The print ad actually doesn't necessarily imply that the alpha and "sidekick" have to be male.

I think it's fairly obvious that they're implying it's for men, even if they don't say it. The entire list is hyper-masculine, who would try to sell jerky to women by telling them they'll get the man's number and their sidekick will get the ugly friend?

I have noticed many ways in which non-misogynist men are discouraged from abandoning patriarchal ideas and tendencies, and I think this is a poor example, although it is unusually blatant.

I think the best examples come from team sports culture, like football pools and publicly rooting for hyper-masculine groups who violently fight each other. Shunning this aspect of society can be quite socially detrimental.

It has also struck me that the patriarchy has successfully (and ironically) recruited many women to assist in discouraging men from abandoning hyper-masculine ideals. Consider how in the US, the most attractive girls are encouraged to become cheerleaders in order to bolster their social standing. The message is clear: embrace sports culture in order to have access to desirable women.

Under patriarchy, most men don't occupy prominent positions in the 'pecking order' -- those who do are pressured into constantly defending their turf (with paranoia, through macho performances, etc).

For men, patriarchy is very overrated.

Men do benefit from patriarchy more than women --
but how much? To what extent?
There are a lot of trade-offs and down-sides too.

As a guy, I've always recoiled from most of the features of the standard 'male' gender roles. I just can't stand the arrogance and the competition and all that.

As Murray Bookchin has written, language about 'alpha males' naturalizes hierarchy.

Bookchin highlights how people have conflated animal and insect interactions (e.g. 'queen' bees) with societal structures created by humans -- as opposed to the far more instinctual of non-human creatures. (For Bookchin, there is a continuum between humans and other life forms, so these distinctions aren't binaries.) Basically, the point here is that if human hierarchies are the same as instinctual hierarchies (e.g. interactions with a lion 'king'), then the human hiearchies must be just as natural and inevitable -- which just isn't the case.

(As Bookchin conveys that message, he over-idealizes humanity -- much like Kropotkin -- by exaggerating human inclinations toward caring, community, etc. I think he's more correct than not, but I also find that he goes too far toward an extreme here.)

It is interesting how the company is avoiding the standard anti female and anti gay language that nearly always accompanies this attitude. They're using the word "sidekick" where most men, and especially boys, would use the word "pussy" or "faggot".

Men are in a bind these days in trying to define "manhood" as feminism has deprived them of so many things that used to define it -- "breadwinner", " protector", "ladies' man". I wish that men would try to adopt more useful notions of what makes them the most "manly". In the 1930s and 40s, things like being responsible, productive, generous, and skilled in social interaction were considered components of manliness. They didn't have to be discarded with the loss of sole breadwinner status.

Now, "manliness" or "alpha"-ness seems to be defined by almost the opposite qualities. It's like the more of a child you are the more of a man you are. Doing whatever you want and feeling indifferent to the needs of others makes you the king of macho. How does anyone find this appealing?

This presents a list of acceptable pastimes for a properly masculine man - it is very constrained, and, many people would think, unfulfilling in the long or even the short run. Going out to the bar seems to be what free time revolves around - drinking, picking up women - then there's grilling, camping, and watching TV. What you could derive from this point of view is that an alpha male wouldn't enjoy anything else you could think of in a relaxed, non-competitive, and focused manner; wouldn't pursue some interest as its own reward - everything has to be some sort of a display. It creates constant anxiety over the impression that you make, rather finding something fulfilling to either enjoy or be challenged by - something that will satisfy you, without any worries of what others might think.

It's kind of ironic that the typical image of the masculine man contains some display a devil-may-care attitude - I'm just doing my own thing; don't care what anyone says; no one's the boss of me - whereas really this role is all about agonizing over the way others see you.

Also, I'm annoyed by the attitude towards friendship that this advertising campaign demonstrates. There's no notion of hanging out with people that share your interests, or have some kind of chemistry with you; there's no exchange, no respect; just exploitation. Who would want to be a sidekick anyway? Most of the males I am friends with would just walk away at such a prospect, and do something else entirely.

Dasha, you're right on the money. Adherence to all these arbitrary rules for manhood indicates someone who is either deeply insecure or gullible, likely both. I mean, if you're buying beef jerky because you believe it will make you more of a man (meaning: less of a woman), you've got some serious problems that the jerky just isn't going to fix.

Most of the support for the foreign policy blunders and human rights violations of the past 8 years can be traced to some variation of this ad. The simple phrase "Are you man enough to...?" has been responsible not only for the election of Bush (remember how Gore wasn't an "alpha male"?), but for the widespread support of war, torture, and of dramatic cuts to government programs. It's incredibly damaging and needs to stop.

Using the terms "alpha" and "dominance" just reinforces the belief that nature exists within a patriarchal, hierarchical model. It actually doesn't. I do a lot of work with horses, researching and observing the horse-human relationship, and this whole idea of "dominance" is one that has started with and is kept alive by the patriarchal worldview of Western culture. Many observers of animal behavior are brought up in and continue to live in that worldview, so they impose it on animals and the natural world. If you step outside of that worldview, what you find in the natural world is something entirely different.

Another striking thing about the power dynamics in this ad is the abject derision of the 'sidekick' man, who upon examination appears to be exactly the man the 'alpha male' exploits. (e.g., the sidekick appears to be servicing the alpha in a lot of his bullet points, like picking up the tab, buying the first round, and fetching the jerky.) The ad lionizes the alpha precisely *because* he sticks the sidekick's nose in the shit; the ad proceeds to do some warped kind of victim-blaming suggesting that if you aren't a sufficiently selfish macho prick ('alpha') then you deserve what you get, you wuss. In short, the ad is kyriarchy distilled.

I love beef jerky and eat it often. This means that I *buy* it often and in reasonably large amounts – supermarket brands when I can't get good mom-and-pop jerky. I used to buy a fair bit of Oberto, until I saw this "alpha" codswallop on either the Oberto package or the rack on which the packages were sold. I now specifically avoid Oberto for precisely the reasons laid out in this post and its comments.

I hadn't seen anything "alpha" other than the packaging or rack, and I don't recall that mentioning "sidekick" or any of the other mumbo-jumbo. It said only "eat like an alpha." That was enough for me to avoid Oberto – so the commercial and website, which I've just seen now, are almost hilariously appalling. Heckuva job, Oberto! Sorry that my money's too feminist for you.

Ironically, of course, by rejecting Oberto I *am* eating like an "alpha." Only a "sidekick" would follow Oberto's leader and eat the company's kyriarchal crap.

One might say that eating beef jerky (or any flesh from a slaughtered animal) is in some sense *already* being an "alpha" in patriarchal cultures.

As several sociological and anthropological studies of meat-eating and vegetarianism reveal, meat is far from a "naturally" superior food but rather a "natural symbol" for power/privilege, virility, and masculinity (Twigg 1983, Adams 1990, Fiddes 1991, Allen et al 2008, etc..) As "the human" has historically been standardized and alligned with white, middle/upper-class masculinity in the West, those more "animal" like have been subordinated to the status of foils for human projects (i.e. women, children, proletariat, people of color).
http://books.google.com/books?id=PztM5Ex8jKAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Sociology+on+the+menu+:+an+invitation+to+the+study+of+food+and+society&ei=XLWJSbaGOJ-4lAST0oG3Ag&client=firefox-a#PPA193,M1

This idea is embodied within the intersections of two ideas: the great chain of being and the "food chain." Here, humans prescribe themselves to "the top of the food chain" to justify their violence and subordination of Others. Though "meat" may not essentially be a hierarchal food, its distribution and production (especially red meats like beef which are associated with colonial/imperial identities) is historically and symbolically one of "power-over". An ad for lettuce of this type, or even sardines, would not work because these foods are lower on the food hierarchy.
http://eco-health.blogspot.com/2008/12/racial-and-colonial-politics-of-meat.html

I liked the objectification of women. Gets the ugly friend- Nice!

Why is it that the "alpha" does everything he can to show off in every aspect except monetarily? Wouldn't one of the best ways to show be to show how much money you make by always buying the first round, buying the shots, picking up the tab, buying the beef jerky? Other than that, I'd say the sidekick really gets the best deal. He rides shotgun, so if the they get into an accident, it's not his fault, it's the alpha's. The alpha picks the bar -- if the bar sucks, it's the alpha's fault. The alpha picks the movie -- if the movie sucks, it's his fault. The alpha cooks the steaks (while the sidekick just helps watch them) -- if they suck, it's his fault. It's no wonder the sidekick enables the alpha's alcoholism -- he doesn't have to be responsible for anything!

@ Misti
The print ad includes the line "Tussles his hair" in reference to the sidekick.

Not true.

I think humanities and soft sciences majors should quit watching television. They seem to be blind to the misandry rampant in most commercials and television sitcoms, and tend to focus on situations like this: overanalysis of a beef jerky commercial.

It's call confirmation bias. Look it up.

"Many observers of animal behavior are brought up in and continue to live in that worldview, so they impose it on animals and the natural world. If you step outside of that worldview, what you find in the natural world is something entirely different."

I don't buy that. There are many examples of social animals estabilishing hierarchy inside their groups. There's the animal that gets to ear first, to pick his (yes "his", because that's usually how it goes amongst mammals) mate, who has to protect himself from constant attacks, among many other things that indicate that inside a group, there's one animal, or a small group of privileged animals, that take the alpha role.

And that instinctual behavior probably applies to humans as well. I'm not justifying any stupid behavior that results from this, nor I'm saying that things should be like this. Just want to say that it makes no sense to deny how we were built think.

I mean, hierarchy and patriarchy are two things that are practically universal in humans, with a handful of exceptions that barely qualify as such.

Do you guys really think guys buy beef jerky because they think it will make them more manly? The ad is meant to be funny. Guys give each other crap all the time. Are you going to dissect and analyze the other ads that advocate "Messing with Sasquatch" now? Maybe you can talk about cruelty to animals or point out the fact that sasquatch is a mythological creature. I think just like how you are pointing out how these ads, society, etc, perpetuates this or that, in a sense a lot of people here are perpetuating a pretty stereotypical view of the "Alpha" male. Not all "dominant" guys are jerks, egotistical, or insecure.

In a patriarchy, discussion of misandry doesn't make a whole lot of sense because the presence of it does nothing to address or alter the underlying power structure.

The "misandry" comment was probably referring to the ways in which men are depicted as bumbling husbands in commercials and on sitcoms. Which, I agree with Original Will, isn't hugely important most of the time. That's something that bugs me about men's rights advocates, they complain about things like that when issues like the homophobia and sexism which make up so much of our dominant masculinity likely have far more of an effect on men and women.

And Dan, while maybe nobody goes into a shop looking for a tasty snack which will reinforce their self-image, ask yourself this. If there were two identical food products, one labeled "manly", with images of cowboys etc., and the other in bright pink, with unicorns and so forth trotting across the packaging, which would an average man choose, operating under the constraints of a system in which he is taught one must constantly prove one's masculinity?

Nobody is saying that all guys are bad, or jerks, or whatever. Maybe we are questioning what "dominant" means though, and why it's so important to our current conception of masculinity that men be "dominant", not just over women but over other men as well.

"The “misandry” comment was probably referring to the ways in which men are depicted as bumbling husbands in commercials and on sitcoms. Which, I agree with Original Will, isn’t hugely important most of the time."

I guess discrimination against men is not as important asdiscrimination against women.

And, yes, it's just a beef jerky commercial, sociology nerds.

Get a life.

I have to wonder at the kind of people who come to a sociology blog just to insult sociologists...

There isn't really any discrimination against men. That's the whole point. Look around, men are still in charge.

And yes, it's just a beef jerky commercial. One amongst thousands and thousands and thousands of commercials with the same message.

I fail to see what having a life has to do with any of this. Evidently, it means closing your eyes to inequality and crying "me too me too people are mean to me also!"

Women are a majority in the U.S., and they freely elected our government officials.

Women are privileged when it comes to government largesse in the form of programs for healthcare and social services.

By next year, women will control the majority of wealth in the U.S.:

http://knowledge.allianz.com/en/globalissues/demographic_change/gender_diversity/women_money_us.html

Give up your old, tired, unsupported bigoted feminism. The 70s are long gone.

As a beekeeper, I can tell you that queen bee/bossy lady analogies are usually off base. In reality, the queen bee lives to serve. Though a special presence in the hive, she's not the decision maker. Decisions are made by the workers acting collectively.

First of all, I'm a guy and would probably be considered an Alpha male by most. I own a vending company and was doing some research on Oh Boy! Oberto products. When I searched for "Oh Boy Oberto" on Google, one of the first websites that popped up was www.eatlikeanalpha.com ....i thought, "no way! that's the stupidest website name i've ever seen...can't be them!"....after looking around and finding nothing else, I realized, that's their site.

Besides the fact that I couldn't get ANY useful information from it (do any of the links actually work?) the entire premise of the site was f'ing RETARDED. I mean, I make fun of feminists and liberal hippy tree-huger types all the time for being too sensitive and vulnerable....but this site almost offended ME. Really? Serious? Eat like an "alpha"? WTF does that even mean?

Bottom line, this is the worst, most ridiculous "marketing" and corporate branding I've ever seen from a mainstream company (possible from ANY company, and I've seen some bad stuff)....I will be looking for a Jack Links or other distributor in my area and avoid carrying Oh Boy! Oberto products if at all possible.

What a joke! zget your heads out of your asses fellas! Joke's on you!