I am usually not one to notice the marketing behind a new product, even if it happens to be an item in a category I regularly use.

But when Dr. Pepper came out with a new soft drink and campaigned it as "manly," I had to do a double take.

Maybe you've seen the commercial, maybe you haven't. It depicts rugged, macho (yes, I am showing my age by using the term) guys doing manly stuff in the jungle, being chased by the bad guys, all the while being aided along with the taste bud-tantalizing Dr. Pepper Ten. At the end, after dusting off the bad element, the macho narrator says, "Dr. Pepper Ten - it's not for women."

It's no secret that the major soft drink manufacturers have been marketing toward women for decades. They drink most of the diet soft drinks, and the corporate boys know where their bread is buttered, or more to the point, who's sippin' what soda.

Dr. Pepper Ten, the company contends is manly because, unlike diet drinks, it has sugar and calories (you guessed it - 10). The company built a Facebook page (for guys only) for the product.

The new offering comes in a gun-metal gray label with an outline of bullets. Sound manly enough yet?

And there's a bit of reverse psychology at work as well. My college student daughter informs me that there is some interest in the drink from her female friends.

Sorry, ladies - the Ten doesn't want you. Or so it seems ...

Remember the Dr. Seuss book about the star-bellied sneeches? Some sneeches had stars, some didn't. All sneeches wanted stars, or so they thought, until a guy with a star-belly machine came to town. A star-less sneech could then, for a few bills, go through the machine and become a high-society sneech.

Soon the star bellies took note, and the guy had a solution for them - a star-remover machine.

Soon the guy had sneeches running through his two machines 24-7, all chasing the belly of coolness.

Eventually the guy left town with all the sneech currency, and the penniless sneeches soon figured out that, regardless of what or what wasn't on their bellies, they were all sneeches, and they lived happily ever after.

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Now we get to the all-important taste test. I have been a Dr. Pepper drinker for decades, so I have the experienced taste buds to compare the new manly drink to the regular stuff.

I twisted the top off a 20-ounce bottle a few mornings ago, took a nice long swig, did a little wine-tasting swishing of the cheeks and funneled it down the gullet.

•••

Man ... I have to say ... really tastes like Dr. Pepper. And I know - many people have told me in the past that they can't tell the difference between Dr. Pepper and the diet counterpart, but no, you're wrong. They're not the same - not even close.

I've been unhappy with my choices for quite some time. I even switched to - gasp - Diet Cherry Coke for awhile, but never felt it was the long-term solution. Coke Zero became my regular can of choice not so long ago, and it's got some decent flavor, but I think I'll let my inventory go un-replenished.

The new Ten has me hooked, I have to say. And not because of the marketing. As I said, I've been a regular diet drink swiller in the past, and the "women's drink" didn't do me in. I gotta say, I just like the nearness to the 23-flavor original.

The new bottle states "10 Bold Tasting Calories," and just to be thorough, that is per serving. The 20-ounce bottle will net your 20 calories, along with 4 grams of sugar (rather high fructose corn syrup per the ingredient list). Neither one is gonna wreck my diet.

Yep, a little bold sweetness goes a long way - for us guys. My sincerest apologies, ladies. Dr. Pepper wants you to take your star-less belly thirst elsewhere.

Jerry Hitchcock was once a three Mountain Dew-a-day drinker. Now much less caffeinated, he can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2017, or via email at jhitchcock@cdapress.com.