Man, this is some dumbass shit.

Shorter version of this ad: “Hey, this is totally not for women! Just like Dr. Pepper TEN, which is only awesome enough for us men! Semi-self-aware shout-out so that I, as a marketing copywriter, feel less bad about this ad that I’ve written!”

But you know the wonderful thing about this kind of misogynistic advertising? It’s that no matter what happens, they win. If feminists stay silent, then the ad goes unanswered. If feminists speak out, then the ad is “just telling the truth” or “just being funny,” so the creators get to claim it’s even more masculine. Fuck yeah!

So how can we effectively fight back against this kind of misogynistic messaging that stereotypes women and men alike? Well, the real victory here would be some kind of actual consequence for the decision-makers at Dr. Pepper (or the marketing consultants in question, if extant). That’s hard to pull off. We can’t do a lot, but here’s what we can do:

1) Boycott Dr. Pepper: I personally find boycotts to be more emotionally satisfying than actually impactful, mostly (I don’t shop at Abercrombie, but that’s mostly for my own feelings, etc.), but the bottom line is what convinces companies. Not buying Dr. Pepper products is one way to try to influence that bottom line.

2) Push back against the ad in a smart, strong way: Call it out for what it is. The exact talking points will vary depending on your audience and on who you are as a messenger (male feminists, for example, should say different things), but call it out. Tell folks that you get why they’re trying to target men, but throw in a quip like “Not every guy wants to be the dumbass from an Axe commercial.” Because thank goodness, not all of us do.

Sigh.

UPDATE: Response from Dr. Pepper.