I'm Just A Girl
I'm a fan of american football, and I love to watch games and root for my favorite team (the Buffalo Bills, yeah, I know). I realize that I'm not the target audience for most advertisers that use these shows to sell their products. However, it still burns my muffin when I see ads like this one:
Don't you really want a beer, now? :)
I know that most/all alcohol ads objectify women. That doesn't mean I have to like it. Seriously what does a beer and a woman have in common? The first woman, wearing a brightly colored dress, smiling and laughing, is being derided for the following traits mentioned in the ad. She's :
friendly
bubbly
(has less) character
(has less) style
less taste (no, wait, I think that last one was just about the beer)
and of course, has blonde hair.
Haven't we had enough of the blonde jokes, folks? Seriously is this the way folks talk about beer to each other?
The fact that both women (actually, all women in the ad) are well-below average weight and well above average height is what I expect from a TV ad. But this ad is laughable, I can almost see Mel Gibson's character from 'What Women Want' writing this ad. I can't find the clip online but it was the bit where he was trying to bluff his way out of a meeting for selling women's products by talking about using a woman showering in the tropics.....
Yeah can I just say ugh.
Any television or movie ads that you've seen that have pushed your buttons the wrong way? What about them?
5 comments:
I liked the commercial.Commercials aimed at men usually have pretty women in them. Commercials aimed at women make men look dumb or incompetent. These are stereotypes and not usually true. I doubt you can watch any comedy on TV or in the movies that do any less.Explain to the kids the truth.Everyone on the planet is different.
Hi Laurel -
Can you add more? I'm wondering about your general perspective. Why is this ad making a fool of women okay, but ads aimed at women making men look dumb or incompetent not okay? What are you saying about the media - are you talking specifically or in general?
Do you think there's anything in the media today that we can watch, or should we just drop it all?
I thought the ad was quite clever, and less "demeaning of women" than many others. The stereotypical dumb blonde was replaced with a sleek, sophisticated, more independent woman who takes what she wants (the bottle).
All ads are caricatures, not to be taken seriously. We all watch and enjoy shows that are much worse: Downton Abbey where all decent women are virgins until their wedding night or sluts, Castle where the female lead is stereotypically gorgeous & the male lead is a hunk/woman-chaser and is proud of it . . . . All sitcoms are horrifyingly stereotypical displays of both men & women. Sometimes a particular one pushes one's button: I think Big Bang Theory is unbelievably offensive to scientists. But that's being human - I like the stereotypical over-the-top Modern Family.
Interesting! So far I seem to be in the minority on this ad.
Judy - are you offended by the stereotypes on TV or accepting of them? Neither? Both? I can't tell from your comment.
All people stereotype others in real life to a high degree; I don't think TV stuff is much different. The stereotypes of women in add are actually much better than 50 years ago. And popular stereotype-full shows can actually change people's opinions (e.g., New Normal, Modern Family).
So I don't like them, but no more than I don't like people's stereotypes of me in the real world. I just shrug, watch what I find amusing or interesting, and ignore the rest. There are more important changes to fight for in life -- I think TV stereotypes are a symptom, not a cause.
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