Posted on 02/17/2005 1:26:35 PM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
In this PC age of advertising, there is one group who can still be made the butt of jokes with total impunity: middle-aged white guys.
The latest installment was on display in a commercial I just caught. A befuddled guy is sitting on the couch, fiddling with the TV remote. His roughly 11-year old daughter enters, and he tells her he can't seem to switch to a given channel.
"Of course not," she curtly informs him, "it's been blocked." She goes on to inform the ignoramus that most channels can be blocked via the remote or by calling the cable company.
He asks whether channels can be unblocked, and once again she condescendingly explains they can, then snidely adds:
"But you're going to have to get Mom's permission."
He calls out for his wife. She enters, and he imploringly asks her if he can watch the channel. She glances at the screen, gives a curt "No!" then exits.
Another day in the life of Bumbling, Stumbling White Guy.
Yes, yes, I know: "don't be so touchy. I thought it was funny. Chill out. Relax." etc. Look, I have no problem if this was an equal-opportunity thing. But it does bug me that if the tables were turned cries of outrage would echo throughout the land.
Nothing, if it were an isolated event. It's just that it's virtually ALWAYS a white guy being portrayed this way.
Try to imagine the ad I described with a befuddled wife sitting on the couch, and her 11-year old son, and her husband, condescending to her in like manner. Impossible. Never happen. The NOW picket line would be forming before the ad ended.
The King of Queens is funny, and that's not exactly the point of the movie. There are more than enough films with white male leads that are powerful all by themselves.
I noticed this nonsense a few years ago and the pattern is very predictable and nonsensical. In the real business world the vast majority of people with the sharpest, keenest minds are still white males by far. I've been in business over 20 yrs. and have done business with superb female and black business types but as a whole white males still pull the train.
This is all about conditioning upcoming generations of the new paradigm that will be led(?) by the all knowing females and hip, cool minorities who really are nothing more than style over substance. Evidently, the powers that be are so scared of the the day white males as a whole might wake up to see what's happening to their specie that untold millions are spent daily to continue this charade.
Give Mrs.Davis my regards, and hope you enjoy the side of brontosaurus ribs ;-)
During the Superbowl, the ads depicted 30% cool hip blacks, 20% sexy blondes, 48% white nerds and 2% white heroes. Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans were not even portrayed. Yeah, we are a racist society especially on TV!.
Reminds me of the old t.v. show "Father Knows Best" (but in name only).
Agreed. Levitra® chick gets on my nerves too. What guy wants her blabbing to everyone?
Having your adenoids out can help with the mouth-breathing thing. If that doesn't work, check for sinus polyps.
Black, Hispanic and Asian males are handsome, competent and hardworking guys but really need the supervision of a female to be successful. Young white males are handsome but 'slow'... yet they always please the female in the end.
And then... there's the middle-aged white male... a slug. He's incredibly stupid and everyone knows it... even his kids. He's a pariah on the family unit. You would believe that the family would be light-years better off without him.
I'm also tired of the commercials where bratty little kids push adults around. I guess the ad men think that the kids are being cute, but I think they're obnoxious.
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I don't find those commercials to be at all funny. I prefer the Gecko/Geico commercials, although I do believe that gecko may be male..
Oh yeah, the Gecko's a male, alright. He would appear to be a green male, though the fact that he can't dance or sing well makes me suspect he might have some white ancestry.
It's obvious from watching today's commercials that no industry is more consumed with political correctness than advertising. Any commercial that has a group of people is obligated to have blacks, orientals, hispanics, you name it. A lot of commercials feature no whites at all, despite the fact that whites obviously make up the bulk of most U.S. consumer market segments. In short, never before has the majority market been so excluded in ads, while minorities are grossly over-represented as compared to the percentage of the population they make up. Common sense is quickly leaving the business world, as well.
MM
Ping
Don't worry about it. No one else is. It's stupid and we all know it. Ignore it.
"White Chicks" drew little outrage for stereotyping, flip this situation and imagine no outrage expressed.
That was a major theme of this ad. The irony is of course that the blocked channel control is really supposed to be about parents blocking channels from kids, but here it was the kid and the wife using it to block a channel from dumb old Dad.
Watch American Idol and you would believe that white males make up only 20% of population - so I guess we can claim minority status.
Are you saying white people need to see white faces to buy something? Contrary to what you may believe, the dominant face of ads are still white or pretty darn close to white. Hispanics are a boon to ad people, they're like a twofer. You need to check out women's mags more often. White all over. This doesn't offend me because I don't need to see swarthy looking types to buy something, but you know pointing these things out are big business to people.
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