Diet Can Crushing Too "Girly"?

Many advertisements are obviously gendered, whether they place dominating men in strong relation to passive, submissive females or whether they simply aim to market their product either to men or to women. That being said, we can usually recognize whose gaze advertisements are trying to appeal to—perfume for women, sports items for men, etc. But what about soda? Are sodas gender-specific? Do women enjoy some sodas more than men do? This advertisement for the new soft drink, Pepsi Max, reads “The first diet cola for men.” But since when has diet soda only been a drink for women and (in the words of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger) “girly men”?

The advertisement pictures a can of soda against a black background. What makes this ad different from most drink ads is that the product has been annihilated, obviously crushed by the fist holding it. Since this is marketed as a “drink for men,” the advertisers thought it would be appropriate to incorporate the ever-present connection of masculinity and violence into the ad. This soda is “for men,” because the person who drank it and crushed the can was obviously a tough, muscular (and therefore masculine) man who doesn’t stand for buying anything “girly,” including his beverages. Even if he enjoys the taste more (this happens oh-so-frequently at bars and restaurants), a man will not buy a drink that society has labeled as “girly” or “feminine.” At bars, the “feminine” drinks are mixed, fruity concoctions, and apparently, in the soda world, all diet sodas (prior to Pepsi Max) carried the same connotations of femininity/emasculation.

Thanks to Pepsi creating a “diet cola for men,” you can rest easy and drink diet freely, men! No one will judge you anymore. We know you are tough enough to drink the diet cola, and then display your manliness by smashing the aluminum can afterwards.