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Good news from the idiot sales pitch front, friends!

Although boobs and bikinis still do a disappointingly reliable job of selling every product on earth, marketing outright to male-only consumers can backfire.

Dr. Pepper neatly proved this when it launched its recent "It's Not For Women" campaign for its diet soda that has only "10 manly calories." This ad, which earned Bitch magazine's douchebag decree, has been having some unexpected results:



Instead of boosting Dr. Pepper's perception among men, marketing stats say the campaign has cut approval of the soda among women by 50 percent and among men by nearly 25 percent. I think this is in part because people reject the idea of soda being gendered at all—the ad campaign is creating a problem ("Oh no! Is my soda too girly?") and consumers immediately see that.

Dr. Pepper was clearly trying to mimic the over-the-top machismo of the Wieden+Kennedy Old Spice Guy, but instead it's a pathetic example of what happens when a joke is poorly told. Instead of coming off self-mocking, it just makes Mr. Pepper look like an asshole no one—male or female—wants to associate with.