unbelievably offensive ads

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Originally posted by minkepants:
[b]As a guy who thinks being a gentleman and a feminist are most often congruent these two ads made me want to spit tacks.

While there are a host of issues in this ad, the one that drives me up the wall is when the woman catches an easy toss and says " how many girls could do that?" to which I instantly think: ALL of them???

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoqdCm-Sd5k]nutrisystem ad[/url]

and this ad, which is just heartbreaking in its piggishness.[/b]

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I think I understand what you meant when when you said [i]a gentleman and a feminist are most often congruent[/i] but I don't think this is true depending on how you define the word gentleman. The modern notion of the gentleman and lady system is built upon a bourgeois adoption of medieval chivalry which made most women totally subordinate to men; male chavanism loves to disguise itself in a romantic costume when possible, this helps guys to remain in a state of denial about what's wrong wrong with certain male behaviors and their institutionalization in modern society.

In the NutraSystem ad, I took her question to mean how many girls could be into the sport of (American) football as opposed to, say volleyball or figure skating, not be able to catch a football.

Hey, that NutraSystem food tastes like military rations saved from WWII. I'm inclined to give her a break if she suffered through that to lose weight. And, it's funny at the end where she says "get NutraSystem and score!".

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[b][url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm5WUsDYcVw]disgusting autotrader ad[/url]

Yellow Pages group (Autotrader's owners) is in a rather precarious business position right now. Its stock, which traded at 16.50 at the start of 2006, trades at less than half that value as of today's numbers (July 9, 2008). This makes them a ripe target for even the whiff of a boycott threat, no?

If I'm not mistaken, the parent group also has a predominantly female frontline staff[/b]

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That ad hit the nail right on the head. What else do most guys who are as dumb as that actor portrayed want in life? Young women and websites where they can search for used cars, that's it. I think those ladies in the front office got it right. And, seriously, I don't see how that commercial puts women down---that guy was dumber than a box of hammers, she was hot and hitting on him in the singles bar, yet he goes home to look at AutoTrader online. Doh!

I'm all for appealing to men's reason when it comes to equal rights but some guys have to be trained...like dogs. Watch this video and you will see.

Same video here: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9vSAepxC9o&feature=related]http://www.yo...

[ 08 July 2008: Message edited by: Robespierre ]

[ 08 July 2008: Message edited by: Robespierre ]

I also think that the woman in the Nutrisystem ad was referring to football, not that particular throw. She said, "I'm into football - how many women could do that?"

But that Auto Trader ad was pretty awful, I agree. I mean, I know, their series of ads is comparing looking for cars with dating. There's another one where a couple is celebrating their 10th anniversary in a fancy restaurant, and one of them (I can't remember if it's the man or the woman) has a much younger person of the opposite sex sit next to them, and they tell their spouse that they've been together long enough and they want something new. Then, "You can do that with Auto Trader" or whatever.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwIIKuPpIpA]Here's another one that makes fun of fat women.[/url] I suppose you could read this commercial in different ways, and put a positive spin on it, but I think the comments from the person who posted it on YouTube and the comments from the viewers make it quite clear what the expected reaction to it is.

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Originally posted by Michelle:
[b][url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwIIKuPpIpA]Here's another one that makes fun of fat women.[/url] I suppose you could read this commercial in different ways, and put a positive spin on it, but I think the comments from the person who posted it on YouTube and the comments from the viewers make it quite clear what the expected reaction to it is.[/b]

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I know the person who posted the ad to YouTube has some questionable opinions about the ad... but a few of the comments below are from relatives of the woman acting in the commercial. They are all very supportive and it made me happy for her. Seems like her name is Araxi? I loved the coughing part and her going *woo*! I realize people foisted stereotypes on the woman but I'm just happy to see a confident woman of size in that commercial. Down with bikini babe ads!
[img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img] [img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img]

All I could think when I watched the Auto Trader 'dating' ads was, "We think our customers are shallow human beings".

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Originally posted by Skinny Dipper:
[b]I got the feeling that the Nutrisystem ad was acutally targetted at men. Here's a "hot-chick" who loves football. What Tim-the-Toolman-Taylor wouldn't want their woman to be like that?...[/b]

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Yeah, no doubt. The most sales-effective commercials trigger responses in more than one layer of the public. Men and women like the body that the Nutrisystem graduate has. That bikini was tacky, though. Hot pink? Hahaha, that was for straight men, I think.

[ 11 July 2008: Message edited by: Robespierre ]