The fact that I have to address people’s sudden negative reactions to a commercial is an indicator of how clueless Americans really are.If you watched Super Bowl XLI, you may have seen the infamous Snickers commercial, where two men inadvertently kiss because they’re eating the same candy bar (a not-so-ambiguous allusion to “Lady and the Tramp”).
Usually, I completely ignore commercials. But God intervened for some reason, allowing me to see two men kissing during a commercial break from the most testosterone-filled event of the year.
Two groups of people have expressed disgust for this advertisement. First, some straights have asked why an advertiser would use such an image. I’m sure a portion of this group is made up of men who don’t like seeing other men kiss. They’re easy to understand. As George Carlin has suggested, they lack confidence about their own sexuality, so they must attack or subdue the homosexual community to ensure their straightness.
But the other portion of the group is quite perplexing, and their criticisms of the commercial vary.
Some say the commercial didn’t hit its target audience. I say it did. You’re a trained consumer if you pay attention to commercials on a regular basis. Almost every commercial ever conceived is unintelligent, unfunny and lacks value. So I don’t see why now – as if a crow’s feather just tickled their butts on cue – one commercial strikes them as ineffective or stupid. Wake up. Nearly all of them are stupid, but they catch your attention (as the Snickers commercial did).
Other people – real people, not characters in a book or film – are complaining, or simply stating, that the commercial isn’t realistic. If there is any justice in America, the universities nearest to these intellectual powerhouses should give out honorary doctorates. For I had no idea – desperately searching for obvious indicators all the while – that a commercial could be unrealistic. Interesting thesis, job well done, pack your bags, you’re going to Hawaii for the Grand Prize!
The other group of the appalled, homosexuals, at least has a better reason for the complaints. After the two men accidentally kiss in the commercial, they start performing manly activities to prove their straightness, including ripping the hair off their own chests like enraged cultists. Some homosexuals have said this commercial implies that even being associated with homosexuality is negative. Although this critique is more articulate than simply saying, “This commercial ain’t realistic or smart!,” the advertisement falls under freedom of speech, even though it’s incredibly moronic.
So what’s the problem? Shouldn’t people be able to hold opinions about this commercial? Of course they should. However, these criticisms usually don’t address a more encompassing point. That is, advertisements and advertisers in general have been screwing over the American culture for the past couple of decades with these subversive exercises in product promotion.
The men and women who create commercials generally only care about consumerism, not the consumers. In other words, they have no respect for the American public. They market products in the most idiotic ways; they hire celebrities to fool you into trusting products and companies; they reinforce negative ideas, like all women needing to weigh less than a starving person in a desert; and finally, instead of letting the merits of the products sell themselves, they carefully craft slogans, attractive lifestyles and anything else they can utilize to manipulate you into drones of the capitalist system.
Yeah, the Snickers commercial was uncalled for. But so is just about every other advertisement you watch between television programs.
The only way to combat this unfortunate situation is to stop buying products you don’t need, let companies know that their advertising is unacceptable and stop holding your breath for the one commercial that offends you the most personally. The last point is extremely important because if you only speak up when something wrong directly affects you, you’re just thinking of yourself and not the good of the country.
If you want these commercials to stop, don’t tolerate them and spread your ideas about suitable advertising. Otherwise, pedophiles will be the protagonists in future candy bar commercials.