Target Women had a segment about those, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ7nBugejXs

I just knew from the tweet that this was going to be about Brinks. Hate those ads.

I love that Sarah Haskins video so very much. :D The SNL one was pretty good too. Get it or get murdered!

How would we women survive without men to save us!? Oh, right, we'd probably survive just fine because it's also the men who all want to kill us. Funny that.

Those commercials have always bothered me so much! I'm a woman and last time I checked I wasn't a completely helpless and constantly victimized object. This reminds me of the post on the fashionable pink tasers that would match my lipstick perfectly!

My fiance actually calls these the "scary white man" commercials because they always feature a very conspicuously white, attractive looking man who only differs from the guy calling from Brinks in that he maybe has a scruffy beard and scowls a lot (not that criminals are all white-- but not including any non-white home invaders, not even an Asian one, makes it conspicuous). Like, seriously, my (also white) fiance looks more threatening than these guys.

We even have a song.
Scary white man,
COMING TO GET YOU
Scary white man,
HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU

Everything I hate about these commercials has already been touched on by Sarah Haskins. What really bothers me though is the false sense of security. In every single video, upon hearing the alarm, the intruder runs off. How often do you think that happens in real life?

Not only is it incredibly easy to disable a home security alarm, most big-city police departments don't treat a burglar alarm as something serious. Why? Something like 85% of activations are triggered by inclement weather, the homeowner, animals, etc. Most burglars strike an empty house and if police aren't there within minutes these guys aren't getting caught red-handed. Sorry but for a property crime that kind of response isn't feasible.

Note: if you have a panic alarm that is personally activated, that's different. Those *are* considered emergencies.

I'm sick of the whole "defenseless powerless woman" routine. These commercials seek to strip women of any ability to assess threats to their own safety in exchange for a dumb box on the wall.

If someone wants to do a really smart parody, how about one where the scary guy is inside the house, because you know, he's the boyfriend or husband or father (the vast majority of the perpetrators of violence against women).

But calling k.d. lang a man is more fun I guess.

Also, I think the ads feature "scary" white men because the ads feature white women and they don't want to get the dynamic of race in there. I don't blame them. Less potential for PR insanity. Plus it does reflect the reality that most violent crime is intra-racial, even as the scenarios are unrealistic. Most violence against women is perpetrated by men known to the victim. They don't (hardly ever) have to break in, they were let in or live there.

I'm a lonely, single man, and I want Sarah Haskins to be my girlfriend. So I can say, "She's mine, fellahs." How messed up is that?

Really messed up because you are objectifying her and want to claim her as yours.....and property?

Anywho, I love target women. Current TV is the best.

One of the things I find most irritating, is that whenever the woman is accompanied by a child, that child is always a girl. Boys aren't allowed to be victims, even as children.

Are you able to include a description of the video? Saying that it 'sums it up nicely' is all well and good, but unfortunately that video is apparently only available to US residents, so here in Australia I can't watch it.