I wrote an article recently about Dr. Pepper 10 committing brand suicide by advertising they are not for women. I received a good response from someone I know that works in the ad industry who argued that the Dr. Pepper commercial was in fact brilliant. I thought I’d take the time to respond to the points made.
The first point was that Dr. Pepper 10 ad could attract men to buy it because the message was calling for men to man-up. I can see this idea. Perhaps some men will buy into that. But since we’re talking about diet soda, if this was the message intended, then I think it is a fairly desperate reach. Diet soda is just not very manly. But at least Dr. Pepper is trying. However, I still think that most soda is purchased for consumption in the home and that is where it will hurt Dr. Pepper if women aren’t buying it.
The second point is that Dr. Pepper is using reverse psychology. They’re betting that women will want to buy it because they are being told they can’t have it. Again, this could turn out to be true. But if this is Dr. Pepper’s strategy, it has just as much a chance of backfiring as it does working. My gut tells me that most women just don’t fall for this type of advertising. Telling someone they can’t have something I think is much more likely to work on kids and men. Side note – what does that say about us men?!
The final point is that the commercial is designed to get us talking about the product. Obviously, I must agree! If anything, this ad campaign has stirred up quite a bit of controversy among women and much has been written about it. I just wonder once the buzz dies down if the product be able to stand on its own. Or if my assertion that Dr. Pepper is shooting themselves in the foot will hold up. I guess we’ll all see!