Note to CBS and real-life Mad Men: Women also watch the Super Bowl. Many women like football. Those who don't are watching because the men in their lives like it, and they'll sit through something that's not their favorite to spend time together. Because that's what you do when you love like someone. The ads last night were full of misogyny and the general notion that women are a pain in the ass, and somehow stripping men of their masculinity, and in some cases, intellect.
Dodge's "Man's Last Stand" takes the prize as most offensive as the narrator, weakened and depressed, rattles off the drudgery of his domestic life: "I will put my underwear in the basket," "I will say 'yes' when you want me to say 'yes,'" etc. At the end of the ad, he's able to at least drive what he wants to drive: a Dodge Charger. Titles slam the screen: Man's. Last. Stand. Men who made this stupid spot: Cleaning the sink out after you shave is what real men do.
Moving on, the Budweiser ad, "Women's Book Club" is as insulting to men as it is to women. In this ad, a man puts off his baseball game to sit in on his wife's book club because the ladies are drinking Budweiser beer. The women are discussing a book they read; one explains that in the book two women are "thrust" together by a war they don't understand. The man goes "Ooohh, thrusting!" Somebody's married to this guy? I don't think that's what men are like? When asked if he liked "Little Women" he says he's "not too picky." It's insulting to all parties that a buffoon husband is a normal dynamic.
I'll go ahead leave you one more gem. This one is an ad for Dockers, where men wander, pants-less, through a field. The narrator calls on the men to reclaim their masculinity: "Calling all men: it's time to wear the pants." That's always been an offensive phrase. Why can't we all wear pants? Or be powerful in skirts? Speaking of skirts, also check out this spot for FloTV, where the narrator tells a man shopping with his girlfriend to "change out of that skirt" and watch sports on his mobile device.
So, as it turned out, the Focus on the Family, Tim Tebow ad was one of the more tame spots of the night. It's only offense being that it was stupid. "Timmy" also unnecessary tackles his mother, but we'll let that one slide. What ultimately disappoints me is how irresponsible CBS was this year. They rejected a gay dating service's spot, but Dodge made the cut? That doesn't make any sense. Read more about, and see more these terrible ads on BuzzFeed, and Salon. And then go watch the cute Google ad a few times to cleanse your palate.
No comments:
Post a Comment