A stupid commercial-would you boys/girls

[K&D]

o.k i got a question?

so theres this commercial where a man gets her adult girlfriend her old jewlery box from her mother and inside puts a pair of earings from kay jewlers or something.

1. what the fuck
2. would you consider this? i mean, the women gets all excited and childish like "oh i use to have one like this when i was a little girl"
3. damn- i don't get it, whats with women and men being like their fathers. Whats the attraction to having a women who you reduce to a child. what is hot about a man being like this? i mean if you dig it you dig it.

I just can't imagine me doing that for a women, and certainly not wanting to be reduced to child...you get the theme right?

i also figure, if she wanted it she would have brought it with her....just strange commercial to me.

but don't let me be judgemental if you don't feel the same!

[judih]

commercials seem to check out the average person's responses and then play to them.
most women wanna be little girls again
most men wanna play secret supplier of innermost fantasies?
go for it. sell, sell, sell

feministing.com looked at the commercials played at the Superbowl.
They have a youtube item called Feministing's Fuck You Friday in which they offer the fuck you friday award to the biggest or most chauvinistic act of the week. They saluted the superbowl commercials as the most demeaning of stereotypes (a male crunches on a dorrito and a woman's clothes are zapped away, for ex). You gotta know that stereotyping male/female relationships is still talking to most people.
It's sad, but profitable.

We're all still trapped, until we get out of it.

[Dave The Dov]

Tune In

Turn On

Turned Off


That's how I see it!!!!

[mtmynd]

obviously, K&D, this commercial didn't make you run out to Kay Jewelers and snatch up a pair of earrings for your loved one... but quite possibly there were enough folks watching the commercial that did something similar for their loved one's valentine's that may have paid for the stupid-assed commercial. whatcha think?

[K&D]

i'm sure market studies went into it---i mean they wouldn't spend that much money on a commercial.

have you seen the Dolce and Gabana commercial? its supposedly gay friendly but it bothers me more then Kay Jewlers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYtG5d2pslM


seriously it reflects american culture right now period- gay and straight- we are in love with ourselves!

[mtmynd]

"we are in love with ourselves!"

that is too true, K&D, and one that would take volumes to express.

[Barry]

I'm with you on this K&D, in a sense. You see, I too take offense at certain commercials on occasion. Particularly the ones aimed at a female market that portray men as infantile or stupid, i/e unable to get along without their women to show them the way. If you look closely, with a discerning eye, you'll see there are a whole slew of them out there. Not all of them are aimed at the female market. Carl's Jr. ads are a case in point. I see these spots as using the same kind of tactics once commonplace in the other direction, the kind of second-class citizen view of a particular gender that the women's movement sought to address and overturn in our society. I see a whole generation of little boys growing up watching these ads being engendered with a feeling of not being so smart, so able, not being good enough or as good. I see much damage currently being done that people will have to expend much energy to undo in the future. Of course, people say "lighten up" when I bring this up in social circles. Some of them. Others say they've paid attenbtion afterward and noticed what I was talking about. Maybe I'm onto something. Anyway, yeah...commercials. It seems so innocuous, just selling a product, right? But in the long term, the big picture, these things make a huge difference.

Peace,
Barry

[Diana Moon Glampers]

It takes some effort to grasp Lasch's thesis, and I found some of the commentary dated (as one might expect from a book published in 1979), but the writing is very polished and thoughtfully provocative.



Culture of Narcissism

[Doreen Peri]

Diana, though I know you mean well and only like the photo/art (as you said in another post), I'd really prefer you didn't use a picture of me as your avatar. Thanks.

[K&D]

yeah i was like way confused by the avitar...more latter.

[hester_prynne]

Yeah, those commercials and many others suck eggs. I especially also loathe that pajama gram ad, where the women are jumping around like brainless beans and the men are grinning like idiots, and in my mind dropping viagra offscreen.
It's bizarre to think that this kind of crap actually inspires anyone into anything other than androgeny.
It warms my heart that you brought this up, I mean thank you for saying something. We need to speak up about these insidious messages.
H

[Diana Moon Glampers]

sorry doreen
it seemed like a god idea at the time
but I had my doubts right away


especially the bit about my sock drawer
that is not a pretty thought

Nice avatar though

[mtmynd]

Barry : "Particularly the ones aimed at a female market that portray men as infantile or stupid, i/e unable to get along without their women to show them the way. If you look closely, with a discerning eye, you'll see there are a whole slew of them out there."

Indeed! SooZen & I have often commented on such commercials and wonder why they make every man out to be totally stupid and inept. It certainly does little to inspire confidence in the male and this seemingly constant barrage has to have some negative impact not only on the younger women, but society as a whole.

On the other hand, there are far too many men in our society that have little to no respect for women, education or 'social behavior', i.e. acting like assholes in public situations (clothing, speech, attitude for example).

But it's not advertiser's social responsibility to shove this 'dumb male' stereotype into our public face (also odd that the majority of advertising agencies are males themselves...).

[Arcadia]

five years of tv commercial escotoma, I don´t know... and I only saw a graphic commercial selling chocolate to grandparents for san valentín (here now is also a festivity!). It was sweet!!!!!


I don´t know if I understood it well: the guy was adding new earings to her girlfriend´s box-family-jewels or something like that?. Family jewels... here if you still didn´t sell them twenty years ago you had them in a security box in a bank! I think it´s not a too pragmatic message, but maybe it still works in some symbolic field, who knows?

[Barry]

"But it's not advertiser's social responsibility to shove this 'dumb male' stereotype into our public face (also odd that the majority of advertising agencies are males themselves...)."

It's my contention, Cecil, that advertisers are at the wheel of the ship of culture these days. Whether they know it or not. If they know it, it can take on a sinister connotation. If not, it's like a ship with no one at the wheel. Either way, not a good situation. And your last comment may be a retroactive misconception. How many of these commercials you and your SooZen have noticed and me and my SueZen have noticed might be produced by female-run ad agencies? Just something to consider...

Peace,
Barry