This McDonald's ad is in heavy rotation these days, and it's gotten beyond teeth-grinding annoying for me.
I simply can't get past the premise. Do you think that there's an alternate version in which an insecure boy asks his mom if she wanted a girl? Me neither.
I say this as the father of three boys, the youngest of whom was our last try at a girl. If that scene were played out in our family ("Mom, do you ever wish I'd been a boy?"), I'd see it as a devastating indictment about our failure as parents. But clearly, the notion of a girl asking for forgiveness for being a girl can be played as a heart-warming moment - and not as a desperate cry for help - makes some sort of sense for advertisers.
Why?
(I think this is the first time I've started a thread in the feminism forum.)
ETA: I just saw it again. I think I heard the boy call her "Sam". No wonder she's insecure! Gaaah!