Those scamps at Patrón have come up with the following ad from their ” Some Perfection Is Debatable” campaign:
The following items apparently all represent perfection (debatably):
1. X-Ray Glasses: Dresses, locker rooms, bathroom stalls…the possibilities are limited only by your desire to look at the naked bodies of unconsenting women!
2. PMS Patch: Finally, a treatment for women whose behavior is intolerable because their hormonal levels are closest to men’s.
3. Shopping Harness: Presumably this would prevent shopping for girly stuff like purses and tampons. Buying video games and flat-screen TVs would be unaffected by the Harness. (When I pointed this out in class, a student told me “Women shop. Men purchase.”)
4. Silent Clone: At last, a woman who will only engage in sexual and domestic chores, without all of that troublesome talking!
5. Anti-Cuddling Device: Because after a rigorous, masculine bout of penile-vaginal intercourse, the last thing you want to do is something as gay as cuddling, am I right?
In addition to the obvious points the ad attempts to make about the inferiority of the feminine, it might be useful in a discussion about the smirking, elbow-in-the-ribs assumptions that are often a part of the enforcement of masculinity.
Comments 15
mordicai — March 2, 2009
I blow my mind the sort of stuff that gets openly said. WHAT.
Lately I've been enjoying a lot of geeky pursuits: watching Batman cartoons or Star Wars movies on cable. Being advertised to as an 18-30s male, which I am, makes me feel terrible being an 18-30s male! There is some new movie, in particular? About a guy who is TOTALLY about to score with a girl (who is a "7" the movie tells me) then goes into a coma & when he wakes up...SHE IS A PLAYMATE! OMG he can probably still score with her! SCOOOOORE.
Ugh.
maeva — March 2, 2009
"Anti-Cuddling Device:" WTF? Why would you NOT want to be physically close to the one you love? That combined with the "silent clone" sounds like the men this would be advertised to actually do not want to be together with a woman. If you feel like this, why not just break up and sit at home and masturbate? While you drink the tequila.
Kristen — March 2, 2009
I'm SO very curious about this: when will brilliant marketing minds come to the realization that WOMEN WORK, NOW! AND WE DRINK! AND WE HAVE MONEY TO BUY LIQUOR!
When?
Why are (apparently primitive, stereotypical) MALES between 18-34 still considered the target market? Do companies know how much money they could make from women?
(Clearly not.)
Cecil — March 2, 2009
I wonder how many men would find this campaign offensive?
SarahMC — March 2, 2009
Great question, Kristen. Alcohol is NEVER marketed to women (besides fruity bottled drinks)!
Zula — March 2, 2009
I read each of those examples the same way you did, sans one:
I understood the "silent clone" to be one of the MAN, since then he wouldn't have to worry about saying the "wrong thing" and setting his female partner off/starting a fight/what have you. In other words, it conjured the stereotype of the clueless man simply unable to figure out how to interact peacefully with the enigmatic/mercurial woman.
Michelle — March 2, 2009
"Some perfection is debatable" - in this context, what does that mean?
iflurry — March 2, 2009
This ad mostly confused me.
When I saw "X-Ray Glasses", I thought of the cheap "gimmick" that was once on sale at magic and prank stores. As for the "Cone of Silence", isn't that a reference to a faulty piece of sci-fi gadgetry from Get Smart? I thought the implication was that some stuff just doesn't work.
Ryan — March 2, 2009
When I read these I was a little confused. I didn't get what the shopping harness was. I thought it was something for a guy...like to help you carry all her shopping bags. I mean, i got that it was supposed to be implying that "Women are shoppaholics", but I didn't get the "joke".
Also, I thought the "Silent Clone" was a clone of yourself. I know I get into a lot of trouble with my wife by trying to "fix" her problems or "not listening enough" the way "all men" don't listen. I assumed a silent clone would sit there and just listen. Funny how your own personal experiences can color your interpriation. Personally a silent sexual partner seems sort of dull to me so I didn't "go there" I guess.
Ryan — March 2, 2009
Also, who doesn't like cuddling?
NL — March 2, 2009
SarahMC, I remember a billboard campaign several years of ago -- a beer that targeted women. (Miller Lite?) However, the point of the campaign was that the beer had fewer calories -- and the image was of a woman working out! Actually, there's a current set of commercials similar to that. Miller 64, about a beer that's 64 calories?
So either it's bottled fruity drinks or the beer that's lowest in calories. Great.
Quercki M. Singer — March 3, 2009
Please tag this post! "Gender" for starters. I want it to show up when I filter by tag. Thanks in advance.
BTW, I thought a "shopping harness" was for your toddler! AKA a child leash. But that doesn't fit the rest of the list.
Inky — March 3, 2009
Quercki, you're not alone! I totally assumed the shopping harness was a toddler leash, too.
Matt — May 28, 2009
Well I came across this page while doing competitive research as I work for a large spirits company. To the women offended by this ad - you simply don't understand the point of this advertising/marketing campaign.
First, it's meant to be basic and simple. Ads aren't supposed to take a long time to get, get your consumers attention and make them chuckle before they turn the page. If you think this is part of some massive effort to enforce masculinity at the expense of women. This probably ran in Maxim and is targeting 21-34yr old guys.
Secondly, Patron certainly understands the purchasing power of women and thats probably why theyve doubled their spend against female publications in 2008 vs. 2007...
Thirdly, you act as if the opposite of this ad is not true. How many ads targeting women for products like microwaveable dinners, cleaning products, ziploc bags etc portray the husband as a dunce who can't throw cooked veggies in a freezer bag properly. Yet most women who watch the ad prob agree with it on some base level and get a chuckle out of it before the commercial ends. That's the point of the ad, nothing more, nothing less.
To Sarah - Alcohol is NEVER marketed towards women? So what do you make of the the tens of millions I've directed towards female magazines and tv programming. Beer is not marketed towards women. Scotch/Cognac/Whicskey etc is not marketed towards women. What about Grey Goose? The Patron ads in Marie Claire or InStyle? Champagne? Yes the majority of alcohol is marketed towards men simply because men spend (and consume) the majority of alcohol.
Believe me, if theres a dollar to be made selling a specific alcohol brand to women - someone is doing it. These companies spend tens of millions on advertising and hundreds of thousands on research to make sure they know who they can make money off of...
Anonymous — July 30, 2009
When outdoor mall-areas developed in England in the mid-1600s, suddenly "shop" became a verb. Before then, people went specifically out to individual craftsmen and sellers for their needs and wants. Now, people are able to enjoy the act of examining grouped articles and considering purchase. Shopping isn't even about purchasing, though it often leads to purchasing, and is often considered more expensive and less productive because the purchases are unplanned. While this does often lead to reckless spending, thanks to advertising, planned purchasing is no safer. To group these activities by gender is obnoxious, but a valid differentiation of activities.