12.22.2008

Insult a man to sell a product


Is anyone as tired as I am of seeing commercials making fun of men in order to sell a product? The latest culprit in this trend is the priceless.com one where a guy gifts his girl with a box of tissues, a paper bag, and a trampoline. Then he opens the drapes and she sees the two matching cars. She faints and lands on the small trampoline he'd placed behind her, bounces right back up, hugs her guy...and smacks him upside the head.

Smacks him upside the head? Why? Because he teased her with smaller gifts while all along he was going to show her the cars he had bought? Every single time that commercial came up I switched channels. The guy in the commercial is the cutest thing ever. He absolutely does not deserve to be hit. His face expressions are, well, priceless! Here's a guy who knows his gal well enough to know how she is going to react when she sees the car he bought her. She was going to cry, so he'd given her tissues. She was going to hyperventilate, so he'd gifted her with a paper bag. She was also going to faint, so he'd purchased and placed a trampoline behind her.

This guy is a one-in-a-million type of guy! So the smack upside the head was not only out of place, it follows the trend of insulting a man in order to sell a product. I personally would like to see this type of advertising go away. It's insulting not just to men but to those of us who love and appreciate everything men do and stand for.

To their credit, priceless.com has come up with a second version of this commercial. Now, doesn't this second version get the point across just as well without insulting men? Here it is:


Kudos to priceless.com for coming up with this edited version of the commercial. I'd love to hear from others about this topic. What do you think about the idea that insulting men sells products?

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous1/19/2009

    This has been one of my pet peeves for years. My typical reaction after watching a 'man-bashing' ad is to turn to my husband to ask, "Do you think this would have aired if that had been a woman?"

    As former elementary teachers, we are very sensitive to issues of gender equality.

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  2. I agree Qwerty! Some of the best ads on TV make their point, and make me want to buy their product, without bashing men so I see no need for these man-bashing ads.

    Thanks for sharing your views with us. :-)

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