Every time I see one of those Diet Dr. Pepper TV commercials with the twerpy little glam rocker and his annoying high-pitched voice, I wonder:
- Who is this guy? Am I supposed to recognize him?
- Is this ad supposed to be funny?
And:
3. How can a Diet Dr. Pepper commercial, of all things, be so goddamn obnoxious?
My search for answers unearthed even more questions—but here is what I know:
- The character’s name is “Lil’ Sweet.” (Ugh.) He is played by Justin Guarini, the American Idol contestant who placed second to Kelly Clarkson in the show’s first season way back in 2002.
- Lil’ Sweet first appeared in Diet Dr. Pepper ads in 2015, courtesy of Deutsch, Inc., an ad agency based in New York.
- The gist of the ads seems to be that this diminutive little dude appears from nowhere like a magic fairy to bestow Diet Dr. Pepper upon people who have done good or who are having a hard day.
“It’s the swe-eet one!” goes the tagline, sung in an ear-scraping falsetto.
Below: A montage of Diet Dr. Pepper TV commercials featuring the creepy character “Lil’ Sweet.”
Look, I like Diet Dr. Pepper. I have some in my fridge right now. But I do not like this ad character, and I do not like these commercials—for many reasons.
What’s wrong with ‘The Sweet One’ Diet Dr. Pepper ads
For one thing, Lil’ Sweet reminds me of Prince.
Yes, Prince was talented. Prince was great.
But Prince is dead. To me, this campaign feels disrespectful and in bad taste.
Another reason I dislike these commercials is that stupid high-pitched sing-talking. OK—I’ll admit, I probably wouldn’t even notice these ads if it weren’t for the aggravating audio (which makes me positively leap for the mute button every time one of these commercials comes on). But as I’ve said before, I think it’s a cheap and devious tactic when advertisers use annoying sound gimmicks to get our attention.
Reason number three: I didn’t remember until I sat down to write this review that these commercials advertise Diet Dr. Pepper. So that’s another reason these ads fail.
This is why I prefer advertising that sells products on their merits. Like this:
No crazy characters, no goofy gimmicks.
Just show the product. Make it the star. Give people reasons to buy it.
That’s how you sell.
Not by contriving silly characters that are bound to be divisive. (I’m looking at you, too, LiMu Emu.)
And boy, is Lil’ Sweet divisive.
The Internet doesn’t like Diet Dr. Pepper’s ‘Sweet One’ ads, either
Here are just a few of the comments I found around the Internet as I researched this blog post:
“GAWD, How long has this Lil’ Sweet crap been going on? Three, four years now? Someone, PLEASE… make it STOP!”
“Do these ad people not run this crap past real folks before airing? This ‘sweet’ guy is beyond annoying. Maybe I am just old, but I don’t get it and I hate it.”
“I am a hard core diet Dr. Pepper fan, but I despise their STUPID COMMERCIALS. It might be time to change over to another product.”
“I change channels immediately or mute the sound. Can’t they find someone to write a decent commercial or don’t advertise—that absurd commercial just turns me off to the soda!!”
Wow.
Can someone please tell me why ANY company would pay an advertising agency to generate this kind of animosity for its brand?
“I don’t believe in tricky advertising, I don’t believe in cute advertising, I don’t believe in comic advertising. The people who perpetrate that kind of advertising never had to sell anything in their lives.” —David Ogilvy
How to build a better Diet Dr. Pepper commercial
Let’s say the folks at Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. insist on taking a “creative” approach to advertising their diet soda. How might they communicate their product’s low-calorie sweet taste without beclowning the brand?
Off the top of my head:
Drop Lil’ Sweet. No one is going to miss the second-place contestant on a talent show from 20 years ago. So in ad #2 in the “Sweet One” montage above, the wife of the laundry-folding husband would offer him the drink, along with a sweet peck on the cheek.
In ad #3, the little girl would bring her (hopefully less doofy) dad an ice-cold can of Diet Dr. Pepper as he builds her a playhouse under a hot sun. (In this version, she wouldn’t run off shrieking because Lil’ Sweet scared the shit out of her.) Another ad might have a thoughtful husband bringing comfort to his frazzled wife as she returns home from a crazy day at work.
The slogan could stay nearly the same. “The sweet one” still works.
Or, how’s this: The people in the commercials don’t have to give each other Diet Dr. Pepper at all. The ads could just show a variety of folks—family, friends, strangers, hell, even rivals like liberals and conservatives (ha!)—doing nice things for each other.
End with a product shot. The tagline: “Sweet.”
Dr. Pepper, these ideas are yours if you want. I’ll take 15 percent of what Deutsch charged you to defile your brand.
Diet Dr. Pepper’s Lil’ Sweet is what’s wrong with advertising today
Diet Dr. Pepper’s “Sweet One” campaign fell into several traps:
The mascot trap.
The humor trap.
The “creative” trap.
The “annoying sounds” trap.
As is often the case these days, the people behind these ads forgot that advertising is not all about “being creative” with silly contrivances and stupid humor. It’s about connecting with people and creating positive associations; helping people to solve problems or simply to feel good.
Advertising needs to be likable. And Lil’ Sweet, like LiMu Emu and a hundred others, is far too divisive to do the job effectively.
In many ways, this campaign is emblematic of what’s wrong with the advertising industry today, and it’s why I expect more and more brands to bring their creative work in-house rather than hire agencies.
When advertising is created by the very people who make the products, maybe then we’ll see a greater focus on growing sales, awareness, and goodwill versus chasing industry admiration and awards.
Cranky ad rating: One tiny pseudo-star out of five.
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LiMu Emu is absolutely the most ridiculous advertising campaign of ALL TIME! I can hardly hit the mute button quickly enough. For that reason alone I would never purchase any Liberty Mutual service. I can’t believe they actually pay an advertising company for it. Somebody really pulled the wool over their eyes in convincing them LiMu Emu would be a good promo. I’ll bet the ad execs are laughing all the way to the bank with this one.
It’s the sweeeeet one ~ LOL! I love Lil Sweet 😂 😂 youre a sad b*tch who is triggered over a fictional character in a commercial . grow a pair and deal with it
While we’re handing out advice, Mr. Internet Tough Guy, may I suggest that you learn to write beyond a first-grade level and become less of a pernicious twat?