This year's Superbowl Ads were pretty 'meh' and most of them were also (unsurprisingly) pretty sexist--but too boring to even get me remotely riled up , and that's saying something. Thankfully, the Focus on the Family ad that caused all the controversy was so short and understated that I barely noticed it before it was over. Of course, considering how many ads CBS aired for its own shows(!) there would certainly have been room for that gay dating site ad they refused to air. All that said, I was unimpressed and unmoved, for the most part.
There was, however, one ad that I absolutely hated:
Man's. Last. Stand. Indeed.
In other words: ARE WE BEING CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YOU WITH OUR BOLD, ALL CAPS FONT THAT THIS CAR WILL REINFORCE YOUR VIRILE MASCULINITY DESPITE THE FACT THAT YOU'RE COMPLETELY DOMINATED BY YOUR OVERBEARING WIFE WHO ASKS TOTALLY UNREASONABLE THINGS OF YOU LIKE SHARING IN THE HOUSEWORK AND CLEANING UP AFTER YOURSELF?
(This lovely message is further supplemented by Dodge's description for its posting of the ad on Youtube: "You've sacrificed a lot, but surely there is a limit to your chivalry. Drive the car you want to drive.")
Besides a lot of duds, there were a few (very few) good ads, some okay ads, and one great ad: Google's funny, thoughtful and understated vehicle for search engine wish fulfillment.
I have to say, though, for once the game was way more interesting than the advertisements.
What were your favorite and least favorite ads this year?
Monday, February 8, 2010
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3 comments:
Hi, ADV.;) Hope all is going well with your diss. :) I don't have cable so didn't watch the game, but I had the surreal experience of watching the ads, or, at least, as many as I could stomach, at Hulu... With ads for Coke preceding each one. Can you imagine that? :D Seriously, it was like eating one Twinkie after another, eventually realizing you *really* need some broccoli, and having nothing but more Twinkies on the table as far as the eye can see—I had to give up at a certain point.
The Dodge ad you mention was an especially annoying example of the persistent marketing of a particular set of gender roles. (How's that for 'modified' outrage? ;)) Women seem encouraged to see men as childish buffoons that must be managed and subverted. Men are encouraged to see women as self-important kill-joys. And the only acknowledged compensations for either side are booty and possibly social status for the men, and domestic security and a social status for the women (and perhaps good booty, too, if they're so inclined). It just seems so depressingly cynical.
Just found your blog, and will definitely be bookmarking it!
Having said that, I was equally disgusted with the Dodge ad, and equally appreciative of google's. I have to say though, I have never really watched the entire superbowl prior to this year (or even small portions of it to be honest), and I was SHOCKED at the sexist nature of the large majority of the ads. I realize the advertisers are catering to a certain demographic who are generally most likely complacent sexists themselves, but the seeing so many offensive ads in such a relentless and compact manner was still unexpected. I couldn't help asking those I was watching the game with what percent of people they thought were watching the commercials and acknowledging their sexist nature. The general consensus was practically zero.
Anyway, I agree wholeheartedly with this entry, and was actually drawn to your blog by an entry that came up on google regarding sexuality feminism, which I am also wholeheartedly supportive of. I think I'll leave a comment there elaborating my response to the article, so if you're interested at all, you could check there and respond :)
@ M.C.T.: The Dodge ad was just plain obnoxious. Even more obnoxious was that I showed it to my students a few days later and they all just looked at me blankly, clearly signifying that they didn't understand why I was so irked. Talk about ingrained gender roles and being desensitized to aggressively-gendered advertising!
@ yeux_lumineux: What's sad is that this year's Superbowl ads weren't nearly as bad (sexism-wise) as in years past. Seriously.
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