Mad at Ads; How Not to Get Girls
I saw that ad, and boy, was I mad! The stereotyping, the ugliness, the assumptions, the negative portrayal--and it wasn't even for a product I use!
Of course, I'm talking about ads targeted to women of a certain age. Never mind that I'm in good health (I take no medications), that I might like to take a vacation, and I have a house that occasionally need repairs. I've watched travel and home repair videos, so you might think Youtube would show me ads for travel destinations or local home repair goods or services. Yet Youtube was showing me nothing but ads for wrinkle creams and age spots and medications. Play some heavy metal videos and they think you have psoriatic arthritis. Approach age 50 and they think you look like the Crypt Keeper. I finally shut off Google's ad settings.
So I can kind of understand why some men hate Gillette's new ad--they're tired of being lectured to and lumped in with badly behaved men. People would be up in arms if an ad prodded a minority or religious group to behave better. I appreciate their commentaries because I could barely make out anything that was said in the ad. People were talking over each other and all I heard clearly was "check your tire pressure." But I was surprised that some commentators defended the "flirtatious" scenes. It might not be apparent to a man, but women don't like it when some rando runs up from behind us on a city street. In the ad, a black man stops the "rando" (and maybe keeps him from getting maced). In another scene, a guy says to a girl, "Why don't you smile?" That line has always set my teeth on edge. Variations include "Why are you so sad?" "Are you mad?" Even after the ten thousandth time someone said that to me, I never knew what to say. And you can't force a natural-looking smile on command. I just had a serious-looking face, or "resting bitch face" as they say now. I finally came up with "I don't take requests." The answer was always a confused "What?" I'd say, "I don't repeat myself, either." If you're trying to get girls by telling them to smile or by running up to them on the street (or god forbid, following them home), stop. Find another way to meet girls.
Disliking an ad enough to boycott the product is, IMO, a little extreme (especially if it would involve throwing out a stockpile of razors). A former friend decided she didn't like an ad for Hardee's (Carl's Jr. out west). Some readers know I follow a low-carb diet and have a delicate stomach. Hardee's makes a good lettuce-wrapped burger, and I can eat there knowing I won't get sick. Despite knowing this, my friend made it clear she wasn't going to eat there because she was offended by their ad. In fact, one night we ended up sitting in my kitchen eating nothing, watching nothing, and drinking tea she brought because she'd become so goddamn picky. We're not friends anymore--what would we do together if we were? If you're going to boycott something, it's one thing to buy Schick razors if you don't like Gillette's ad. It would be another to get on your high horse and refuse one at someone's house in a pinch--or refuse their ice cream, or coffee, or other offerings because you're offended by the ads for those products or by something the corporation that made those things said or did. If you want to get a girl, don't be more finicky than her cat.
Of course, I'm talking about ads targeted to women of a certain age. Never mind that I'm in good health (I take no medications), that I might like to take a vacation, and I have a house that occasionally need repairs. I've watched travel and home repair videos, so you might think Youtube would show me ads for travel destinations or local home repair goods or services. Yet Youtube was showing me nothing but ads for wrinkle creams and age spots and medications. Play some heavy metal videos and they think you have psoriatic arthritis. Approach age 50 and they think you look like the Crypt Keeper. I finally shut off Google's ad settings.
So I can kind of understand why some men hate Gillette's new ad--they're tired of being lectured to and lumped in with badly behaved men. People would be up in arms if an ad prodded a minority or religious group to behave better. I appreciate their commentaries because I could barely make out anything that was said in the ad. People were talking over each other and all I heard clearly was "check your tire pressure." But I was surprised that some commentators defended the "flirtatious" scenes. It might not be apparent to a man, but women don't like it when some rando runs up from behind us on a city street. In the ad, a black man stops the "rando" (and maybe keeps him from getting maced). In another scene, a guy says to a girl, "Why don't you smile?" That line has always set my teeth on edge. Variations include "Why are you so sad?" "Are you mad?" Even after the ten thousandth time someone said that to me, I never knew what to say. And you can't force a natural-looking smile on command. I just had a serious-looking face, or "resting bitch face" as they say now. I finally came up with "I don't take requests." The answer was always a confused "What?" I'd say, "I don't repeat myself, either." If you're trying to get girls by telling them to smile or by running up to them on the street (or god forbid, following them home), stop. Find another way to meet girls.
Disliking an ad enough to boycott the product is, IMO, a little extreme (especially if it would involve throwing out a stockpile of razors). A former friend decided she didn't like an ad for Hardee's (Carl's Jr. out west). Some readers know I follow a low-carb diet and have a delicate stomach. Hardee's makes a good lettuce-wrapped burger, and I can eat there knowing I won't get sick. Despite knowing this, my friend made it clear she wasn't going to eat there because she was offended by their ad. In fact, one night we ended up sitting in my kitchen eating nothing, watching nothing, and drinking tea she brought because she'd become so goddamn picky. We're not friends anymore--what would we do together if we were? If you're going to boycott something, it's one thing to buy Schick razors if you don't like Gillette's ad. It would be another to get on your high horse and refuse one at someone's house in a pinch--or refuse their ice cream, or coffee, or other offerings because you're offended by the ads for those products or by something the corporation that made those things said or did. If you want to get a girl, don't be more finicky than her cat.
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