Kvetch » Marriage and Feminism » Stupid commercials
| Stupid commercials [message #93028] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 02:32  |
 formerlyoakheath
Messages: 1888
Registered: June 2003
Location: CA |
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So here's a topic I've been wanting to vent about for a while (okay, try years) and haven't really had the chance. I figured this might be the most appropriate place.
So - anyone want to rant about sexist commercials and ones that present icky and wrongheaded views about marriage? I can start with a wedding related one - the Men's Work Warehouse one about rental tuxes that says something about "her dress cost as much as your car". Then there are the ever hateful cleaning ads that assume that women are the only ones who do housework, have time to obsessively scrub and polish every corner and become orgasmic over new products. . .I currently really hate the Dodge Durango commercials. These are the ones where the dad's trying to indocrinate the 2 year old to be a man ("can you say 'hemi'"?) and the couple brags to their friends over gender appropriate tasks (eg. BBQing for the men) how they tricked their mate into getting the Durango against their wills. Okay, clearly I watch too much TV, but still. . .
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93029] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 03:53  |
muriel
Messages: 1267
Registered: December 2003
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There was an uproar here a couple of years ago about an ad for prepackaged cake bars. In the ad, two young school girls were comparing lunches - the first shows her homebaked cake and says her mum baked it, and the second girl holds up her prepackaged crap and says "At least my mum has a life!"
The tv channel pulled the ad, there were so many complaints. The ad was reshot, but was only slightly different to the original.
BTW, I know this isn't the Knot. I know how much better this place is. I was totally ganged up on over there over some of my centerpieces and I THOUGHT this place was more understanding. - DeblovesMike1985
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93051] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 08:45 |
ChgoRed
Messages: 196
Registered: June 2003
Location: Chicago |
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That whole series of commercials for Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo. Gah.
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93070] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 09:38 |
NikkiVI
Messages: 3978
Registered: June 2003
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the Herbal Essences ones are awful. But Cashew made a mock-one for a pilot he shot (you know, SNL-style), where HE's the one in the shower...trust me, it's NOT pretty when it's a man doing it. (esp. not when it's your husband and hundreds of people are seeing it...  ) Count your blessings!
A preposition is a word you should never end a sentence with.
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93096] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 09:59 |
sarahchka
Messages: 3108
Registered: June 2003
Location: Washington, D.C. |
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| SpeedyMarie wrote on Mon, 15 March 2004 10:44 |
The Jif peanut butter commercials---"Choosy moms choose JIF"---bothers me in so many ways. I guess dads never go grocery shopping, or if they do, they can't be bothered as to what kind of peanut butter to choose for their kids, because their time is so much more valuable. And clearly, you are a bad mom if your husband does most of the home and kid care-taking, or if you dare not to choose JIF. Blech.
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I was going to mention this one too! Except now there is a new one with a dad eating a PB sandwich with his daughter, and the tagline says: "Choosy Moms (and dads!) choose Jif!"
Somehow it's even worse, b/c its such an afterthought. The "and dads" part is literally scribbled into the tag line on the screen.
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93099] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 10:03 |
sarahchka
Messages: 3108
Registered: June 2003
Location: Washington, D.C. |
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Also, there was a tollhouse cookie ad running awhile back that had a dad who could barely handle slice and cook cookies.
Ok, I guess I'm going off on ads that are insulting to men, but I think ads that are insulting to MEN are by association insulting to WOMEN, because the implication is that you shouldn't be trusting your man to do everything.
But back to the blantantly anti-feminist sommercials--mostly cleaning products bug me.
(Have you guys seen that commercial for the SUV where the man is going on and on and on about how much he loves his stupid SUV, and so his woman shoves it off a cliff, but because its so macho and strong, it doesn't get damaged at all? And then she gets really pissed that she can't get rid of it. I feel like that one should bug me along the lines we're discussing, but it doesn't.)
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93109] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 10:17 |
jillydee
Messages: 4953
Registered: June 2003
Location: Colorado |
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What would happen if everyone stopped watching those ads (and presumably buying the products)? About a year ago we agreed to stop watching TV in part because the ads were so annoying, and we found we weren't enjoying the programming enough to justify having to watch the ads. We watched the Oscar telecast a few weeks ago (in violaton of our own self-imposed rule) and it was torturous and a big waste of time because it seemed to be all advertising. Yuk. We're sticking to DVDs.
On the other hand, I am addicted to magazines. I read them by the bushel. So I do catch quite a bit of sexist advertising in the mainstream ones.
[Updated on: Mon, 15 March 2004 10:17]
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93119] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 10:40 |
sarahchka
Messages: 3108
Registered: June 2003
Location: Washington, D.C. |
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jillydee--interesting point. I actually boycott women's magazines because they make me feel so shitty about myself. But I do watch TV (although we don't watch TV in the summer--self-enforced ban).
I think product boycotts can be a very powerful way of making your voice heard. My mom still boycotts Nestle because of the whole debaucle with baby formula in the late 70's (early 80's?).
But I think you probably have to write a letter saying why you're boycotting, right?
i.e.
Dear Hummer,
I want you to know I will no longer be buying a Hummer for my family because of your sexist and insulting advertising. I had $75,000 out of the bank and earmarked for a brand new Hummer, but now, alas, I will spend my money on three hyrbrids instead. I am also an active member of the NRA and the Republican Party, and have told all my friends to boycott your organization as well until you stop making sexist ads. Oh, and getting more than 5 miles to the gallon would be nice while you're at it.
Enjoy your day.
Sincerely,
Sarachkah
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93153] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 11:15 |
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The worst, most insulting commercial toward women that didn't involve portraying women as sex objects (think every beer commercial ever made) HAD to be this commercial that was shown during the Super Bowl. In it, a referee is being yelled at by a coach (or player, I forget) but doesn't seem even the slightest bit ruffled. He's just got this passive expression on his face. Someone--the announcer, maybe--asks how he can just stand there and take such a verbal beating. Cut to the ref at home, sitting in his chair, with his wife standing behind the chair yelling, angrily, directly into his ear (and the ref is wearing that same passive expression).
He-LLO! Can you say "insulting"? Worse, I can't even remember what product the commercial was pitching. I just remember being seriously offended.
That commercial ranks right up there with the beer commercial in which the two women start wrestling in the mud, AND the Coors Light commercial with the twins. What is it with men and twins, anyway? Most men couldn't get ONE of those women, let alone two.
JudyK
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93240] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 12:34 |
C. Shells
Messages: 2189
Registered: February 2004
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I hate commericials...
really, I do.
I just wanted to say that I loved your letter sarachkah
shailey
jumped the ship,
over at ADL.
if you have a problem with it. too effing bad.
hope to see you there...
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93247] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 12:41 |
Ms. DinkaDee
Messages: 407
Registered: December 2003
Location: Northern Virginia |
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| sarachkah wrote on Mon, 15 March 2004 12:33 |
Are you kidding, Ms. DD? I hadn't noticed the Tide commercials and I can't believe they could get away with that in this day and age! Just seems like there is only potential risk and no real benefit to making that ad. Yuck.
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Yep. I could swear I saw one a few weeks ago. It isn't as obvious as I make it out...but they're sneaky in how they do it...for when you see the "dirty" shirt on a child.....you don't see the face, but you do see the arms and neck which are black. Then when the shirt is clean a white child is wearing the garment. I shit yee not. Then they're all playing together again in the playground...mixing. But the message is there.
I studied subliminal messaging in ads, and how to analyze the news in undergrad for a bit and I can tell you all CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC....well it's all McNews in my mind. Sure, I'll watch it if I haven't had a chance to read earlier in the day, but it's news for the masses. when i want to know the background on something...or a deeper side to the story, I read the Economist or sometimes Playboy & Vanity Fair.
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93302] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 13:22 |
Mae West
Messages: 3380
Registered: June 2003
Location: Sweet Home Chicago |
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Every time Bogie sees one of those "hemi" commercials, he has a mini-rant about how hemis are useless crap that they're trying to market as a selling point and charge more money for nothing and trying to make it part of their brand with all this stupid macho nonsense. He also rants about safety ratings and enviromental impact when it comes up in commercials, since most of the time these improvements are government mandated, but the companies make it sound like they do this stuff out of the goodness of their hearts.
We watch a lot of TV at our house, but we also discuss and decontruct the commercials too. What are the selling and to whom and for what motivation. But if there weren't commercials, I'd have to actually miss whole *seconds* of Angel or Alias when I wanted a drink. I get a whole lot of housework done during commericals!
Every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell...We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!" - Molly Ivins
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93332] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 13:45 |
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| Ms. DinkaDee wrote on Mon, 15 March 2004 12:41 |
when i want to know the background on something...or a deeper side to the story, I read the Economist or sometimes Playboy & Vanity Fair.
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The Economist rules! But, um, I'm confused about the other two. Do they really both carry such good current events reporting in Playboy?
--Red Molly, who has never read either...
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93344] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 13:54 |
Ms. DinkaDee
Messages: 407
Registered: December 2003
Location: Northern Virginia |
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Red Molly, yep. Vanity fair carries stories on inside politics in addition to its tawdry columns on the upper 1% of society. The article about michael jackson was also quite interesting in its Feb. Issue.
There have been stories in there on Iraq, Sadam's Sons, etc. All very interesting.
Funny enough Playboy and (GASP!) Hustler have articles in them on what the right-wing is doing behind the lines to take control of the US. I remember one such article in Playboy on The Presidential Prayer Team...adn the funding of religious organizations in the US. How this was a way for Black voters to, for once vote republican, how the religious right could now take federal dollars to promote its agenda and how this whole "religious funding" issue is so wrought with problems. It seems only Christians have no obstacles in which to apply for funding...whereby Jewish and other sources will go through some scrutiny.
Since Larry Flint is SUCH a hot political figure (yes, he is not just a porn peddler....think back to Flynt vs. Falwell & freedom of speech, US Supreme Court) I can count on him to bring us what is trying to be hidden...
Of course, I take all with a grain of salt. I know Playboy and Hustler are "men's" magazines...and tend to be oh.....LEFT, but nonetheless, I find them informative.
Ms. DD Who reads Playboy for the articles 
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93410] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 14:48 |
Papaya
Messages: 3451
Registered: August 2003
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I just noticed in my LL Bean catalog, all the women are wearing wedding rings, even if they are alone in the picture (not in a family scene, for instance). I didn't look at the men, but I'm figuring they wear them too. That really gets to me. It implies that being married is a superior state, I figure, otherwise why have all the models put on identical gold bands? And while it's a superior state for me, it's not superior or not a reality for many would-be LL Bean shoppers. It just really got to me. I wonder if the Bush administration gives them a kick-back for promoting marriage.
ETA: I have lots of memories of minorities in fast food ads. I don't know if it's proportionate, but I know I've seen it.
[Updated on: Mon, 15 March 2004 14:50]
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93448] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 15:20 |
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Ms. DD, I had heard about Larry Flynt and his various campaigns against the Religious Right (bounties for evidence of infidelity, etc), but I didn't know how much of that actually filtered into the (non-photographic) content of Hustler. (I am almost ashamed to confess that I am so unworldly that I have never seen any porn magazine. :blush:) Ditto for the old joke about "reading Playboy for the articles," but again, I had no information about how accurate that was these days.
Thanks for the info!
--Red Molly
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93452] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 15:22 |
poptart
Messages: 579
Registered: June 2003
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There is this one commercial for a minivan. This woman is driving with her mom and they are picking up the daughter/granddaughter and it's so freaking schlocky, it makes me want to throw up. Basically the woman tells her mom she's getting a minvan because of the children. The mom realizes that she's pregnant and screams of joy are heard all over. Vomit. Vomit. Vomit.
Second runner up is that WalMart commercial with the perfectly pregnant blond wife who has this inflated sense of self-importance because she's going to be a Maaaaahhhhm.
Third runner up are all the other WalMart commercials. Especially the one I saw last night, where this employee is going on and on about how because of WalMart's health benefits, their daughter survived cancer.
And I notice the wedding ring thing too.
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93473] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 15:47 |
Mimi
Messages: 2419
Registered: June 2003
Location: Landlocked :-( |
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This is interesting. Yes some commercials infuriate me. Some just annoy me.
Maybe it is because we don't have cable, so we get PBS, WB, ABC, UPN, NBC, FOX and occasionally CBS depending on how we arrange the rabbit ears. And sometimes we just get PBS, WB or ABC in decently enough to watch. Anyway, Mr. Mimi and I were noticing that often the commercials are more amusing than the actual programming.
Of course we must tune out (or mute or change the channel) all of the commercials that we don't laugh at. Walmart ads just bug me in general. And lately we've been laughing at a commercial that is for manufactured housing, "We use real wood and insulation! Everything is built to code!"  (commercial directed).
Sometimes your sanity gets in the way of my masterplan.
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93610] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 18:31 |
ananas
Messages: 2444
Registered: December 2003
Location: NM |
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| Gracie_Ann wrote on Mon, 15 March 2004 14:30 |
I just saw that one about WalMart taking care of that one guy's kid! I wanted to believe it, but after reading Nickle and Dimed, I can't believe WalMart is pro-employee. Especially funding the kid's trip to The Mayo Clinic? Come on.
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If Walmart used the money they spend fighting unionization of their employees, they could afford to pay their employees better and give them better benefits.
"You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose. But you can't pick your friend's nose." -- Mandy (Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93614] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 18:34 |
Baygirl
Messages: 2600
Registered: June 2003
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OK, this isn't lofty or socially significant or anything, but
I HATE THOSE (*&()*) QUIZNO'S COMMERCIALS.
What is up with those psychotic rat things? I've only done hallucinogens once and I was afraid I was having flashbacks caused by permanent brain damage.
"There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California." -- E. Abbey
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93657] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 19:41 |
Baygirl
Messages: 2600
Registered: June 2003
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I also hate drug ads...especially the ones where you don't even know what the drug is for but you're supposed to ask your doctor about it.
"There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California." -- E. Abbey
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93661] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 19:45 |
Breck
Messages: 935
Registered: June 2003
Location: Breckenridge, Colorado |
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reile...I like that commercial, too!
Baygirl...Yes, Yes, and Yes. I think those little monster thingies are disgusting.
I hate any SUV commercial which depicts their cars driving over rocks and trails unscathed. I can't tell you how many people Breck Boy and I have rescued on our off-roading ventures in such cars who are *totally* stuck. Then, as we're trying to pull them out, they're all, "Watch out, don't pull too fast, you'll scratch the car!" People watch those commercials and really, really, really believe they can do that with their new car.
I also hate any commercial depicting some insane obviously not real scenario that has Dramatization on the bottom of the screen. I lament that "we're not that stupid," but then I remember that I guess some of us are.  For example there is some laundry detergent commercial where the guy's about to jump into bed and there are all these icky mud bubbles coming up with Dramatization on the bottom. Yeah, I was so scared that that might really happen...
There are no absolutes...
I don't read Anonymous posts. Log-In pretty please! 
My blog.
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 Re: Stupid commercials [message #93694] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 20:58 |
SeattleWest
Messages: 468
Registered: February 2004
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No Message Body
[Updated on: Sun, 27 August 2006 07:08]
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| Re: Stupid commercials [message #93700] |
Mon, 15 March 2004 21:20 |
emijane
Messages: 2064
Registered: June 2003
Location: In the kitchen |
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Wow, great thread. I share everyone's distaste. One I don't think I saw mentioned is the Clorox bleach commercial with that fucking jingle, "Mama's got the magic of Clorox!" Why does Mama need that magic? Because Daddy's too inept to help with the laundry? Or perhaps because she's got so much other woman's work to do?
*grumblegrumble*
Bye. I'll miss you.
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