."

"If you drink diet Sodas (except for our MANLY soda) you're a woman*

It’s a stereotype, and stereotypes are ALWAYS bad regardless of the context or if they're a "joke" epically when they’re in the mass media. I mean let's look at stereotypes about you. And I honestly dont think that an American, White Heterosexual neoronormal man has the right to ask anyone why they’re all “offended.”

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:44:57 PM by JusticeMan

Exactly! Exactly! Here, have a cookie.

When someone uses "a man who likes romantic comedies is not a real man" to sell his product, he is contributing to and enabling sexism against men whether it is intentional or not.

Likewise, when someone uses "black kids are always eating watermelon" to sell his product, he is contributing to and enabling racism against blacks whether it is intentional or not.

Likewise, when someone uses "women only like to shop and are physically weak" to sell his product, he is contributing to and enabling sexism against women whether it is intentional or not.

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:44:56 PM by annebeeche

And even without "intentions" the very 'thought by which the ad works on is itself sexist, because it couldn't even exist in the mind of someone without any prejudices.

Yeah Dr. Pepper has really shit the bed on this ad campaign.

They've misstepped so hard their femurs have burst out of their legs and rocketed into the sky, to use a phrase from Yahtzee.

I still say this is obviously a parody of extremely macho guys, and the views expressed by characters in the ad should not be taken as representative of views held by Dr. Pepper employees.

Parody or no, it's rather offensive; especially when you take into account that this isn't an add but an entire campaign. The Man-cronyms are especially sickening. Where's Karalora when yyou need her?

I don't really find it offensive so much as I find to be both in poor taste and completely asinine.

There is a point where the ironic becomes indistinguishable from the genuine.

Source.

Yeah, I realize I've been talking about the Jim Crow museum a lot, but the guy who writes these articles and owns the museum says a lot of wise things about racism that can apply to other forms of hate as well.

edited 23rd Oct '11 6:09:26 PM by annebeeche

Maybe because we're Black we have a different perspective on this than ou guys; but we've had a LOT of history with popular media abusing us for entertainment, so when we see a spade we call it a spade.

Not gonna lie, Ghettopoly sounds kinda hilarious in a weird, wrong way.

As for this ad campaign, I'm sure it'll be ending soon enough.

edited 23rd Oct '11 6:12:52 PM by MarkVonLewis