Annoyed by a sexist ad

[BlueEyedLady]

Yep, my mother raised me since I was 13. I think I’m pretty strong and masculine

My brother was also raised by a single mom. He’s a testosterone filled, construction working, beer drinking, football loving, husband and father. I can’t think of anyone more strong and protective of his family than he is.

 

[JaneGrey]

Overgrown boys raised by single moms have no idea how to be a protector or a provider drink Diet Dr. Pepper and use scented soaps?

A man’s ability to protect and provide has nothing to do with his beverage or soap choices and everything to do with who he is as a person at the most basic level.

And plenty of strong, masculine, manly men have been raised by single moms.

Great post. Let’s not define one another by consumer choices.

 

[dshix]

I’m just not seeing the problem here…it doesn’t sound sexist to me.

Same here. No offense, but the OP needs some thicker skin.

I’m not really into going shopping for camping gear but I love camping. Where I live camping is one if those things that women are really into just as much as men.
This could be a cultural and regional difference though. Its been my experience that men are more into buying the gear. I think its just harmless marketing on the part of the store.

I get annoyed by people who get annoyed by silly things.

Just because they are playing to gender-roles doesn’t make them sexist. Good Lord. Do you hear me complaining about Bath and Bodyworks not advertising “perfect gift for him and his son?”

Nope…why? Cause I’m a guy…I have a role, and while I do love the scented soaps and stuff. I wouldn’t heed much if they were advertising to me, cause I don’t frequent those stores.

I think the concern named by the OP is either thin-skinned or irrational. In general, women tend to be less interested in camping then men do, and the store is marketing to their target customers. If you’ve ever written a speech or advertising paper, you do the same. You find your target audience and market directly toward them.

 

[silicasandra]

I think the concern named by the OP is either thin-skinned or irrational. In general, women tend to be less interested in camping then men do, and the store is marketing to their target customers. If you’ve ever written a speech or advertising paper, you do the same. You find your target audience and market directly toward them.

I get what people are saying, and for this one particular ad, okay, it’s targeted marketing, not really sexism. But overall, yes, there are incredibly sexist ads out there and it does get really tiring. If an ad comes on about something you really love to do, and you’re already irritated by sexism in advertising (part of the reason I’m so thankful for the DVR when watching football games), and the ad, even very gently, insinuates that the products sold by the store are not meant for your gender, then wouldn’t you be a bit irritated? When you’ve already been told that you better watch out for BO or hairy legs, have an immaculately clean (and nice-smelling!) house no matter what your kids have done to it that day, and have a gourmet meal ready when hubby walks in the door?

The ads I get irritated by are the household cleaning products ads that feature the “dumb dad” making a mess with the kids, and then in comes mom to the rescue, who may roll her eyes but she’s got the miracle cleaning product so she can clean up after them. Um, hello! Give the stuff to dad and the kids and make THEM clean up their OWN mess! (Some ads seem to have picked up on this, and mom fetches product out of the closet and hands it over to sheepish-looking dad. Those I can handle a bit better. )

I’m surprised more men don’t get upset about the “dumb dad” stereotype. I find it offensive and I even know quite a few men like that (or at least, men who are really good at pretending to be dumb, because it gets them out of things…)

 

[dshix]

I get what people are saying, and for this one particular ad, okay, it’s targeted marketing, not really sexism. But overall, yes, there are incredibly sexist ads out there and it does get really tiring. If an ad comes on about something you really love to do, and you’re already irritated by sexism in advertising (part of the reason I’m so thankful for the DVR when watching football games), and the ad, even very gently, insinuates that the products sold by the store are not meant for your gender, then wouldn’t you be a bit irritated? When you’ve already been told that you better watch out for BO or hairy legs, have an immaculately clean (and nice-smelling!) house no matter what your kids have done to it that day, and have a gourmet meal ready when hubby walks in the door?

The ads I get irritated by are the household cleaning products ads that feature the “dumb dad” making a mess with the kids, and then in comes mom to the rescue, who may roll her eyes but she’s got the miracle cleaning product so she can clean up after them. Um, hello! Give the stuff to dad and the kids and make THEM clean up their OWN mess! (Some ads seem to have picked up on this, and mom fetches product out of the closet and hands it over to sheepish-looking dad. Those I can handle a bit better. )

I’m surprised more men don’t get upset about the “dumb dad” stereotype. I find it offensive and I even know quite a few men like that (or at least, men who are really good at pretending to be dumb, because it gets them out of things…)

I definitely agree with you concerning sexist ads, but I was just saying I don’t think this counts as one.

 

[silicasandra]

I definitely agree with you concerning sexist ads, but I was just saying I don’t think this counts as one.

I agree. I just think people are coming down a little hard on the OP. Yes, the OP only mentions the one ad, but if it’s for something you like and there is already this completely ridiculous culture of advertising…I can see that it would be irritating. Especially considering the store the ad was for didn’t use to advertise in such a “targeted” way.

 

[mafh]

I’m a feminist, but I don’t see how their advertising is in any way offensive. All they are doing is targeting a particular market segment (women buying for men) in their ad. It doesn’t mean that they don’t also have customers who are not in this market segment.

Are you offended by the reverse situation? Jewelers often run ads suggesting that men consider purchasing gemstone jewelry for their wives and girlfriends. That doesn’t mean that there are not men who also wear fine jewelry, just that most of their products are used by women and so they are targeting the men-buying-for-women market segment.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

The ads I get irritated by are the household cleaning products ads that feature the “dumb dad” making a mess with the kids, and then in comes mom to the rescue, who may roll her eyes but she’s got the miracle cleaning product so she can clean up after them. Um, hello! Give the stuff to dad and the kids and make THEM clean up their OWN mess! (Some ads seem to have picked up on this, and mom fetches product out of the closet and hands it over to sheepish-looking dad. Those I can handle a bit better. )

I’m surprised more men don’t get upset about the “dumb dad” stereotype. I find it offensive and I even know quite a few men like that (or at least, men who are really good at pretending to be dumb, because it gets them out of things…)

The worst one I have seen in a long time was the ad for Tide where the dad sees a tiny white skirt hanging on the clothesline outside…He knows it’s his daughter’s. He uses it to wipe the grease off his hands and drops it into the laundry like a rag (already passive instead of a strong father and leader of his home). The daughter looks for it, finds it, Mom washes it and the grease miraculously comes out, and daughter then parades past Dad with the skirt on - she and Mom are pleased!

Dad is defeated. Daughter condescendingly ruffles his hair on her way out of the house.

Tide with Acti-Lift

 

[Richard320]

Where was the outrage over this ad from a few years back?

youtube.com/watch?v=Twivg7GkYts

 

[silicasandra]

The worst one I have seen in a long time was the ad for Tide where the dad sees a tiny white skirt hanging on the clothesline outside…He knows it’s his daughter’s. He uses it to wipe the grease off his hands and drops it into the laundry like a rag (already passive instead of a strong father and leader of his home). The daughter looks for it, finds it, Mom washes it and the grease miraculously comes out, and daughter then parades past Dad with the skirt on - she and Mom are pleased!

Dad is defeated. Daughter condescendingly ruffles his hair on her way out of the house.

Tide with Acti-Lift

Ugh, yeah. I’ve seen that one.

If Dad was smarter, he would have thrown it in the trash.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

Where was the outrage over this ad from a few years back?

youtube.com/watch?v=Twivg7GkYts

I can see why something like that could be offensive, but it just doesn’t bother me.

I have a strong, respectable man that I love who loves and respects me. I have people in my life of both genders who are strong, moral, intelligent and good people. Why bother with being offended by commercial that use playful sexism? I would rather laugh about gender stereotypes and poke fun at them than be upset. I don’t really care how men and women are portrayed in the media because it isn’t real.

 

[Luvz2travel]

I was listening to my local Catholic radio station recently and I heard an ad for an Army-Navy store. They have run ads for it for a while and they used to refer to it as a place for the “whole family”. The ad has recently been changed to very bluntly call out the fact that the Army-Navy store is the perfect place to find gifts for “sons and husbands”. I would like to think it was just poor advertising, but I got the impression from the ad that this was a very intentional re-write in order to be more “traditional” in regard to gender roles.

Now, we know that the church teaches that men and women are different, but it does not say that women are somehow unable to enjoy camping gear and the store’s knife collection. I feel that a quick look at many of the women in the Bible, as well as many of our female Saints would show that the Church takes pride in women that get out there and make things happen. Just think of the Proverbs 31 discussion of femininity. The woman described in Proverbs 31 would certainly be an expert in survival skills at the very least for the sake of her family. She is a woman prepared for what comes her way. She is a woman capable of transitioning seamlessly between running agricultural endeavors, business opportunities, and keeping people fed and clothed. I would like to think that if disaster hit, the Proverbs 31 woman is the type that would already have the necessary rations stored away and ready. I guess I was always raised to believe that EVERYONE needs to know survival skills and that it is a “being human” thing and not a a “man” thing to have camping gear, knives, guns, etc. because if you need to eat then you need to eat - it doesn’t matter who you are. In the event that a family would get stuck in a survival situation all capable members need to be prepared.

I really would like to think that it was an honest mistake, but the bluntness of the ad makes me doubt that. It’s really too bad, because it looks like a great store.

Reminds me of the ad a few years back where the woman steps off her balconey rips her shirt off then starts boncing up and down on some sort of trampoline in her underwear
. If that’s not sexist I don’t know what is. I cease to regard any ads these days it’s all a waste of energy.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Where was the outrage over this ad from a few years back?

youtube.com/watch?v=Twivg7GkYts

I actually thought that was one of the funniest and most well-done commercials ever. It reminded me of the great old commercials from this man…Joe Sedelmaier…

Wendy’s Russian Fashion Show Commercial

Or this one…

Southern Airlines by Sedelmaier

 

[Allegra]

I was listening to my local Catholic radio station recently and I heard an ad for an Army-Navy store. They have run ads for it for a while and they used to refer to it as a place for the “whole family”. The ad has recently been changed to very bluntly call out the fact that the Army-Navy store is the perfect place to find gifts for “sons and husbands”. I would like to think it was just poor advertising, but I got the impression from the ad that this was a very intentional re-write in order to be more “traditional” in regard to gender roles.

Now, we know that the church teaches that men and women are different, but it does not say that women are somehow unable to enjoy camping gear and the store’s knife collection. I feel that a quick look at many of the women in the Bible, as well as many of our female Saints would show that the Church takes pride in women that get out there and make things happen. Just think of the Proverbs 31 discussion of femininity. The woman described in Proverbs 31 would certainly be an expert in survival skills at the very least for the sake of her family. She is a woman prepared for what comes her way. She is a woman capable of transitioning seamlessly between running agricultural endeavors, business opportunities, and keeping people fed and clothed. I would like to think that if disaster hit, the Proverbs 31 woman is the type that would already have the necessary rations stored away and ready. I guess I was always raised to believe that EVERYONE needs to know survival skills and that it is a “being human” thing and not a a “man” thing to have camping gear, knives, guns, etc. because if you need to eat then you need to eat - it doesn’t matter who you are. In the event that a family would get stuck in a survival situation all capable members need to be prepared.

I really would like to think that it was an honest mistake, but the bluntness of the ad makes me doubt that. It’s really too bad, because it looks like a great store.

I’m a woman. I like to camp. But, I wouldn’t waste a minute of my life worrying about this ad.

 

[Richard320]

I actually thought that was one of the funniest and most well-done commercials ever. It reminded me of the great old commercials from this man…Joe Sedelmaier…

Wendy’s Russian Fashion Show Commercial

Or this one…

Southern Airlines by Sedelmaier

I was being facetious.

And your first link is wrong. It shows some dog in socks, not the burly Russian women.

 

[George_Stegmeir]

I was listening to my local Catholic radio station recently and I heard an ad for an Army-Navy store. They have run ads for it for a while and they used to refer to it as a place for the “whole family”. The ad has recently been changed to very bluntly call out the fact that the Army-Navy store is the perfect place to find gifts for “sons and husbands”. I would like to think it was just poor advertising, but I got the impression from the ad that this was a very intentional re-write in order to be more “traditional” in regard to gender roles.

Now, we know that the church teaches that men and women are different, but it does not say that women are somehow unable to enjoy camping gear and the store’s knife collection. I feel that a quick look at many of the women in the Bible, as well as many of our female Saints would show that the Church takes pride in women that get out there and make things happen. Just think of the Proverbs 31 discussion of femininity. The woman described in Proverbs 31 would certainly be an expert in survival skills at the very least for the sake of her family. She is a woman prepared for what comes her way. She is a woman capable of transitioning seamlessly between running agricultural endeavors, business opportunities, and keeping people fed and clothed. I would like to think that if disaster hit, the Proverbs 31 woman is the type that would already have the necessary rations stored away and ready. I guess I was always raised to believe that EVERYONE needs to know survival skills and that it is a “being human” thing and not a a “man” thing to have camping gear, knives, guns, etc. because if you need to eat then you need to eat - it doesn’t matter who you are. In the event that a family would get stuck in a survival situation all capable members need to be prepared.

I really would like to think that it was an honest mistake, but the bluntness of the ad makes me doubt that. It’s really too bad, because it looks like a great store.

Ho-Hum! If you don’t like an ad on radio or TV, do the old fashioned thing and change the station, or just don’t patronize the sponsor. There are much better and more serious things to discuss on the internet, than self perceived politically incorrect ads.

 

[Marie1234]

Yeah this ad does not seem sexist to me…I’ve seen my fair share of sexist ads that sexualize and degrade women to a point that makes me cringe, but this one…I’m not offended in the least.

 

[Marie1234]

Why bother with being offended by commercial that use playful sexism? I would rather laugh about gender stereotypes and poke fun at them than be upset. I don’t really care how men and women are portrayed in the media because it isn’t real.

I agree with you. Some commercials you gotta just laugh at and let it go because they’re meant to be funny. But the problem is, the media really shapes the way we think in conscious and unconscious ways…so we do have to be careful not to let it get too far out of hand.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I was being facetious.

And your first link is wrong. It shows some dog in socks, not the burly Russian women.

Oh hahahahha, sorry about that!

Day wear

 

[jimmy]

I was listening to my local Catholic radio station recently and I heard an ad for an Army-Navy store. They have run ads for it for a while and they used to refer to it as a place for the “whole family”. The ad has recently been changed to very bluntly call out the fact that the Army-Navy store is the perfect place to find gifts for “sons and husbands”. I would like to think it was just poor advertising, but I got the impression from the ad that this was a very intentional re-write in order to be more “traditional” in regard to gender roles.

Now, we know that the church teaches that men and women are different, but it does not say that women are somehow unable to enjoy camping gear and the store’s knife collection. I feel that a quick look at many of the women in the Bible, as well as many of our female Saints would show that the Church takes pride in women that get out there and make things happen. Just think of the Proverbs 31 discussion of femininity. The woman described in Proverbs 31 would certainly be an expert in survival skills at the very least for the sake of her family. She is a woman prepared for what comes her way. She is a woman capable of transitioning seamlessly between running agricultural endeavors, business opportunities, and keeping people fed and clothed. I would like to think that if disaster hit, the Proverbs 31 woman is the type that would already have the necessary rations stored away and ready. I guess I was always raised to believe that EVERYONE needs to know survival skills and that it is a “being human” thing and not a a “man” thing to have camping gear, knives, guns, etc. because if you need to eat then you need to eat - it doesn’t matter who you are. In the event that a family would get stuck in a survival situation all capable members need to be prepared.

I really would like to think that it was an honest mistake, but the bluntness of the ad makes me doubt that. It’s really too bad, because it looks like a great store.

It’s not sexist. You can read sexism, agism, racism, or any ism into anything, but that doesn’t make it the case. The fact is that men are more into the idea of survival. They are more into hunting and living in the wild and being able to support yourself. Sure, you can do it as a woman, but it isn’t as common for women as it is for men. Don’t be offended that things that are more oriented toward men are advertised for men.