Not for Women...

This weeks commercial is for Dr. Pepper's new drink Dr. Pepper 10. It is very sarcastic and shows two men doing in a variety of action scenes. It then tells women that this is a man's drink stateing it "has 10 manly calories" but is full of flavor. It is interesting that they portrayed 10 calories as an acceptable number for men, hinting that diet soda's with zero calories are somehow "girly drinks". The commercial also enforces a common stereotype about men and women; that men love action movies and women love romantic comedies. It also is a drink that is "made for men" however I find it interesting that the commercial is aimed at women. Is this because they are assuming that women do the grocery shopping and will buy this for their man? Or is it some kind of reverse psychology so that women will also start buying the drink. Whether the intention of the commercial was to poke fun at diet drinks in a harmless way, or to really set this drink out to be for men only, it was successful at one thing, making a big statement about the differences in men and women.

Mary J. Blige and Burger King...

This weeks commercial is one that I never actually saw on television but hear about on the radio. It is for Burger King's new crispy chicken wrap, part of their recently revamped menu after falling to #3 in the fast food world behind Wendy's. It is was on the radio program because it has been pulled from television. Before I say anything more about the commercial I'll give you a chance to watch it for yourself:

Although corny I didn't notice anything about this that would warrant it being taken off the air. Burger King states that the ad was released early before all of the licensing and approvals had gone thorough, but numerous people on twitter saw the ad as racist and began to harshly criticize it. They found it offensive that an african american woman would be the one to promote a fried chicken dish. Mary J. Blige is stating that she was told the commercial would be part of a dream sequence and is unhappy with the commercial that aired.

Now for a few questions I have. The tune to which she is singing is from one of her songs "Don't Mind" with the lyrics changed to be about chicken. To me if she found singing about a fried chicken dish as offensive or a problem, then why didn't she bring it up when filming? Next, what is wrong with her singing about chicken? Fast food restaurants aren't known for their huge variety of food, so isn't it likely that the ad would be about either chicken or a hamburger?