Let’s review. Women love things that are bubbly and light low calorie options that they don’t have to understand or take too seriously. (It helps if it’s pink, obviously.) Men, on the other hand, care for nothing except whether or not their food is EXTREME enough to consume while driving a Jeep off of a cliff while wielding a machine gun. The man’s man drink market is pretty much cornered with Dr. Pepper Ten and every traditional beer, wine, and spirit – but sadly they’ve been starving with nothing to eat but meat, potatoes, and sandwiches. Thankfully, Frito-Lay saw fit to step in and turn some of those potatoes and meat into Ruffles Ultimate chips and dip. Extreme!
The new line includes three flavors of chips (Original, Sweet & Smokin’ BBQ, Kickin’ Jalapeño Ranch) as well as two dips (Beef ‘N Cheddar, which won’t come out until July, and the already available Smokehouse Bacon). HuffPo revealed the chips line’s delicious press release, which describes them as "an unapologetic bro-centric snack with deeper ridges and real pieces of meat." Another press release describes the chip line’s launch at Maxim’s Hot 100 party, putting the chips in the same vein as Doritos’ Jacked line (another new launch of somewhat spicy thicker-cut chips). A commercial for the line, meanwhile, shows a timid girl becoming more outgoing (because being outgoing and good at poker is for guys?) with every bite. Okay then.*
Does this bro-centric “man-vertising” really work? It must, at least as well as bubbly low-cal drinks just for women, because ad firms keep doing it. But it’s awfully frustrating for those who just want to enjoy some snacks without bringing deeper issues like gender stereotypes into play.
For the record, not only has your fearless editor tried these Ruffles Ultimate Kickin’ Jalapeño Ranch potato chips, but – blissfully unaware of any stated gender recommendations – they were her idea during the pre-Memorial Day sale at Vons when Frito-Lay chips were 2-for-1. (Our decidedly male shopping companion opted for the time-tested yet non-extreme Cheddar and Sour Cream.)
What was the verdict? They were all right. They had a nice, substantial crunch to them and the fatter ridges and thicker cut certainly stand up better against dips. If anything, they could have ramped up the ranch flavor to balance out the “kickin’” spice. (But maybe that’s just our ladylike sensibility rearing its delicate head.) They didn’t leave a bad taste in our mouth at the time – but the ad campaign sure does. But hey, that’s okay. They obviously weren’t meant for us anyway.
*Let the record also show that Ruffles Ultimate didn’t help us at all when we attended a poker night recently – there was even still another girl at the table when we lost our last poker chip. We chalked it up to the fact that it was the first time we’d ever played poker, but now we know better. Way to false advertise, Ruffles!
[SOURCE: Huffington Post]
