I really don’t care too much about what’s on the Boob Tube (the reference to mindlessness and its joining to the female anatomy noted once again), for the double standards employed are beyond ridiculous. Not really worth commenting on, as only the truly oblivious can be oblivious.
For example, Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction during the Super Bowel [sic] merits outrage and lawsuits, but every single hour we have erectile dysfunction ads that parents must explain to their kids.
“Mommy (and or) Daddy what is erectile dysfunction?”
“Why must a penis be ‘erect’?”
“Why is a pill necessary if it is natural and about love?”
Oh, please say it ain’t so, a black woman flashing a bit of flesh is a moral outrage, a sullying of the national psyche . . . but white men talking about their need for a pill to get it up, well that’s just honky dory (racial nod intended).
But my beef for today is about those damn Brinks Home Security ads.
All of these bits of ‘home security’ advertising tripe employ the most obvious stereotypes.
Most of the ads follow a formula:
Woman alone.
Or woman alone with kids.
Or young woman alone.
(Though a newer advert does portray a married, i.e., man and woman, couple, so I guess they’ve had complaints.)
Masked man dressed in black comes in to do harm to woman.
She’s scared to death, her fear reminiscent of a horror flick, though presumably she knows that she has the Brinks Security system installed. But I guess the unexpected always gets the best of her pretty little head.
Wait! The Brinks Home Security man inevitably and immediately calls to tell her “I am here, and help is on the way.”
Security. The day is saved.
The Brinks man is of course a relatively good looking white male, without exception.
Indeed, the entire behind the scenes security staff flashed near the end seems solely comprised of white men, those bastions of security and well-being.
Oh god, it is just so painful to watch.
That such nonsense generates sales is mind boggling . . . and I hear that Brinks has really poor home security, too. (The keypad featured at the ad’s end is presumably one of the most outdated on the market, or so I’ve been told.)
I credit Brinks for at least having the savvy to have white men dressed in black portray the intruders, and not simply black men (or Latinos) dressed in jeans and a tee.
G-d bless them. The advertising geeks know how to play an audience.
Today’s midday mini-rant.
Meanwhile, the world turns.
2 responses so far ↓
zacca // June 11, 2009 at 4:20 am |
Excellent rant! The hypocrisy is so thick….
I have also been “amused” by the “clueless” woman who relies on her husband to explain the heater commercial. So completely offensive. The message, the woman without a brain. Not even subtle. Yet another example of complete second class citizen status, and the man rides in to save her. Nauseating.
bluesmokeofparadise // June 11, 2009 at 3:36 pm |
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I know this stuff is out there, but for some reason it just hit me over the head yesterday . . . insipid.
I keep waiting for a Latina to pick up the phone, or even, G-d forbid, a black man to provide the white man with ‘home security.’
A friend sent me the following yesterday:
“Do you know what two ads immediately followed Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction?
Coors beer and Viagra.”