Questionable Advertising Mondays: MEN! Am I Right?

This week's questionable advertising is for Wrangler Jeans and it comes from the advertisement agency La Comunidad in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

You know when me talk about how men are discriminated against, but then go on to list things like "I can't get a drink by showing some leg" or "I don't get the door opened for me" and the like?

Well, men, these ads are the kind of thing you should be crying out against instead.


I mean just look:

Childish!

Disgusting!

Lazy!

Men! Amirite?

It's not like these ads are any less damaging then ones that tell women they are only homemakers, bitches and sluts. I mean really, think about it. Would you want someone to look at you and think, "God, what a lazy pig!" or "It's like you're a child!"?

I didn't think so.

Everyday advertisements portray men as pseudo-baby pigs and it's kind of getting old, especially with the renewal of the term "real man" or "real men." Like other than physically being male is not enough. (Hint: if you can be "real" than it's not natural)

This ad's slogan is "Returning Man to His Place." Now think about that for a second. What if this ad depicted a women cleaning a house or making dinner and the slogan was "Returning Woman to Her Place?" We'd be up in arms! That's bullshit and we know it, so then why aren't men getting pissed off when the media portrays them as barely sentient slobs who aren't even capable of buying a table (or making one)?

It's because these ads are all about the domestic sphere, that magical place where men can't do anything right. Underneath all this talk of manly men is another more sinister message that says, "this is women's work." Men can't clean or do laundry, that's women's work. Men can't properly take care of their pets, that's women's work. Men can't buy furniture (that's not electronic in some way), that's women's work.

People still believe this crap, and it is such crap. Men still say things like "I can't help myself" or "I'm supposed to be dirty." Really? Why? Because women are supposed to do it for you?

These ads are horrible, because in one fell swoop they managed to portray sexist attitudes against both men and women.

Men are pigs! Women you need to take care of them!
Now make me a sandwich!

Questionable Advertising Monday: Pedo Sun

This week's questionable advertising is for Roc sun screen and comes from the advertisement agency DDB in Milan, Italy.

It's not the usual questionable depiction one is used to in advertisements where ad agencies seem to have forgotten it is not still 1953. No, this one is...





apparently implying that the sun is some kind of child molester.

There is really no other way to look at it. This isn't a depiction where the sun is physically harming children or acting like some kind of bully. No, these ads depict a rather predatory looking sun offering two children toys as some kind of incentive to get closer.

But the toys alone aren't really enough to ruin this ad for me. Rather, it's the way the sun looks at the audience with a sort of knowing grin. It's just unsettling.

I suppose the ad is successful in that it depicts how a sunny day can tempt children outside regardless of the possible harm of UV rays, but I'd rather not imagine the sun then trying to play a game of "hide the pickle" afterwards.

The ad's slogan is “protect them from sun,” but god if I don't read it as "never let them outside again."

Questionable Advertising Monday: Gender Status Quo

Ah, advertising. It permeates every part of almost every society, from food to politics. We can't get away from it. It also happens to be one of the greatest perpetrators of racism and sexism. Unfortunately even in the twenty-first century still many a good advertising company has created one or two questionable ads.

This week’s ad is “Growing Up Is...” for Nesquik and it comes from the McCann Erickson agency in Portugal.

It’s a rather banal ad for the Nestlé product, but it's…

Well, see for yourself.






There is nothing obviously offensive about the ad, which makes sense as it is aimed at parents, but then there's nothing contemporary about it either. At best it is a lazy attempt to portray male and female children. At worst it is another reinforcement of the same old gender roles. Not only is the imagery sexist, but in the bottom corner of each ad is a list of what “Growing Up Is…” for each sex. Girls get the usual princessy type stuff: caring for animals, kissing, and cake while boys get the usual manly type stuff: space ships, aliens, and …eating dog food? So according to this ad girls are princesses and boys are “special.”

I find it exasperating that this agency couldn’t move beyond breaking children down into their pre-assigned gender roles. Maybe they would have been better off sticking with the bunny.