Great article - avoid the comments.

So much of this comes down to the idea that there is one specific way to be a man, when the only requirement is identifying as a man. These ads and methods are dangerous and cissexist.

That Dodge ad (Man’s Last Stand) was terrifying the first time I saw it. They used Micheal C Hall - Dexter - for the voiceover. So there’s an undercurrent of malice towards women there.

To not be manly is to be stupid or weak - well what does that say about women?

thedailywhat:

Badvertising of the Day: Reebok Germany recently came under fire for appearing to promote infidelity in an ad targeting CrossFit gym patrons.

After a boycott threat from an anti-cheating website, the company released a statement saying Reebok “does not condone this message or cheating in any way.”

The ad has since been removed. 

Copyranter notes that this is not the first — nor likely the last — sexist ad approved by the marketing knuckleheads at Reebok Germany.

[copyranter.]

Well isn’t that wizard?

A reader submitted this knife sharpener from Fark to us and said it promotes violence against women.

I’m sure we can argue for years and years over whether or not the concept of the Beautiful Assistant is sexist or not, and I’m sure we can all agree that at some point some sexist arsehole is going to see this knife sharpener and think to themselves, “Yes! Stabbing women with knives! I love it!”, but do either of these things make the item itself sexist?

Personally, I’m not sure. So far as I can see it’s just a knife sharpener modeled on an old magic trick. I don’t think it’s any more sexist than ThinkGeek’s pizza cutter shaped like the USS Enterprise, or, perhaps more appropriately, that knife set with a stand shaped like an abstract, genderless human body.

That said, I’m a male, and that means I have male privilege, which may very well be preventing me from seeing this as something other than an innocent and humorous bit of kitchenware. I’d love to hear your feedback.

~Ben

deergravity:

mormondeathsquads:

sexistads:

mormondeathsquads:

sexistads:

“Maybe I’m oversensitive.”

No, you’re not.

I understand the importance of sports, that’s not the issue, what I hate is the lying. He can’t say, “Look I’m sorry, this game is wild!” like a mature adult.

Again, they’re saying “buy our product; be an asshole.”

(cliche time - I like sports! I’m a woman! It would have been a little less annoying if the roles were switched.)

what bothers me about this ad is both his immaturity and her dumb fucking oversensitivity

i dont really think its sexist as much as it is saying “everybody is an annoying asshole buy our stuff”

But she’s not being oversensitive - he can’t look at her for 30 seconds without checking his phone… and then he lies about it.

How is she supposed to feel?

but its not a big deal. hes not cheating on her, hes not texting his friends about what a bitch he thinks she is. he’s checking the game, and shes acting like hes doing something much worse

She’s not acting like he’s “doing something much worse,” she asks him if he’s watching the game while they are at dinner, conceivably a date they planned (based on her line about how it’s nice to get to spend time together). I see nothing intense or too much about her questions. This woman is not oversensitive. She reacts in a perfectly rational way to her partner acting strangely. And he is doing exactly what she thinks he’s doing. She does not cry, shout, or make a scene.

This commercial is playing into the cultural idea and silencing/derailing technique that women’s reactions are always over-dramatic. Any sign of emotion from a woman can be used to make their argument moot (see: tone policing and hysteria).

And that is kind of a big deal.

Thank you

LG - Because nobody should have to take professional photos of a fat person.

[Thanks, zerofailure. Therofailure. This is, of course, the ad that iamlennymaybe told us about earlier today.]

It’s the same with racism - “I’m not burning crosses so I’m not really racist!”

The sexism in ads today isn’t as blatant as it was, so people think it’s not really there. That’s why I’m not always wild about those lists of “Un-PC ads of yesteryear!” - It’s implied that it’s an old, resolved problem, that ads still aren’t racist or sexist.

- Kaitlyn

jfpll:

Juvenile cancer awareness billboard in San Salvador: “Give us the gift of life [so I can be a homemaker?]”

I couldn’t find the boy version of the billboard. They took it down from the Zona Rosa when I went back to look for it. The boy, of course, was shown to be a doctor. bullshit.

Yup.

That’s what this blog is devoted to, knocking on men. That’s definitely what I’ve done here.

Racism is prejudice plus power. Sexism involves power as well. I can say, “Ugh, I hate men!” but I, as a woman, am not part of a power structure that oppresses men.

Pointing out sexism is not hating on men.

- Kaitlyn

theultimateweightlosssecret:

A beer company, Molson, came up with a cunning plan. Their market is primarily male, so they bought ads in women’s magazines, not to broaden their market, but to set up a ploy to appeal to men.

Ad placed in Cosmo:

Ad placed in Playboy:

“HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF WOMEN.
PRE-PROGRAMMED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.

As you read this, women across America are reading something very different: an advertisement (fig. 1) scientifically formulated to enhance their perception of men who drink Molson. The ad shown below, currently running in Cosmopolitan magazine, is a perfectly tuned combination of words and images designed by trained professionals. Women who are exposed to it experience a very positive feeling. A feeling which they will later project directly onto you. Triggering the process is as simple as ordering a Molson Canadian (fig. 2).

Extravagant dinners. Subtitled movies. Floral arrangements tied together with little pieces of hay. It gets old. And it gets expensive, depleting funds that could go to a new set of of 20-inch rims. But thanks to the miracle of Twin Advertising Technology, you can achieve success without putting in any time or effort. So drop the bouquet and pick up a Molson Canadian…

For those who argue that it’s just a funny ad: OF COURSE, this ad is manipulating men. It won’t, by intent, convince women to buy Molson beer. The ad campaign is targeted entirely at men, and it works because there are a lot of men who will laugh at an ad that makes out women to be stupid and easily swayed by sweaters and puppy dogs.

What you’re missing is that the response to the ad, these juxtapositions of the two commercials, shows that they are incredibly dismissive of women. Molson is playing up the idea that women are gullible and not very bright, and that men will get a kick out of a campaign that claims to manipulate women in the shallowest possible way.

And of course, if it works and sells beer, it shows that men are gullible and not very bright. Sexism hurts men and women, since here it is, used to trick people into drinking crappy beer.

- Live by advertising, die by advertising by PZ Meyers.

(subtitled movies are girly now?!)