When it comes to food and beverage advertisements, it is easy to see a clear bias when it comes to which products are marketed to which gender. Generally, high calorie, high protein food is marketed towards men, whereas lower calorie alternatives to those foods are almost always marketed to women. Consuming foods with large amounts of protein and fats is generally seen as masculine, while eating lightly is often viewed as feminine. Due to this trend, in this advertising, Dr. Pepper has attempted to appeal to many different stereotypically masculine activities and attitudes in order to present their low-calorie beverage as a manly beverage.
Opting
to not use their original slogan for this beverage, “It’s not for women,” in
this ad, Dr. Pepper decided to pair images of their product with masculine activities,
in order to assert that this beverage is intended for those who consider
themselves to be manly. As the commercial opens up, the camera is set on a man,
emerging from a tent, with scraggly hair and an unkempt beard. Facial hair, of
course, being a trademark characteristic of masculinity. As this man comes out
of his tent, to grab and eat bark directly from a tree, the singer of the
background music sings “There’s no such thing as no man’s land to me,” meaning
that nothing is off limits to this man. By saying this, the commercial is
giving off the sense that this man is a dominant, aggressive man who takes what
he desires. Dominance and aggressive tendencies are often considered to be very
masculine characteristics, versus passiveness, which is generally seen as being
feminine. After he takes a bite from the tree bark, the camera cuts to a shot
of him holding a massive tree trunk. This shows the man, once again, as a
dominant, masculine figure who takes what he desires. Next, the man is shown
with his hand, elbow deep, in a raging stream, reminiscent of a bear hunting
for salmon. This shot establishes a sense of self-reliance, a traditionally
masculine trait. When he pulls his hand out of the stream, the product is
revealed to be in his hand, covered in layers of ice. The man does not flinch
as he swings his fist into a rock, breaking the ice. Again, exhibiting a sense
of dominance, and a lack of fear towards pain. Then comes a shot that shows the
man, acting in a masculine way, almost exactly how Devor would have described
it. He is standing erect, legs spread out, arms held away from the body, as if
to take up as much space as possible, while letting out a loud yell. This
stance embodies the ideal masculine stance, showing him as standing his ground,
ready to dominate any aggressor that attempts to challenge him. This represents
the epitome of masculine physicality. In this shot, the advertisement is establishing
that this product fully exudes masculinity, and has no traces of femininity
associated with it. This entirely masculine behavior is desired by many men who
wish to appear as masculine as possible. By showing a complete lack of
femininity in their advertisement, Dr. Pepper Ten establishes their
reduced-calorie beverage as a beacon of pure masculinity. The desire for
masculinity becomes completely associated with the idea of drinking this diet
soft drink. As the commercial draws to a close, the narrator comes in and
states that Dr. Pepper Ten is “The manliest low-calorie soda in the history of
mankind.” This act of disassociating the concept of a low-calorie soda from preconceived
ideas of femininity creates a desire for the beverage, based completely on one’s
desire to appear as masculine as possible.
Dr.
Pepper Ten’s ad campaign appears to be based on a simple premise, disconnect
the beverage from the idea of femininity, and focus on appeal directly to men’s
sense of masculinity. By doing so, their advertisement seemed to follow Devor’s
stereotypically masculine characteristics, word for word. By showing their
product as a symbol of masculinity, Dr. Pepper was able to associate their
product with the concepts of ruggedness and manliness. By making these
associations, they were able to create desire for their product, solely based
on consumer’s desire to be masculine.
