Misandry being so common in advertising

Anonus

I just hate it.

ClockworkUniverse

Examples? I tend to be really good at ignoring ads.

LouieW

Yep, I think this commercial is definitely one such example and I found it to be pretty annoying when I watched it during the Super Bowl.

DYRE

Yeah, that ad's a pretty bad one, when it comes to this kind of thing.

This really bugs me too.  It's like, advertisers figure that it's bad to be misogynist in their advertising, so rather than be fair to both genders, they just switch over to misandry because apparently it's too difficult to advertise a product without directly insulting one gender.

Tnophelia

Quick, somebody post the Phone Company break up video where that girl starts meanmugging her body friend when answering her phone.

Trash_Vortex

That ad's pretty misogynist too.

^^ There's a balance of both. Lots of adverts like to reaffirm gender stereotypes (men like sex, women like relationships, women are oblivious to male sexual advances, don't like Yorkies and eat lettuce, while men just want to drink beer and get into life threatening situations), but often even outright sexism slides by. Also think of all the products where half naked women/ sex (the two of which are often connected) are used to sell

Gelzo

I don't see how using the image of the female body to advertise a product is sexist.

randomtropeloser

A lot of commercials do seem to portray all men as 'trads, but let's be fair, it isn't much less common for certain commercials to treat all women like emotional basketcases.  It really depends on who the ad is directed at.

Trash_Vortex

"I don't see how using the image of the female body to advertise a product is sexist. "
"It really depends on who the ad is directed at."

That, pretty much

randomtropeloser

Wow, I helped answer someone else's post without even responding directly to it.

Gelzo

I'm still confused. If you want to advertise to straight males, such an image is reasonably likely to grab attention.

randomtropeloser

Well, I'd say there's a line between having a woman model for something and treating a woman like an object.  The former is fine, the latter may be perceived as offensive.

ClockworkUniverse

I agree, but where exactly does the line fall?

randomtropeloser

Not sure exactly.  Somewhere before those Evony ads, I'd say.

ClockworkUniverse

Yeah, those are way across the line.

Trash_Vortex

Ah yeah. That wasn't the "outright sexism" I mentioned, I was making two seperate cases, but they looked like they ran together.

Hmm, basically, it's the idea that you'd want to advertise to straight males that's the sexist part, in that it pushes aside a lot of people as if the product wasn't "for them". (That said I can't think of any products that would have an audience that was that limited. Unless it was something medical, but then you probably wouldn't advertise it in that way anyway?) it's also the assumption that that's what straight males want out of anything. I can't seem to put an arguament together today.

randomtropeloser

Yeah, it could really be implied as sexist all around.  Advertisements do tend to generalize a lot.

Gelzo

I'm sure there are plenty of acceptable reasons why it would be best to advertise primarily to males. What if it was a product that mostly males tend to buy? What if it was a product that women tended not to be influenced by advertising about? Maybe it's more cost effective to target one group to advertise to rather than go completely to the lowest common denominator. I bet there's only so much you can do to relate to one group without alienating the other. 

And if an advertising campaign is used because it is profitable, I don't see how the choice to use it is sexist, no matter how offensive or politically incorrect it is.

ClockworkUniverse

Males are apparently more easily influenced by advertisements than females.

Gelzo

In the communications class I took last quarter, they said that advertisements are primarily effective in informing the viewer of the product rather than convincing them that it needs to be purchased.

Tnophelia

They should direct ads at anime fans on internet forums to solve this problem.

Gelzo

I don't get it.

Tnophelia

Because the only people who think this stuff  is sexist and offensive are people on Tv Tropes. Most of the people I know IRL don't give a shit about anything I bring up out here or have a strong stance against it.

LouieW

Tnophelia,
As silly as this probably sounds, I think that is just more proof that these kinds of ads work. I feel like plenty of people would watch the ad I linked to in my earlier post and say something like "yeah, guys are totally like that" or "that is so true." In that way I think those kinds of ads help to entrench views about men and women that I think are pretty harmful.

I cannot imagine it is very fun to be a man when other people think you have such a one track mind or are not as thoughtful or caring as a woman is. On the other hand, I think some men may use such stereotypes as an excuse to act in such a distasteful way. That bothers me even more than the first problem I mentioned.

Still, I doubt ads have too much influence on those kinds of attitudes. I just think they kind of do and that because they might have some impact, such ads are not good.