An Ad agency for Rogers came up with the slogan "Come for the Ladies. Stay for the Legends." to promote the fact that there was a Legends game with four retired legends of men's tennis after the women's tournament. I'm sure that they went over this a million times before they released the ads. I can imagine the conversation in the executive meetings:
"Are you sure that this is making it clear that the women's game is the focus?"
"Of course! It's clear that we want people to come to see the ladies, but they get to see a friendly legends game as a bonus."
It should have come as no surprise that the legions of the feminism industry would jump up at any misconceptions they might have and cause an uproar. It is clear that they are simply looking for something to be angry about instead of giving serious thought to the issue. But, like any standing army, they are constantly looking for a battle to test there mettle.
The Rogers Cup quickly backed down from the clearly unwinnable war. I would have been impressed if a corporation as big and important, at least in Canada, stood behind its campaign, but the trigger-happy feminist army is not one to trifle with. Rogers has plenty of female clients whose money it truly cares for.
The company, apparently has no qualms about offending its male clientele - nobody does. OneSTDV has a post about male-bashing commercials with plenty of examples to choose from. Rogers has run similar adds for its wireless division that depict women as know-it-all-leading-edge-tech-savvy while their male counterparts are bumbling juvenile morons. One ad that sticks out in my mind, shows a girl on a bus-trip sharing videos with her friends on her wireless devices. "The guys laughed at me for bringing my devices on the trip," she explains. It depicts the guys on the trip as goof-balls, laughing hysterical at the mundane movie on the bus's video screen, while the clever girls lap up the latest entertainment on her Ipad. I can't find a video link but here are a couple of mentions I've found, so you don't think I'm making it up.
So, on one hand, you have blatantly bad images of men ubiquitously strewn about the world of advertising, and barely a peep. On the other hand, one message that can be deliberately misinterpreted and spun into something marginally sexist causes an uproar.
Recently, I posited that one reason that it is ok to blame parents for awful crimes perpetrated against their children is the lack of a "childrenism" movement. Obviously, children do not have the ability to speak up for themselves, so, they rely on child advocates who basically shame parents into becoming helicopter parents. Feminism has legions of soldiers ready to shame society into behaving in whatever manner feminism suggests is acceptable and believing that their mantras are gospel. Corporate advertisers are constantly attacked for any slight that may be perceived (real or imagined). But, the Men's Rights Movement(MRM) has been slow to recruit members, so, there are no campaigns waged and no fearful advertisers.
I, for one, have been slow to identify myself with the MRM because it seems to devolve into women bashing a little too much for my tastes. When I discovered the-spearhead.com, it was a revelation. But, after awhile, I realized that some of the notions were as biased against women as gender-feminism is against men. I value the opinions expressed and the free exchange of ideas that the site and its founders enable and I fully support the many good opinions expressed. However, things are just not bad enough for men to create a group of MRA's large enough to cause a stir in the media. I hope the pendulum doesn't swing that far.
Showing posts with label Consumerism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Consumerism. Show all posts
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Blogging is Hard
The Cul-De-Sac Hero has been applying his heroism to other pursuits, namely T-Ball coach. While the time demands are considerable, I feel that coaching a group of boys in the pursuit of a good swing, straight throws and consistent catching does far more good for the future of society than blogging ever could. I think that OneSTDV would agree.
However, I swear that I won't pull a ONE and burnout and quit. I will continue to be a Stalwart Moderate, sporadically posting meandering essays with varying levels of quality to my blog. I'm just going to have to find new places to troll. It shouldn't be difficult. As a moderate, I can disagree with just about anyone.
Another pursuit I've taken up, rather by accident, is educating the youth. A younger friend of mine was shopping for an engagement ring. Always interested when a younger man decides to join the ranks of married men, I decided to see how he was doing on instant message:
So, if anyone is reading this, do you think I was too harsh? Or was I way off because he appears smart enough not to spend $10,000 on a piece of gold with a shiny rock that someone says is the standard (aka minimum) purchase. Where did this standard come from? Why do groups of people accept such arbitrary requirements?
I only reacted because it reminded me so much of a friend of mine who's wife suddenly left (frivolous divorce) because she wasn't satisfied and they were always fighting over money they didn't have which she still to wanted to spend. At the time, I called it the consumer disease and told him that women feel the need (more than men) to obtain material things right away. They are the target of a larger portion of advertising because, I think, their feelings of entitlement are easier for advertisers to exploit than any of the weakness men have. Men have better resistance to marketing than women, but not perfect.
The theme of consumerism is one which I'd like to explore more deeply, but I doubt I will due to the usual constraints of time and energy. I do find our willingness to accept truths that are marketed to us and willful blindness to the affects of the forces of marketing on our psyche disturbing. I think it is the single worst threat to society and capitalism and the most important gap in our education system.
However, I swear that I won't pull a ONE and burnout and quit. I will continue to be a Stalwart Moderate, sporadically posting meandering essays with varying levels of quality to my blog. I'm just going to have to find new places to troll. It shouldn't be difficult. As a moderate, I can disagree with just about anyone.
Another pursuit I've taken up, rather by accident, is educating the youth. A younger friend of mine was shopping for an engagement ring. Always interested when a younger man decides to join the ranks of married men, I decided to see how he was doing on instant message:
Older Gent [9:13 AM]: Did you get engaged yet?
Young Buck [9:13 AM]: do i look stupid?
Older Gent [9:14 AM]: I thought you were shopping for a ring.
Older Gent [9:14 AM]: Hey, I was "stupid" enough to do it. [get married]
Young Buck [9:15 AM]: no, you crazy? no way i'm going to drop $10k
Older Gent [9:15 AM]: $10K for a ring???? F - that!
Young Buck [9:15 AM]: ya man, its the new standard
Older Gent [9:15 AM]: Don't believe it.
Older Gent [9:16 AM]: If your woman believes it, just think what you'll have to drop for a house.
Young Buck [9:20 AM]: told you, you're and old man, times are different
Young Buck [9:20 AM]: 1 cart is the min
Older Gent [9:22 AM]: I'd run away. I'm telling you, women have fallen for a sales pitch hook line and sinker.
Older Gent [9:22 AM]: There'll never be enough money to satisfy that desire
Older Gent [9:23 AM]: I don't mean to say anything bad about your girlfriend.
Young Buck [9:23 AM]: haha / you're not with the times
Older Gent [9:24 AM]: But I know guys who married really nice women who turned out to leave them because they "wanted more"
Older Gent [9:24 AM]: and more
Older Gent [9:24 AM]: and more
Older Gent [9:24 AM]: It's the consumer disease
Older Gent [9:25 AM]: women are the most aflicted.
Older Gent [9:26 AM]: house, trips, furniture, appliances, cars.... it adds up
Older Gent [9:26 AM]: and it starts with 10K rings
Older Gent [9:27 AM]: don't mean to scare you, kid. but think about it.
Young Buck [9:34 AM]: thanks for the advice
So, if anyone is reading this, do you think I was too harsh? Or was I way off because he appears smart enough not to spend $10,000 on a piece of gold with a shiny rock that someone says is the standard (aka minimum) purchase. Where did this standard come from? Why do groups of people accept such arbitrary requirements?
I only reacted because it reminded me so much of a friend of mine who's wife suddenly left (frivolous divorce) because she wasn't satisfied and they were always fighting over money they didn't have which she still to wanted to spend. At the time, I called it the consumer disease and told him that women feel the need (more than men) to obtain material things right away. They are the target of a larger portion of advertising because, I think, their feelings of entitlement are easier for advertisers to exploit than any of the weakness men have. Men have better resistance to marketing than women, but not perfect.
The theme of consumerism is one which I'd like to explore more deeply, but I doubt I will due to the usual constraints of time and energy. I do find our willingness to accept truths that are marketed to us and willful blindness to the affects of the forces of marketing on our psyche disturbing. I think it is the single worst threat to society and capitalism and the most important gap in our education system.
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