Ads, to varying degrees, hold a mirror up to wider social beliefs. This article sums up how women as a class treat men as a class in our modern, enlightened society. It's only natural that ads would echo these attitudes.
The following comment under the You Tube post of the T Mobile ad sums up not just this ad, but the way American television marketing portrays the genders: "Love this commercial, the girl (T mobile) looks so weak compared to the stronger man (I phone 4). Yet, she is the one who is stronger and smarter. The shritless guy is to look stupid and weak. Awesome! Girls Rock!" cutegirl00179 8 hours ago cutegirl00179
Yep. Girls rock! Guys are stupid and weak.
Thanks to Jason.
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15 comments:
Nice legs, now if we could only see her without her shirt. The guy comes off as a complete loser.
I am off to thumb it down now.
Anon, my initial reaction was about the legs, too.
I rarely post these sorts of things because there are so many of them, but when I saw this, I was struck by what couldn't be a more blatant contrast. The guy is a buffoon and the hot, smart, friendly, articulate girl can't help but ridicule him. The older guy is a corporate monster.
With so few guys going to college today, I have to wonder if commercials like this ought to be attacked just on the basis that they play up stereotypes about young men.
The fuckhead doesn't realize it's weird he's not wearing a shirt, and he needs a shave.
She, on the other hand, looks perfect.
I wouldn't put much stock in what YouTube commentators have to say about anything.
While I wasn't surprised at all about what many had to say about the pretty T-mobile spokes-model, just as many said the iPhone "douchebag" was hot.
http://hotchickswithdouchebags.com/
Anyway, more and more ads are designed to appeal to women because women have more money to spend.
Yeah, nice stems proportional to her body but she looks too skinny.
And I've seen the ad. I see sexist crap on the telly so much I almost don't even notice it anymore.
I'm starting to turn into a male version of those feminists that lack a sense of humor and who see sexism under every rock and around each corner.
By making him shirtless, it emphasized "this is a stupid MAN," and it only made it all that much worse for me.
Anon at 9:10: my guess is that Madison Avenue would gladly show guys like that holding their penises if they could get away with it, just to make sure everyone made the connection that the party being stupid is male.
Bah! The competition is portrayed as a Fat Cat who will take the shirt off your back. Silly? Sure. I would rather save my annoyance for those portrayals of men that are actually dismissive and malignant. If anything, the tone expressed "Don't get mugged on your data plan by greedy Mr Other-Guy-Mobile-Service."
That, and in America, you can't show a topless woman on TV.
LOL, cutegirl00179. Certainly not an entitled princess, not at all.
"I'm starting to turn into a male version of those feminists that lack a sense of humor and who see sexism under every rock and around each corner."
I know what you mean, EW, but unlike feminists, we're seeing reality. It's impossible to go one day without seeing an instance of misandry and female privilege unless you live in a hole and don't expose yourself to any form of modern day media or publications.
We're not imagining things. It's just this bad.
It's the same old play:
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/26/study-male-viewers-find-sexy-news-anchors-distracting/
Sex sells. Ironically, I think the T-Mobile ad is targeting women. The vast majority of males who watch this commercial and are not attuned to misandry or are not readers of FRS, Angry Harry, A Voice For Men, etc. are likely to be totally oblivious to the attack on the image, character, and value of men in this ad -- the men watching this commercial are too busy wondering if those legs on that chick go all the way up and make a butt out of themselves.
As in the article cited in the link above, sexy is a distraction for men, but makes women pay attention to the content of what is being said:
"....women are also more attentive when they see a good-looking anchor on TV -- except, unlike males, they seem to remember more about what the reporter says, not less. Rabe is developing a new study to understand why, but said she has at least one theory: Women may see those sexy anchors as competition for men.
"We think it may be explained by female-on female competition," she said. "Women look at this attractive woman, and they start to pay attention." "
There are thousands of ways to make good advertising copy without denigrating men in the process and we should help the advertisers make better choices.
"I would rather save my annoyance for those portrayals of men that are actually dismissive and malignant."
Bah!
I hear this all the time, and it misses the point. This ad is one piece in the puzzle. Scarcely any single anti-male ad, television show, motion picture, or anything else will meet that criteria all by itself. It's the cumulative effect of ad after ad after ad and TV sitcom after sitcom after sitcom portraying men as dunces and women as perfect that creates an unmistakeable mosaic of misandry.
There is a reason these ads put the guy in the dunce role and the girl in the perfect role. It's called pandering. But if you think the message isn't seeping into our children's consciousness, if you think they somehow aren't noticing the men are typically portrayed in a most negative light, you are mistaken.
"There is a reason these ads put the guy in the dunce role and the girl in the perfect role. It's called pandering. But if you think the message isn't seeping into our children's consciousness, if you think they somehow aren't noticing the men are typically portrayed in a most negative light, you are mistaken."
I totally agree, but make no mistake. It's very similar to the "dumb blonde" portrayal. I don't know how women put up with that image for as long as they did.
I see that as consumer training.
Women are more susceptible to advertising and consume most of the trashy media so the male is trained to trust her judgement on spending decisions.
I'm surprised people don't realize that the ad is targeting men. There is a sexy woman in the ad and one of the people is half naked. What would we be looking at if T-mobile had high prices? It's subconscious.
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