Anyone else notice that men in TV commercials are almost always portrayed as simpletons of whom little is really expected?

2/14/2010 10:52:14 PM

i'm just here to take the trash out

2/14/2010 10:53:00 PM

Well we get the last laugh b/c we run the world.

2/14/2010 10:53:54 PM

I have noticed a lot of times guys are portrayed as dumbasses in commercials....also in sitcoms...

2/14/2010 10:54:18 PM

I saw it on tv - therefore it's true

2/14/2010 10:54:23 PM

It's ok.. I mean. .usually its just the white guy thats shown as the idiot..Which is ok.. You can make fun of white guys and not get in trouble.

2/14/2010 10:54:31 PM

imagine if we men made women look like idiots in commercials. The backlash would be from hell.

2/14/2010 10:56:46 PM

it's because 80% of commercials are aimed at women ... it's women who do most household shopping

but even commercials aimed at guys make them look like idiots. the men in Hardees commercials are too stupid to open a can of biscuits

2/14/2010 11:04:10 PM

True. I'm just pointing out that simple men and children being treated as accessories to the perfect female life are the estrogen equivalent to blonds in bikinis playing volleyball for beer.

2/14/2010 11:06:08 PM

it's cool. it lowers the expectations and makes it hard to fuck things up.

2/14/2010 11:08:09 PM

yes but obviously men are too simple to notice how simple they're being portrayed

2/14/2010 11:08:21 PM

i dont know a single dude that would turn down fresh baked biscuits just because a guy made them


hardees commercials are an all time low for marketing

2/14/2010 11:09:28 PM

^^

Quote :

"Real Name : Rob Age : 30 Sex : M"

apparently not

2/14/2010 11:17:35 PM

psshhh

you don't count duh

2/14/2010 11:18:06 PM

2/14/2010 11:20:16 PM

I have noticed this over the past...EVERY FUCKING YEAR...get used to it. Every guy on tv will always be subservient to a woman, so that the manly man will look and see that he is a dying breed. In reality the man's man will always win. A strong man ALWAYS wins over a strong woman.


Citation: The new Old Spice comercials

haha...men will always own everything

2/14/2010 11:23:35 PM

^^...there's a women-only insurance agency? I probably haven't heard of them because they went bankrupt after 850 of their first 1000 clients experienced full-body losses to vehicles in the first week of business...

Because, you know, women can't drive--he says, knowing full well his girlfriend is a far better driver than he is, and fully expecting retribution.

2/15/2010 3:31:53 AM

Haven't you heard? A bunch of white guys did all kinds of racist and sexist stuff back in the day.
So now, guilty or not, all white guys HAVE TO PAY!!!!!!!!!!!1

2/15/2010 8:32:20 AM

I wasn't really going that direction, but it dovetails nicely with the article someone else posted about UNC girls not having enough guys to date or the fact that 75% of the job losses in this recession were of men, leaving males between 24 and 54 with an unemployment rate of about 20% and women with one just under 10%.

2/15/2010 8:41:10 AM

WHAT ELSE DOES THE BOX SAY?

2/15/2010 8:57:11 AM

This

Quote :

"I'm just pointing out that simple men and children being treated as accessories to the perfect female life are the estrogen equivalent to blonds in bikinis playing volleyball for beer."

2/15/2010 9:01:00 AM

no

2/15/2010 9:31:14 AM

It's always an out of shape simpleton who would not be able to function in life if it were not for his wife who is a sexy, strong and intelligent women who is seemingly too good for said husband.

2/15/2010 9:37:17 AM

Cheerios can go to hell. See below.

2/15/2010 10:03:18 AM

[Edited on February 15, 2010 at 10:18 AM. Reason : whoops]

2/15/2010 10:14:45 AM

2/15/2010 10:21:21 AM

Quote :

"It's always an out of shape simpleton who would not be able to function in life if it were not for his wife who is a sexy, strong and intelligent women who is seemingly too good for said husband."

the loser man sitcom has been around much longer than modern day women's rights. and this model is equally offensive to women - TV men are permitted to be fat, but women have to be hawt.

Quote :

"Haven't you heard? A bunch of white guys did all kinds of racist and sexist stuff back in the day. So now, guilty or not, all white guys HAVE TO PAY!!!!!!!!!!!1"

this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You seriously think that Cheerios has sexist ads because they want white guys "TO PAY"?? Cheerios has one goal - to fucking sell boxes of Cheerios. Women do 90% of the grocery shopping in America. If you want to sell grocery food you have to appeal to women.

2/15/2010 10:34:32 AM

valid point.


OTOH, is that male or a female pressure? Women don't appear to want to see "ordinary" women on Sex in the City, they want to live vicariously through beautiful women.

More than one study has shown that, when ovulating, women want the tall, rugged, handsome type but the other three weeks of the month, they're happy with Mr. Dependable. Perhaps a loutish but gainfully employed and easily manipulated male figure better fits the female model than some women would want to admit.

2/15/2010 10:45:07 AM

Quote :

"You seriously think that Cheerios has sexist ads because they want white guys "TO PAY"?? "

Of course not. Those are two completely separate posts that have nothing to do with each other except for being somewhat relevant to the thread topic. Why would you assume the two statements were together? One is a statement about society and white male bashing, and the other is an example of a commercial as mentioned in the original post. At no point did I use the therefore symbol. You should really take a few steps back and not read so much into what people post. Geez.

Quote :

"this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. "

Only because you read into it complete false conclusions.

Quote :

"Cheerios has one goal - to fucking sell boxes of Cheerios."

I know. I never suggested that they had any other goal(s). (like wanting "white guys TO PAY"... ) I cannot emphasize enough my shock at the suggestion that two posts about different things imply any type of causation. That kind of wild accusation serves to silence free expression -- people become too afraid that their comments will be twisted around.

Quote :

"Women do 90% of the grocery shopping in America. If you want to sell grocery food you have to appeal to women."

Sure. Of course, one might also say:
"Women do 90% of the grocery shopping in America because so many ads to sell grocery food appeal to women."

2/15/2010 11:04:49 AM

fine, replace the word "Cheerios" in my post with "[insert company name here]"

the thread is about TV commercials bashing men. The motive of TV commercials is to sell products - not to make men "pay" for past wrongs. you are still wrong thx

2/15/2010 11:10:48 AM

Quote :

"That kind of wild accusation serves to silence free expression -- people become too afraid that their comments will be twisted around."

Nerdchick suppressing free speech ITT.

2/15/2010 11:15:27 AM

Quote :

"the thread is about TV commercials bashing men."

Meh, this is more about women and what appeals to them than commercials exploiting that preference.

2/15/2010 11:21:02 AM

^^^
If anything, the motive of some of these commercials is to sell products, by appealing to women who like male bashing. You are still wrong, thanks.

[Edited on February 15, 2010 at 11:24 AM. Reason : ]

2/15/2010 11:23:03 AM

what about the Hardees commercial I mentioned before where the hot guy is incapable of opening a can of biscuits (he tries biting it LOL!). The message of the ad is, "Let's face it men - you're too manly and stupid to figure out this whole 'breakfast' thing. Better go to Hardees instead!" Do men want themselves to pay?

And what about the fact that loutish men have been on TV long before anybody cared about racism or sexism? Did the white men running studios in 1950 want white men to pay?

2/15/2010 11:30:13 AM

Quote :

"Do men want themselves to pay?...Did the white men running studios in 1950 want white men to pay?"

No. That was your false conclusion in the first place -- why are you still trumpeting it? Do you realize you're putting words in my mouth, then challenging them? Straw-man much? I NEVER FUCKING SAID that these ads were made to "make men pay". You said that. You said that. You can't fucking take something you said, and act like I said it. Got it? (Are you trolling? -- I have better things to do than defend myself on the internets.)

2/15/2010 11:42:59 AM

^^ Or the Hardees ad where the guys are watching nascar and one of them walks out with a tray of fresh biscuits and everyone looks at him like he's a homo.

2/15/2010 11:44:30 AM

wow i didn't know commercial discussion could get so serious

2/15/2010 11:56:17 AM

Okay people, let's try this reasoning and this reasoning applies to the motives of commercials and not larger social issues.

It seems to me that commercials like the Cheerios commercial is targeted towards women. It plays to the idea that women are caretakers of the family and it plays to the "a woman's need to take charge" mentality especially in the home. The commercial does not need to appeal to men for two reasons. First, (as Nerdchick pointed out) women do most of the grocery shopping so why not play to a strong woman role and give women a subconcious push to feel supior? Second, commercials typically don't need to play up to a man's sense importance since most men already have this feeling. Commercials that play on male sensabilities are more like the security system commercials that have some masked intruder kicking in the door on a mother and child (while the man is at work). This motivates the man to buy the system to protect his family while he isn't there to do so.

Manipulating subconcious gender roles. Pretty simple really.

2/15/2010 11:59:36 AM

Quote :

"Haven't you heard? A bunch of white guys did all kinds of racist and sexist stuff back in the day. So now, guilty or not, all white guys HAVE TO PAY!!!!!!!!!!!1"

0% sarcasm

2/15/2010 12:02:38 PM

^^Using the cheerios as analysis I would have done it differently.

Guy: What are you eating?
Girl: Multigrain cheerios
Guy: So...trying to watch your weight?
Girl: Yea. These multigrain cheerios are really good for you. They have [nutrition facts]. Also, I'm planning on going for a run after this too. You should join me.
END SCENE

[Edited on February 15, 2010 at 12:08 PM. Reason : -]

2/15/2010 12:06:42 PM

As a guy, I have to say I do pretty stupid things except when I have a girlfriend who does this ad infinitum.

2/15/2010 12:07:39 PM

Little girl (note, not little boy): Daddy, why do we eat Cheerios?
Dad: Because they contain fiber, and all sorts of stuff that's good for the heart. I eat it now, because of that.
LG: Did you always eat stuff that was bad for your heart, Daddy?
Dad (humorously): I did, until I met your mother.
Mother (not humorously): Daddy did a lot of stupid things before he met your mother.
Dad (throws cereal bowl against the wall): GODDAMMIT WOMAN. YES, I DATED OTHER WOMEN BEFORE YOU. WOMEN WHO DIDN'T HENPECK ME OVER EVERY GODDAMN THING AND KNEW HOW TO TOUCH A MAN. FOR FUCKS SAKE LET IT GO ALREADY. THIS ISN'T THE LIFE THAT I WANTED EITHER.

2/15/2010 12:10:46 PM

Quote :

"Guy: So...trying to watch your weight?"

Girl: WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?? ARE YOU SAYING I'M FAT?? I HATE YOU

2/15/2010 12:15:38 PM

^ hahaha

2/15/2010 12:17:59 PM

^^^ ahahahahah

Quote :

"Commercials that play on male sensabilities are more like the security system commercials"

absolutely not. The dark scary male, the belief that a noisy alarm and a handsome man in a clean white shirt on the other end of the phone will protect you from harm . . . these appeal to women. Hell, the only commercial that involves a husband has him sitting placidly on the couch and nodding at his wife while she tells the world how safe Broadview makes her feel.

If a woman wanted to be realistic about protecting herself, she wouldn't run upstairs where she would be trapped unless she had a gun she was trained and ready to use . . . but guns are scary and loud. So in a very real way, the Broadview commercials play on women's fears and desire to be taken care of, and aren't remotely empowering at all. (Not that I don't know many women who love to shoot and would be more than capable / willing to kill someone that threatened their child, but for large swathes of the middle class women are terrified of the very idea of an unloaded handgun being in their house)

2/15/2010 12:20:32 PM

wow indy got mad! sorry dude I wouldn't have to correct you if you weren't wrong

2/15/2010 2:14:44 PM