If you’re a girl who has thought about trying Dr. Pepper Ten, forget about it—the drink is “not for women” the new face of the diet soda says.

Dr. Pepper Ten’s latest commercial depicts a macho man in an Indiana-Jones style action movie, killing snakes with laser beams and trapping vicious villains in booby traps.

Attempting to break the stereotype of girls preferring diet soda, the adventurer in the commercial exclaims, “So you can keep the romantic comedies and lady drinks, because we’re good (the ‘we’ of course referring to all men).”

After all, he says, the drink is only ten “manly” calories—and it’s “what guys want.”

Although junior Cooper Jackman calls this just a “silly marketing strategy,” Dr. Pepper’s marketing team feels their research supports direct targeting of the male population.

Dr. Pepper Ten was developed after the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (the company that distributes the soft drink) found that men are reluctant to drink diet drinks that don’t seem “macho” enough, according to ABC News’s website.

Therefore, the new “macho” drink, contained in gunmetal grey cans, is meant to appeal to the male population.

Senior Zach Lemos, who said in an Octagon poll that he drinks only regular soda, believes there is a stereotype that girls prefer diet while men prefer regular.

Lemos even admitted that he would mock one of his friends if he preferred diet soda.

“But not in a mean way—just poking fun at them,” Lemos said.

And 45 percent of high-school students polled agree with Lemos about the stereotype.

But just because they know the stereotype doesn’t mean they fit it.

In response to the commercial, The Octagon held a taste test comparing diet and regular sodas—including Coke, Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper—in which both students and teachers participated.

While 53 percent of women said that they never drink diet soda, only 26 percent of men said that they never do. And while 11 percent of girls drink diet soda at least a few times a week, 31 percent of males say they do.

Senior Ian Cardle, who drinks a diet soda every day, believes soda preferences differ not because of gender, but because of what children’s parents push on them at a young age.

“I grew up with (diet soda) so I never learned to dislike it. My mom wouldn’t let me drink things that were high in sugar or high in fat,” he said.

Junior Ben Hernried also prefers diet soda because that’s what was in his refrigerator. “Because of that, I find regular soda to be too sweet,” Hernried said.

If anything, Hernried said, drinking diet soda makes him feel “more manly” because he’s not scared to drink diet soda because of some silly stereotype.

Junior Donald Hutchinson, who prefers the taste of regular soda, drinks diet soda a few times a week because it’s what his parents keep around the house.

However, because he took teacher Kellie Whited’s nutrition class, he thinks that diet soda isn’t as healthy as regular.

“Aspartame (an artificial sweetner) can build up and create tumors,” he said.

Senior David Coffill prefers regular soda. But diet soda is “all (his) parents keep around.”

Senior Nicholas Samson said that although he’s “developed (his) own preferences over time,” his parents certainly had an impact.

“My dad drank a lot of Diet Coke. I’ve gotten so used to drinking sodas without a lot of sugar,” he said.

In The Octagon’s soda test, 81 percent of students and faculty could correctly distinguish Dr. Pepper Ten from Dr. Pepper, but a lot of boys said they preferred the taste of diet soda.

Junior Alex Kardasopoulos prefers Diet Coke because it’s “less sugary tasting.”

Some boys say they drink diet because it’s healthier.

Coffill believes diet soda is better for his teeth, and that “it’s a lot easier to gain weight drinking the regular soda.”

“Soda is just empty calories,” said senior Cabot Jackman, who drinks diet because it’s “a healthy alternative that tastes better than water.”

Janet Roberts, a licensed family practice doctor, said that there are actually health concerns about both diet and regular soda.

Regular soda’s high sugar triggers an insulin response, which makes soda the leading cause of obesity in children, Roberts said.

However, Roberts also noted that diet soda is “loaded with chemicals” (like aspartame, acesulfame-K and citric acid) to make up for the missing sugars.

“(Artificial sweeteners) appear to be relatively safe, but the effects of these in the long run are unknown,” Roberts said.

Roberts added that people who drink diet sodas assume that they can consume them without the guilt complex associated with caloric full-sugar sodas. But diet sodas, too, can stimulate an insulin response in the body, leading to obesity and diabetes, just like regular soda, she said.

Dr. Pepper Ten’s campaign strategy may be working nationally. According to USA Today, 60 percent of those who have purchased Dr. Pepper Ten are male.

And Jim Treblicock, executive vice president of marketing for Dr. Pepper said he isn’t worried about the campaign offending women.

In an Associated Press article he stated, “Women get the joke.”

“Is this really for men or really for women? It’s a way to start the conversation that can spread and get people engaged in the product,” he said.

But at Country Day, Dr. Pepper Ten obviously won’t be picking up many diet-hating males. And the company may alienate SCDS females.

In a second Octagon poll, 33 percent of high-school girls said they found the advertising campaign offensive.

And 17 percent said they would never drink Dr. Pepper Ten because of the commercial.