Monday, February 8, 2010

The Super Bowl Ad Diaries.

Alright, now, I watched the Super Bowl yesterday because I'm A Big Dyke, and also because I really love New Orleans and I've been pretty excited all season to see the Saints doing so well, and I love Drew Brees because he helps out community organizations and does all kinds of shit to help Katrina recovery, even though he is a newbie to the big easy.  I also love Fujita, because he is not afraid to take stances on issues that I care about.  And everyone loves Reggie Bush, because he's an excellent footballer.  So that's all pretty cool, and the Saints owned, and Peyton Manning looked like an ugly baby, as usual.

Now, onto the important part: ADVERTISING!  Advertising is important because it tells us Who We Are! What We Think! and, of course--What to Buy!  Now.  I was all revved up and Angry because I'd been reading the hype about the Tim Tebow anti-abortion commercial.  I was ready to be angry.  I was ready to get Up In Arms.  Who does he think he is, this Tebow!  You're not even playing in the game, Tebow, get offa my screen!

But, actually, I have to say I was a little disappointed with the hype.  I was pretty sure when it started that it was going to be a soup ad--just some mom, looking at a picture of a kid, saying she sometimes still worries about his health--and then dopey-looking Tebow bursts in, they pal around, and then they say "hey, for our story, go to FocusOnTheFamily.com"

I mean, I'm still gonna FocusOnNotHavingAFamilyUntilI'mDamnGood&Ready.com, but overall, it wasn't pushy and they didn't advocate any legal measures outright.  To be honest, I was annoyed, but not enraged.  It didn't seem threatening.

BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT DID SEEM THREATENING?
The unending stream of commercials about how marriage and relationships break down a guy's Will To Be Free Spirits, and how the constant nagging of wifeykidtimes makes them less Manly, day by day, and how women heap a never-ending stream of abuse on their husbands.  Coining such brilliant terms as "the wife swoop" and telling guys how taking care of their kids denies them their identity, these ads are waaaay more detrimental to women than that goober Tebow.

Guess what?  Guess who has a history of actual violence and abuse against them?  Oh wait, it's the other goddamn gender.

It must be really fucking difficult to be a white hetero male.
Dick.




To soothe your rage, please enjoy this ad,
featuring Betty Goddamn White who can do anything she wants:

7 comments:

  1. Thank you! I watched the Super Bowl too, possibly for the first time ever, and once we got to the Dodge Charger ad, it was v. hard for me to not throw my iron gnome at the TV, and then at several cars. I had spent most of my time in the three days prior reading Shakesville's Survivor Thread, and, uh. I would have been angry no matter what, but I watched the Puppy Bowl TWICE last night to try to calm down from the ill-advised combination of survivor stories and super bowl ads.

    The Dodge and Bridgestone commercials were my faves. If dude's so resentful about being an adult that he needs to assert his masculinity/power with a car, he is a) living up to the primary stereotype we have about dudes using their cars to compensate and b) probably going to use that car to cheat on or commit violence against his wife.

    The Bridgestone ad has been beautifully snarked at Jezebel, especially in the comments, but summary: who needs wives! Mine is probably going to be gang raped.

    The Apatowcalypse is nigh.

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  2. Also, superduper TRIGGER WARNING on the Survivor Thread. I'm sorry I didn't include that initially! It's an intertubian sexual assault speak-out, and there are 360 comments. There's a trigger warning at the top of the linked page too, but that will not stop me on this Quest for Inefficiency.

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  4. Oh I'm so glad you posted about this so I didn't have to. Was there not a string of, like, FIVE of them in a row? I mean, I knew Dockers were sexist, but I didn't expect this much from the car ones. For some reason. But the weirdest to parse were the Dove ones. I mean... are they sexist? Ironic? Enforcing tropes of masculinity or expanding them? I don't even know! Personally, I learned that I suck because I am an emasculating, icky lady! But I knew that already. My own straight male partner was madder than I was.

    On the Positive News side: I watched (part of--I had to leave for Feminist Business) the Super Bowl with four dudes, most of whom are not your typical anti-sexist allies. But two are taking Intro to WGS this semester, and after all the misogynist commercials, not only did they not laugh, they kept saying, "Hey! Gender roles! That's not cool!"

    Consciousness-raising: it happens. Slowly.

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  5. I am not sure my comment went through...as I was saying, I loved the Abortion Ad...it pisses off the maximum number of people.

    AS to your post, if you don't think women can be cheating abusers, you are living in la la land.

    (And what is that picuture at the top of your blog? I kind of looks like that lady has here head stuck in the ass of a legless rodent. Maybe the picture is just fuzzy or something.)

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  6. I never said women couldn't be cheating abusers, I said that the ads used a stereotypical idea of women that isn't entirely accurate, and doesn't really reflect the history of abuse that is prevalent; it thus belittles women and entitles an already privileged group.

    I just don't agree with you about the abortion ad. It just wasn't that offensive. It wasn't even clear what it was about. It wasn't really even that interesting, so I don't think it really prompted people to even go to the website (at least not in the way that the Free Pants commercial did in my house). It wasn't a very effective advertisement.

    And the picture is a woman with a bear head, but I get the idea that you are just trying to be crass and "provocative."

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  7. The video is broken! "This video has been removed due to terms of use violation."

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