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Super Bowl Ads - Same Old Sexism for Sale
What might a television viewer have learned from this year's Super Bowl ads? Let's see…
- Women and men are really, really different. Men are obsessed with beer and junk food, while woman are preoccupied with shopping and cleanliness. How will we ever get along?
- Which brings us to sex. Men are not afraid to make feeble attempts at hitting on women. But they don't really need to try that hard because lots of women are apparently eager to tear their shirts off or jump into a hot tub with a violin-playing beaver or a giant teddy bear.
- There are way more men than women in the world -- the ratio must be something like 75-25. Seriously! Unless you count chickens, that is.
- It's hilarious when people get unexpectedly tackled to the ground, especially when they are women or old people. And they often pop right back up, unharmed.
- Smart-talking babies and little kids are funny, especially if they are saying lines that reinforce gender stereotypes.
- Seeing people in their underwear is a hoot. Especially if they're not model thin or buff.
Sadly, none of these lessons are even remotely new. As usual, Super Bowl ads exist in a land virtually untouched by social progress, a world where woman and men are hostile strangers and old people and other groups exist to be punch lines. Ok, so it's a lot like that in the real world, too. But Super Bowl ad-land is far more juvenile and jaded. It's a place where the "battle of the sexes" will wage on way past its expiration date, because it's just too darn easy to write commitment-phobic guy vs. needy chick jokes.
That said, here are my picks for worst ads of the night:
1. Dodge - I cannot adequately express how much this ad disgusted me. A male voice-over drones on while close ups are shown of various sad-sack men, stunned by the relentless awfulness of their daily lives. The voice relays all the tedious things these men will do to get through the day -- and what are these terrible things? "I will clean the sink after I shave . . . say yes when you want me to say yes . . . be quiet when you don't want to hear me say no . . . listen to your opinion of my friends . . . be civil to your mother . . . put the seat down . . . carry your lip balm . . . watch your vampire TV shows with you . . . put my underwear in the basket." The ad ends with the man saying, "and because I do this, I will drive the car I want to drive. Charger. Man's. Last. Stand." The hostility in this ad is astounding. So, for all you men who despise living with women and are on the verge of becoming a serial killer, this car's for you!
2. Flo TV - Real-life sportscaster Jim Nantz comments on poor "Jason" whose girlfriend has removed his spine, leaving him incapable of watching the game. Jason is seen being dragged by his girlfriend through the rigors of bra and candle shopping. The last line from Nantz: "Change out of that skirt, Jason." Message received loud and clear: women want to do stupid things like lingerie shopping, unlike the serious pursuit of sports watching. Making men participate in activities associated with being female is funny because men are supposed to be macho. But it's also sad and emasculating, so men need to do carry around a mini TV to confirm their manhood.
3. Doritos - A man comes to pick up a woman for a date. A shot of the woman from behind is meant to tell us that she's hot, and her date approves. The woman's very young son sees the man checking out his mom, and then the man tries to eat some of the boy's Doritos. The boy slaps the man across the face and then lays down the law: "Keep your hands off my mama. Keep your hands off my Doritos." At first the ad seems cute, because kids saying and doing out-of-the-ordinary, adult-like things triggers some sort of giggle reflex. But this is yet another ad where the woman is a secondary character, an object for one man to objectify and the other (a little boy) to protect.
4. E-Trade - Ugh. The talking babies again. This time the baby boy neglected to call the baby girl the night before. He tries to impress her with his financial prowess, complete with wolf howling, but she's having none of it. She accuses him of having another girl over -- "that milkaholic Lindsey" no less. But wait, Lindsey really is there! Maybe not everyone will find this creepy, but I did. And, yes, it reinforces the stereotype of the jealous woman and the cheating man. But it uses babies, so what's the harm, right?
5. Go Daddy - Same old titillation. Not much to say about this except yuck. And Danica Patrick, please tell this company to get lost. Surely you're better than this.
Runners-up: Snickers (Betty White is a fabulous comedian, but the joke of this ad really is on women and old people--how lame we are physically and how funny it is when we go boom); Bud Light (guy joins women's book club just to drink beer); Monster.com (beaver ends up with hot chick due to his musical talent); Dockers ("Calling all men, it's time to wear the pants!").
Anything positive to say? Well, the Emerald Nuts/Pop Secret ad with people swimming and doing tricks like dolphins was kind of cool in a "how'd they do that?" way. The NFL put together a nice ad promoting fans enjoying the sport. The screaming Denny's chickens were pretty funny (I'd be upset, too). I really liked the playful vibe of the Kia Sorento car ad with the partying toys come to life, but it just had to include a shot of the teddy bear and a woman in a hot tub. C'mon, what the deal with the advertising tradition of women being hot for animals -- remember Spuds MacKenzie? Same-sex couples are virtually invisible, but allusions to beastiality are perfectly acceptable, it seems.
Which ads were your least or most favorites? Add your thoughts in the comments.
And, finally: In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, NOW spoke out against the ad sponsored by the anti-abortion group Focus on the Family -- an ad that CBS decided to air despite its prior policy of steering clear of advocacy ads. It turned out that this hotly debated commercial did not convey much of a message at all. In fact, the most offensive part of it may have been the tackling of the mom. I know people will say it was all meant in good humor, maybe even to show how "tough" moms can be. But taken together, the Super Bowl's annual proclivity for using violence, pain and dominance as visual puns is troubling, especially considering our society's very real problem with violence against women.
The Dodge ad really pissed me off too. If women are so terrible to be with, why be with them?? Cleaning up the sick after you shave is so difficult?? I did chuckle because I do occasionally ask my husband to carry my lip balm for me, but geez, he doesn't use that as justification for buying a sports car.
And just the general "gosh women sure are boring and nagging and terrible to be around, but my beer & car will make it all worthwhile" vibe is just really old, overdone and out of touch with reality.
As for the other commercials, I think many feminists have a difficult time differentiating humor from misogyny.
If NOW continues down this path of radical ideology, you'll have difficulty lobbying for new laws. The same way PETA has lost all credibility because they've become fanatical.
I agree with you. I am a pro-choice woman but I also have a sense of humor. I think that what Terry said about the ad was ridiculous!
"What I saw was a pro-violence against women message not the sort of thing that CBS can be proud of surely.
Now isn't it interesting that the ad connects the idea of male happiness with violating or committing violence against women. it's really a disturbing message when you think about it."
It just gives the pro-lifers more fuel.
It felt like a backlash; like men feeling threatened. http://helloladies.com/2010/02/super-bowl-backlash/
Maybe you're the one who is out of touch with reality. You admit that you make your husband do one of the emasculating tasks exampled in the commercial and then claim the ad "pissed you off." Maybe the shoe fits.
I would bet money that there are few men out there that didn't identify with that ad at least in some way. Every man I know has had experience with a nagging/controlling woman. And if a man is willing to stay with someone despite being treated that way, doesn't he deserve at least one thing that makes him happy?
PS: I say, if women don't want the toilet seat getting wet, then it should be there job to lift it up when their done. Is that such a hard thing to do?
The kicker... NOW and other pro-choice groups raised such a fuss about this ad that A LOT more people focused on it and went to the web site than if these groups had just left it alone in the first place!
Thank you NOW for making us aware.
The brainwashing is veeerrrry serious apparently from some of these posts.
Look at the posts who thought derogatory commercials were just "funny". It's really sad that women who are daily victims of spiritual, gender and social sexual abuse cannot even notice they are being abused anymore.
I used to be one of those asleep and blind to the disgrace we women were subjected to.
I accepted it as part of being a woman.
It hurts when you wake up. Kind of like in the Matrix movie, you find yourself surrounded by so much stupidity and cruelty and it's all aimed at keeping you trapped in your little bottle.
But ladies, it's just another form of Domestic Violence/Abuse, except its perpetrated by the entire culture. WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!
I happen to know it is correct to put the toilet seat down, know more about history, philsophy and poetry than I do about sports (even though I like sports, is that a crime?), I take great interest in shopping for women's clothes (particularly if it is lingerie!), am (generally) nice to my mother in law, and will carry anything for my lover (lip balm included) without being asked etc., etc. Why do I not have every right to be offended by these ads that portray my gender, and thus me, in that ridiculous, stereotyped way?
The fact is, that this is all age-old "battle of the sexes" stuff that is being done for amusement and is ONLY funny to most people because it still strikes a chord, still has more than a few kernels of truth to it but is completely HARMLESS because first and second wave feminism has succeeded.
For me, the best evidence of progress is that you can still have these jokes being turned about by ad agency creative teams that are probably -- at least -- 50% female and that are being paid for by corporations that all have women on the board and in top management postions.
Bottom line: we've moved past this being the conversation. I wish NOW would join us in the 21st century and start using their energy on productive things for women's rights like preemptive legalization of abortion at the state level while Roe v. Wade is still good law. It is going to be overturned eventually and you are wasting time and money you should be using to make that as harmless a circumstance as these ads.
Signed,
A Concerned Neandrathal
Which leads me to wonder why is NOW appeasing the anti-choice extremists by not naming FOTF's ad among the five most offensive ads of them all?
Did you even WATCH the ad? What was so offensive about what it actually SAID as opposed to the agenda of the group behind it which, by the way, was NEVER MENTIONED. When I saw it, the ad was such an anti-climax I couldn't believe it had caused such a dust-up. I was prepared to be offended but how can you be offended by a mother saying "look at my big handsome son who the doctors all said wouldn't make it," which literally is all it actually said.
Instead of trying to supress Focus on the Family exercising the same right to free speech that NOW has, why didn't NOW buy an ad of its own that said something very simple like: " Mrs. Tebow exercised her constitutionally guaranteed right to make a CHOICE about her pregnancy and NOW is delighted that her CHOICE worked out for her in a way that she is happy about. BUT NOW must point out that the group paying for this ad is in favor of stripping Mrs. Tebow and all other women of the right to MAKE THAT CHOICE. To decide what to do with their own bodies. Indeed, it appears that if the men advising Mrs. Tebow had been making the decision for her, little Timmy would have been aborted. Imagine if government bureaucrats, regligious evangelicals and far right extremists gain the right to make decisions for ALL women. Vote for women's choices and women's lives."
Is now really pro-CHOICE or "pro-abortion without guilt," meaning any mention of the fact that the CHOICE can run in the other direction and have a happy ending is heretical? These are the serious questions raised by the Super Bowl ads, not whether it suggests violence against women for Betty White to (metaphorically) be tackled. And btw, Betty White is a goddess and a better ad for modern feminism than anything NOW has come up with in 30 years.
We will get the last laugh.
I also did not appreciate that Focus on the Family, an antichoice organization, was allowed to air a commerial, but other political organizations, including prochoice and liberal ones, were not.
Look, just to prove that I'm a good sport, why don't you come over my house and watch Tiger win a major this year. I will even let you pour my beer for me, but make sure you do a good job. I don't like a foamy beer.
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