Cross-posted at Jezebel.
We have posted previously about how desserts, particularly chocolate ones, are often advertised to women as indulgences they can use to overcome romantic disappointments, or even as substitute sources of love. L. Ellis sent in an example of this, an ad found in Bon Appetit for Sugar in the Raw that tells women to make brownies to deal with breakup:
Indeed, you can calculate how much dessert you’re going to need by how much time you invested in the guy (“Count the years you dated. If it exceeds 5, double the recipe.”). The ad is also a great example of the contradictory messages women get to be thin but also indulge — today you can “devour that pan of chocolaty goodness,” full of butter and sugar, while you cry over your lost love, but it’s a short-lived reprieve. Inevitably, you now being single and all, the “diet starts tomorrow.”
Comments 37
Kelly — January 31, 2011
Uh. I love brownies enough that I kind of just want to make this recipe, regardless of its offensive delivery.
Jessica — January 31, 2011
Oh man!!! There are so many female / break-up / diet cliches in there I almost can't handle it. Geez, In The Raw. Can't a woman just like brownies and not need all these justifications and hedges?
Danny — January 31, 2011
And whatever you do, don't think either. "1 tsp of baking soda. Wonder what it does? Don't. Just add it."
This is even more offensive because all it is is a levening agent. But distressed ladies struggling to get over a break up definiately don't need to think, right? Or know what they're putting in their bodies?
mercurianferret — January 31, 2011
Why push the ad to women? I mean, Bon Apetit magazine isn't a "women's magazine", and the whole ad could easily have worked without any gender reference:
"Cocoa brownies to heal a broken heart" as a general message could work, although it doesn't emphasize the whole, "you got dumped for someone else" aspect of the ad. "Cocoa brownies to heal a heart broken by the old, 'It's not you, it's me' line," could work to get that psychological edge in there. (Because I know that men have had that line delivered to them.)
And then the only thing that you have to do is remove the "girlfriend" reference at the end of the "recipe".
The references to "diet starts tomorrow," "today calls for carbs," and "cry till you hear the timer," don't have to reference a female. (Hey, advertisers: guys also cry and binge-eat after getting dumped!)
... but also, who thinks, "Sure, I'll plop down with a cooking magazine now that I've just been dumped," or, "Great! A recipe to clip out for those times when I get dumped"? I gotta wonder what sort of thinking went into the development of this ad...
Stephanie — January 31, 2011
At a glance, I got a very retro vibe from this ad. Would have sworn it was sexism from the 70's. But, lo and behold, this is fresh new sexism. Good to know...that's...still...happening. Sigh.
Scapino — January 31, 2011
The last think I want to do after being dumped is scour the supermarket shelves for increasingly-hard-to-find Dutch process cocoa.
Sadie — January 31, 2011
It's chocolatey, for christsake.
Kate — January 31, 2011
'girlfriend, uh we mean friend'.
Because if you are not attached to a man, then you cannot even be a female friend to your peers. You are only allowed to be sassy and gendered if you have a man.
UGH.
Willow — January 31, 2011
Wait. I have to get dumped before I'm allowed to bake with real sugar?
Jennifer — February 1, 2011
There was a hilarious lampooning of this on SNL--Tina Fey's "brownie husband": http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/brownie-husband/1218011/
ibislynn — February 1, 2011
In addition to the grossness of this ad, can I just say how much I hate EVERY. SINGLE. COMMERCIAL. I have ever seen for Truvia. The lyrics make me stabby.
DoucheMaster69 — February 1, 2011
What we really should be asking is why the women arent in the kitchen cooking for the Masculine perfection. *kisses flexing biceps*
elly — February 1, 2011
Actually, I find this ad to be borderline sick. It's not just about eating something "chocolaty" to assuage a broken heart... it's about binge eating. The ad literally encourages a woman to eat the whole pan, because the diet starts tomorrow, doncha know.
That whole vicious cycle of joyless overeating, guilt/self-loathing and empty promises causes real people (women and men) real pain. It's no joke... and shouldn't be turned into one.
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