Laurie Cataldo

Well I don't even know where to start with this one. Some things are so ridiculous you think they can't possibly be real, but in this case, I'm not sure if it's so brilliant that it only seems stupid, or if it really is just plain stupid.

Let me first say, that I love guys. They can be frustrating as anything, but I love men for everything they are (and everything they aren't.) Athletes, nerds, meatheads, businessmen, musicians, firemen...there's something great to be said for all men. Here's something else to be said, 99% of them are all little boys on the inside. My 28-year-old brother plays video games everyday. My nearly 60-year old father just bought a radio-controlled mini helicopter...because he thought it looked fun. I have adult ex-boyfriends that figuratively pushed me down in the sandbox because they liked me and didn't know how to say it. So I know that inside every grown man, there is a little boy wanting to play cops and robbers.

Now, if you watch TV as much as I do, which is way too much, you tend to see a lot of commercials. If you haven't stumbled across THIS gem for Dr. Pepper TEN, allow me to share:  

The whole premise of the ad is that men like "manly things" like action movies, dirt, and...Dr. Pepper TEN, which is supposed to be men's answer to diet soda. Apparently diet soda is for chicks, (I don't care how many calories I'm trying to save, I hate diet soda, and would take the real stuff over the diet kind ANY DAY.) and no man would ever deign to wrap his hairy Tarzan grip around a bottle of frou-frou Diet Dr. Pepper. No, MEN deserve MAN SODA. And so we have Dr. Pepper Ten. 10 calories. Supposedly just as good as the real stuff, but (their words, not mine) not for women.

So, naturally, I had to buy it. The day I let someone tell me I can't have something because I'm a girl is the day I laugh in their face. (Though I'm reeeeeally glad I don't have to fear the snap of a rubber glove...)

I guess their hope is that all the football-watching, spit-for-no-reason, will-never-stop-for-directions types will see this ad, and in all their caveman glory will run for this stuff. The problem is, those types of guys could care less about cutting calories. THOSE guys are the ones who make fun of their one friend who can't finish a large pizza on his own.

So we move on to the calorie-conscious man. You know him, he shops at Express, goes to night clubs, maybe you call him metrosexual or a hipster. He dresses well, cares about his appearance, and owns more hair product than you do. This guy could care less about being "manly." In fact, he reminds you constantly of how much he doesn't care about that 'typical macho stuff.' And if he's trying to cut calories, why waste the extra 10? No, he'll stick with the regular diet stuff.

So, who's left...just us diet soda-hating folks who could care less about what the ad says, and more about what the stuff tastes like.

Well, it's not good. It still tastes like diet soda. They're right. It's not for women. It's apparently not for people with discerning taste buds either.

Maybe next time they should spend more time on product development than a 'clever' ad campaign. Idiots.

Are you offended by this ad?

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