My guess is that those who respond to this type of advertising hire out those tasks anyway.
Who, me worry?
Posted on 11/16/2001 1:18:49 PM PST by disclaimer
Introducing “The Gripper”, says Hefty, with memorable advertising like all companies strive to achieve. The commercial promoting this new product compares the garbage bag to the “Strong, Dependable Type” of man - only to toss “him” in the garbage in the end. I saw this commercial several times and, as a strong dependable man that I am, I was insulted. I’ll remember this Hefty ad since it offended me, but I can take it like a man and so I will.
I’ll avoid Hefty (PACTIV Corporation) products just like I won’t step foot into a Hallmark store since they feature male-bashing cards to make a buck on jaded women. Welcome to the club Hefty. As a matter of routine, I’ll make sure none of my investments include Pactiv stock (NYSE symbol PTV) since they are the owners of the Hefty brand and obviously don’t know how to address an the entire product market.
I do have to wonder why such a company would introduce a new product using a commercial that denigrates any of their potential customers. Makes me think Hefty doesn’t value investor money enough to maximize returns on their investment. So, I make sure I’m not giving them any of my investment money. I’m sure I’m not the only one with some business sense thinking this. Why would any company choose to introduce and promote a product by associating it with a negative message?
Here’s a transcript of the Hefty "The Gripper" ad that ran during the NBC evening news on November 13th, 2001:
Actress 1) If I had a man like Hefty…
Actress 2) If I had a man like Hefty…
Actress 3) He’d always be coming up with new ways to impress me
Female Voice) Introducing Hefty The Gripper. The first kitchen bag with the stretch and grip top so it hugs the can and won’t slip
Actress 3) oh, and he’d know how to hold on tight
Actress 1) …then he won’t cave under pressure
Female Voice) Nothing is made like the gripper. It stretches, grips, and stays put so it can take it like a man.
Actress 3) and when I’m done with him…
Actress 1) (shown dropping a bag of trash into a garbage can)
Actress 3) Chow baby
Actress 2) Bye bye
Actress 1) So long
Female Voice) The Gripper – new from Hefty. The strong dependable type.
Hefty must have female chauvinists running amuck in the marketing department or they must have determined that targeting dysfunction women is worth alienating balanced women and men. Funny, I though we all need garbage bags but I suppose Hefty knows the market best. Maybe they figure men will just take their insults like a man and buy Hefty bags just the same.
Pactiv is an international company and I have to wonder if they have a Hefty product ad targeted toward the Taliban men since they dominate their culture. The Hefty brand doesn’t seem to mind associating themselves with chauvinistic women so denigrating a gender to advance their product shouldn’t be a problem. With a name like “The Gripper,” I’m sure they can come up with plenty of ways to denigrate women and get that male Taliban market share. Go to it you creative Hefty marketing geniuses.
How come we never see the dumb blonde advertisment, or an ad that pokes fun at an ethnic group? Men SHOULD be offended!
Women do the buying of most of the staples in a household. If the male in the family takes offense at an advertisment, he has an obligation to state that it offends him and request that the product NOT be purchased. Believe me, if a woman were offended with this type of ad, she would take action.
My guess is that those who respond to this type of advertising hire out those tasks anyway.
Who, me worry?
"If I had a woman like ..."
"When I'm through with her, I just toss her in the trash!"
They can sell trash bags without bashing anyone, it's not like we're going to run out of trash one day.
Just the other day, I saw an advertisement where a man and his pregnant wife were laying in bed. While the man watched television, the wife mused about what kind of food she would like. She announced that she wanted ice cream and barbequed chicken. The man distractedly replied something to the effect that while the ice cream was available in the freezer, barbequed chicken would take some significant time and effort to prepare. The punchline was the woman reaching under the covers toward the mans groin, and him suddenly and uncontrolably jerking upright in extreme pain.
I wonder if the commercial would be just as funny if the guy had asked for food and then did the exact same thing to the woman when she didn't respond as he might wish. Again, I think children, and even many adults internalize this attitudes and behaviour inherent in this kind of stuff.
I don't know if commercials which make light of physical abuse between spouses have a damaging effect on society in any tangible sense, but I do know that there is a definite double standard in operation here. I can also hazard a pretty good guess on what the response of women's groups would be if any network ever dared to air a commercial in which a featured a man painfully pinching twisting his wifes genitals as a punchline.
Cause there is so much more to bash.
Or, maybe they figured men aren't organized into political groups with any clout - so they can insult men at will. My message is that for most instances of male bashing I note it to myself and form a bias against the offending company. Same holds true about ads denigrating women for that matter. I don't see it as a laughing matter in current charged sexual political environment, and I want those folks in Madison Avenue to know that I pay attention.
No offense, but there are far more pressing things to worry about that some marketing gimick
Why did you read the my article if that's the case - why did you waste your time since you have more pressing things to do?
Reponding to this feminist tripe is not a waste of time and such a low priority when you consider the feminism message of hatred toward men transforming our culture. The liberal left has been conditioning us to look down on men for decades now. Do you think that "womyns studies" in college should just be ignored also since you have more important things to do?
Did you misspell your name? Should it be boston_liberal?
Personally, the one that always bothered me was the standard joke 'So many men, so little intelligence'. You see it everywhere! Replace 'men' with 'blacks' (or any other race/relgion/nationality/gender) and see how funny it is.
Imagine the opposite: "I want a woman like a hefty! Someone I can THRUST my stuff into, and fill 'er up to the brim! I wanna stretch 'er out, tie 'er up, and then...."
...and maybe a bit callous too.
1) In 999 out of a 1000 times the men in the commericals are wrong, or stupid, or both. The woman in the commerical always gives him this type of look and/or treats him like a well meaning but backwards child. Even the kids get in on the act. You know: Exhale, put their hands on their hips and go: "Oh,daddy...."
2) In a huge majority of commericals aimed at kids (cereal, candy, etc.) all adults (say anyone over 18) are little more than moving targets. The cereal "Apple Jacks" instantly leaps to mind. ("..Hey! We eat what we like!"...)
3) THE WOMEN NEVER EAT! Oh, in these commericals they may daintily taste, or pick at this or that, but watch them in a commerical for a resturant or some such. I remember a particular one for McD's: The dad had a Big Mac combo. Junior and Sissy each had their Happy Meals, and mom...mom had a lousy salad! Why can't mom be seen eating a cheeseburger or munching fries or drinking a milk shake?
4) This may be a little off the subject but I have had it with blond jokes! I am a blond. Have been so all my life. And, at the risk of sounding like a blow-hard, I'm smarter than a lot of brunettes (male and female) I've met. But, duh, if your blond....
I told my husband: "If they made these same jokes using the words "black guy" or "retard guy" instead of "blond" there'd be h--- to pay!"
My husband, who is half-Japanese, replied: "You know why don't you? Beacuse only white people have blond hair."
And dog gone, if he didn't have a point.
How about the Special K commercial, where the woman walks by the man, sitting at a table, and she whacks him up side the head with a box of Special K, and grins. You know who would be screaming if it was the other way around.
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