I can’t embed this video but you have got to check this out. This is quite probably one of the most ridiculous vidlogs I’ve come across in quite some time. It’s from the We TV feature, Amy vs. John, in which a husband & wife duo take to the camera to problem solve and open up dialogue (though how good it is, or isn’t, is pretty clear).
Blogging about media and popular culture with a critical, film studies, feminist and men's studies lens.
October 23, 2009
Whoa, for srsly?
October 21, 2009
A sexy school girl witch? Are you fucking kidding me? So, what? Now we’re just mashing our heterosexual male fantasies together? Maybe I’ll dress as a slave princess kitten pirate. With wings. (sexgenderbody)
The folks at Evian are probably still sky high from the success of this ad campaign. It’s been at the top of the charts since mid-summer. Creepy or cute? You decide.
So, I know it’s been a while. I apologize for the hiatus, but I’m back on in full-swing. And I come bearing some really messed up ad-stumbles. Frito Lay recently launched a new campaign called “Only in a Woman’s World.” The chip company’s efforts are…misguided, to say the least. They’re perpetually unclear about their platform and their mission but yet they’ve launched a full-scale website and web-series (14+ webisodes and counting!)
The website features arenas in which you can ‘Meet the Girls’ who are, “fearlessly female,” as well as places to ‘Escape and Play’ and ‘Send E-Cards.’ But honestly, if you’re looking to escape, this premise isn’t going to make you happy. All it does is enforce sexism and continue to perpetuate ideas of female bonding as a synonym for ingroup hatred and judgment.
Each webisode (including the above), features a woman who has, for whatever reason, gained a bit of weight. What ensues is an encounter with one or more people who either assume that she’s pregnant or assuage her worries that she’s gained weight so as to avoid her wrath.
In the video posted here, a woman attempts to fit into a pair of her pants for agonizing minutes on end. She then calls upon her husband and puts the blame on him. After he denies having put the jeans in the dryer, he comes to her side to help her pull them up over her waist. When he realizes that they won’t fit, he has a moment of panic. Thereafter, he decides it’s best to take the blame so he won’t have to deal with the fallout of his wife’s insecurity. He concedes to having dried the pants by accident and the webisode can safely wrap itself up now that the woman has been mollified and we no longer have to worry about her lashing out.
This campaign is grossly underdeveloped. If it’s trying to tell us that women are all obese and that the proposed solution is to lie to them or assuage their insecurities (for which the media is largely responsible), well, that’s pretty fucked up. I’ve been a big fan of my Baked Lays but this is shedding some new light on the team whose chips I’ve munched on for decades. Srsly, Frito-Lay, take a hint from 7-Up and Shove it Up Yours.
August 11, 2009
"We also have to offer men a vision of the world that gives them a way out of the masculinity trap. Many men feel distress over the way in which patriarchy undermines our humanity. I emphasize this not to elevate men’s pain, but to argue that if we don’t take account of men’s pain we may not be able to change the world to end men’s violence against women."
—
Robert Jensen, Voice Male Spring ‘07
(This quote encapsulates why I do the work that I do.)
August 3, 2009
What's Tappening These Days?
At some point, I developed a deep-seated hatred and phobia of tap water. I always chose bottled over tap but this summer a dialogue rose between my roommates and I about whether to buy bottled or stick with the Brita. Since I live in Northampton, where talk of water quality is always filled with gross facts, I was convinced that bottled water was the answer. But Tappening Campaign got me thinking otherwise.
The company, founded by two twenty-five year marketing veterans (Eric Yaverbaum and Mark DiMassimo), is responsible for running the “drinking problem” ad campaign during this year’s elections.
Eventually, the company ran this ad (word):
But the company has recently let loose a new campaign that’s garnering a whole lot of attention, including mine. The new campaign’s premise is to purposefully start a lie about bottled water, the same tactic that bottled-water companies use to turn people away from tap water.
DiMassimo said: “Puffery is one thing, but some advertising is simply lies. I’ve observed that there are two types who perpetrate this: Those who admit it and those who don’t.”
Yaverbaum added: “We’re not just admitting it up front, we’re bragging about it. We want people to know we’re blatantly lying in our new campaign…and, most importantly, that everyone should pay close attention to what’s factual in marketing and what’s – not so much.”
The campaign’s new website features the tagline: “If they can lie, so can you.” I’ve got to say, it feels kind of good that a company as significant as the ones that decieve us are giving us a chance to to engage in a way that can bust the bad guys. I’m not usually a fan of the eye for an eye tactic but these guys are pretty damn clever and they’re making a positive impact. And for that, I’ll surely get on board.
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