Take a side.

So a few minutes ago, my glorious Van Morrison Pandora Radio streaming was interrupted by an advertisement. This was confusing. Instead of more smooth oldies, I heard Jersey Shore star Pauly D.'s voice declaring his adamant distaste for Miracle Whip. Although I had never seen this specific ad, I recognized MiracleWhip's even more confusing theme for for the advertising campaign, in which they draw a line in the sand(-wich) and order lunch eaters across the country to "take a side." Check out the Pauly D. ad below. You can see the rest of the commercials for the campaign on MiracleWhip's YouTube channel, as well.

I see what they did there. Pauly D., much like the rest of his Seaside Heights roommates, is "a little loud," and "a little tangy." Like MiracleWhip tastes! And -- don't judge me -- I love Pauly D. So I probably love MiracleWhip, because they have so much in common.
Oh wait, I hate MiracleWhip. And apparently so does Pauly D. Which, according to the commercial, means I can be his girlfriend. Even better. Thank you, MiracleWhip, for establishing a mutual distate for your product between the spokesperson and the audience.
That's not the only problem with this ad, though. In general, this entire campaign urging the audience to "take a side," is a thinly veiled attempt to be edgy and interesting. MiracleWhip acknowledges their sub-par stigma among other classic sandwich spreads such as mayonnaise and mustard by saying, "We're not for everyone." Then, not unlike the Statue of Liberty holding her torch, a fist raises into the frame, clenching a delicious-looking sandwich. It's worth noting that the sandwich looks so good because of all the ingredients together, not just the condiments, and that the MiracleWhip on it actually looks like mayo.
This ad might have worked if they were blatantly making fun of Pauly D., a public figure who despite massive popularity lacks significant credibility. The narrative would then be something along the lines of, "Pauly D. doesn't like MiracleWhip. And we all know he's stupid. Therefore, we can gather that he is wrong about MiracleWhip and it's actually awesome. Buy it." However, MiracleWhip actually identifies its product with Pauly D.'s vivacious personality, so they can't be making fun of him because they would then be making fun of themselves. But if they're not saying Pauly D. is wrong, they're saying he's right -- that MiracleWhip is, in fact, disgusting.
I get that MiracleWhip is trying to be funny and confident by facing the haters head on, but echoing sentiments about how gross their product tastes isn't going to sell any more jars of the stuff. Especially when, instead of contradicting this popular opinion by touting its benefits, MiracleWhip closes with an open-ended question: "Are you MiracleWhip? Get a taste and decide." Nah, I'm good.