Busty Beer Ads: Sexist or Just Smart Selling?

Fox News Channel ^ | Monday, February 03, 2003 | By Amy C. Sims

[Varda]

"What the bluenoses object to is any intimation of the natural attraction between the sexes, or what characteristics stimulate it. They want glamor to be anathema"

So I take it that you think, two women having their cloths forcably removed in a fight is naturally attractive to men and displays "glamor" in the women."

[aardvark1]

So the problem isn't that Coors tastes like warmed over piss?

Exactly!!!! Whoever drank any of this stuff because a chesty blond was in the ad? If anyone did, after one taste, they'd realize what part the blond really played in the process.

[Wondervixen]

If that were the case, I'd still be single and not have the three joy's of my life, my daughters.

Some unattractive, spiteful cows have to ruin things for everybody.

[FreedomPoster]

Then turn off the television. There is much worse to be seen in prime-time network TV. Will & Grace, anyone?

[grania]

For the rest of us and especially those trying to teach children respect for others, there is a problem.

If you think this ad has a "respect" issue, then why would your children be watching football anyway, which is guys in tight pants and helmets bashing each other?

That's the humor of it...those girls wrestling in mud, well what are the football players doing on a rainy day?

If you want to object to anything, how about the lewd "dance" maneuvers that were passed off as entertainment during the half-time show?

[Varda]

Actually I have satellite. And I do turn off particular stations and rarely watch the networks. However, I live near a high school and I see kids attempting to emulate what they see on TV. We live in a society that encourages the attitudes and the actions. We don't live in a society that talks much about the consequences.

[Varda]

I watch football because I can tell the difference between a game played for the purpose of entertainment and a commercial that trivalizes forceful unclothing. Children can tell the difference too.

I don't watch the halftime shows anymore. I'll take your word for it that they're offensive, the last time I watched one it was mind-bogglingly boring.

[fporretto]

So I take it that you think, two women having their cloths forcably removed in a fight is naturally attractive to men and displays "glamor" in the women."

I take it you're a bluenose, Varda?

The Miller "catfight" commercial is harmless fun. And, just in case you didn't notice, 1) it was two women tearing one another's clothes off with no assistance from any man, and 2) the whole thing was cast as a gentle mockery of male interest in beautiful women.

If God hated flesh, why did he make so much of it? God is no sissy. He made the grand canyon and comets coursing though the sky and cyclones and stallions and earthquakes - can a God who does all that turn around and practically wet his pants just because some little sheila leans over a mite and a man catches sight of a tit? (Robert A. Heinlein)

We're sexual creatures. The bodies of the opposite sex interest us. As long as we don't coerce them or violate them forcibly, there's nothing wrong with it. Oh, and you can leave off trying to read my mind. There are probably too many obscure polysyllabic words in it for you anyway.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

[joesnuffy]

Schwiiiing! oops I meant- ping

[GraniteStateConservative]

"[It] pokes fun at men's sexist views."

No, Eric, it pokes fun at men's sexual preferences-- what we view as beautiful and sexy. There's nothing sexist about appreciating the bodies of these women. Their beauty is almost universally appreciated because of thousands of years of nature.

[GraniteStateConservative]

I hadn't read your post, but I replied with the same response regarding Eric's claim that the ad poked fun at men's sexist views.

[sushiman]

Miller Lite ? Coors ? Budweiser ? Wouldn't touch the stuff if THEY gave it away and supplied me with a harem of buxom blondes to boot !

[Treebeard]

Every time I hear one of these broads whine about such commercials, I'm reminded of something Limbaugh said to the effect that feminism was invented to give ugly women something to do (words to that effect).

I like the commercials, but of course, I once drove 100 miles through a snowstorm to see women wrestle in drilling mud at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa...

[Varda]

"The Miller "catfight" commercial is harmless fun."

I don't find the attitude that violent removal of one's clothes is trival, harmless.

"it was two women tearing one another's clothes off with no assistance from any man"

And this makes it all right? The point of the commercial was it was that these fighting women who were being stripped was exciting entertainment for the men. As I said, if you're entertained by strip clubs and pornography, this must seem pretty tame. I'm trying to raise a son with better sense than this.

"the whole thing was cast as a gentle mockery of male interest in beautiful women."

You and I have different definitions of beautiful. Those women are at the surface attractive and the behavior they display is ugly. Many of us are trying to raise children not immune to the ugly and rightfully repulsed by it.

"For every one pupil who needs to be guarded from the weak excess of sensibility there are three who need to be awakened from the slumber of cold vulgarity"
"St Augustine defines virtue as ordo amoris, the ordinate condition of the affections in which every object is accorded that kind of degree of love which is appropriate to it. Aristotle says that the aim of education is to make the pupil like and dislike what he ought. When the age for reflective thought comes, the pupil who has been thus trained in 'ordinate affections' or 'just sentiments' will easily find the first principles in Ethics; but to the corrupt man they will never be visible at all..." (The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis)

[Let's Roll]

Am I the only one to notice that when the camera cuts to the real life dates of the two guys they are quite pale imitations of the fantasy women - similar hair color and styles, etc? Now that seems cold to me.

[grania]

Those women are at the surface attractive and the behavior they display is ugly. Many of us are trying to raise children not immune to the ugly and rightfully repulsed by it.

Varda...would you say that behavior was "ugly" if it had been two men fighting over something trivial? Is there any reason a woman who is "surface attractive" can't be attractive in other ways? What I saw was a positive role model for women. Here were two attractive women, conversing over a beer without being surrounded by men, able to convey humor and they were very much in shape physically. I'm seeing two women who can take care of themselves and stand up for what they believe, portrayed with some humor.

These complaints make me crazy. What animal on planet earth doesn't flirt and try to attract the opposite sex? If you want to complain about anything, how about the ugly polyester suits some women wear to be less attractive and more manly?

Varday, if you have daughters, be more concerned about video games, song lyrics, BJs on school busses, and students with any spunk being drugged to fit in. And hope that your daughters grow up to be attractive, humorous, and able to take care of themselves.

[grania]

Those women are at the surface attractive and the behavior they display is ugly. Many of us are trying to raise children not immune to the ugly and rightfully repulsed by it.

Varda...would you say that behavior was "ugly" if it had been two men fighting over something trivial? Is there any reason a woman who is "surface attractive" can't be attractive in other ways? What I saw was a positive role model for women. Here were two attractive women, conversing over a beer without being surrounded by men, able to convey humor and they were very much in shape physically. I'm seeing two women who can take care of themselves and stand up for what they believe, portrayed with some humor.

These complaints make me crazy. What animal on planet earth doesn't flirt and try to attract the opposite sex? If you want to complain about anything, how about the ugly polyester suits some women wear to be less attractive and more manly?

Varday, if you have daughters, be more concerned about video games, song lyrics, BJs on school busses, and students with any spunk being drugged to fit in. And hope that your daughters grow up to be attractive, humorous, and able to take care of themselves.

[Varda]

.would you say that behavior was "ugly" if it had been two men fighting over something trivial?"

Yes actually I was going to say that but there is more going on in the commercial than that. The spectacle causes voyuerism in the men. Beautiful women attract the eye but the fact that they fight and rip each others cloths off is what's supposed to be exciting and desirable; "Who wouldn't want to see that!".

This is no positive role model for women and although I don't have daughters I wouldn't want them to act like this. Would any brother want to see his sister act like this? Would any child want his mother to do this? I wouldn't want my mother to do this, nor anyone's sister or daughter.
As for taking care of one's self, I do believe in self defense. I happened to have grown up in some rough neigborhoods and I made sure noone saw me as this kind of object. I had a friend who wasn't so careful and she paid the price.
This commercial wasn't about flirting or trying to attract the opposite sex (something that the Swedish Bikini team commercial was about). This was about voyeurism and two guys who thought that would be a great. The slight disclaimer at the end (disapproving girlfriends) did nothing to balance the effect.

I agree with you about the ugly pantsuits but at least that's better than some 11 year old with low cut jeans and a tee-shirt that says "boy toy".

I've been ahead of the curve on TV, radio, music and school bus behavior for some time. I don't have trouble saying "no". Never have but I make sure that it's known that my decisions aren't arbitrary. I'm not more concerned with
TV than with other influences but it's part of the mix of societal decay that pushes against the values I'm attempting to instill: respect life, human in particular, sex is good (in marriage), treat others as you would have them treat you.

[Billthedrill]

With respect, I have a problem with the assumption that absolutely everything in modern society must be formed, edited, and screened with an eye to the proper upbringing of children. One would think that beer commercials are of limited use in pedagogy anyway, else they would be shown in schools with more frequency than they currently are. Here's a modest proposal - let adult content be for adults and children's content be for children, and if the former is deemed bad for the latter, don't let them watch. Is that so radical?

[Varda]

We are talking about the content of a commercial aired during a football game, a sport once thought to be appropriate family viewing. As for pedagogy, social liberals have their own, don't they? For the "if it feels good do it" crowd, this commercial requires no explanation for children. In my house it does.
Even at that, this did not prompt me to complain to the station. The effect of the programming and commercials has motivated us to turn off network TV.
My negative responses on this thread are pointed to the ideas promoted in the commercial, i.e. that women having their clothes forceably removed is (a)harmless or (b) attractive or (c) fun to watch.