mrs-roboto's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stuff That Gets On My Last Nerve Last night I settled into watch a bit of the old telly. It may seem like I watch a ton of television but honestly I don't. I tend to have a very short attention span so I watch a minute or two of a program, flip through all the channels to make sure there's nothing else on, and then I leave the room. I come back and repeat the process every few hours. Blame it on society, video games, and my being a latchkey kid okay? But last night was different. I was exhausted and recovering from yet another near death experience with yet another hole in the floor (I swear the house is trying to swallow me alive - this time I fell through a vent, my right leg sinking in up to my thigh and my left flat against the floor in a rather graceful although torturously painful split). All I wanted to do was lie on the couch and be numbed by mindless entertainment. So I choose to watch Survivor. I was feeling no pain and the program required no thought. All was good in America! But then all my dreams of indifference and disaffection were shattered by two completely horrible commercials. The first ad was for McDonald's new salads. As I am sure everyone knows, McDonald's has been taking one hell of a beating financially. Some corporate genius seems to think that this economic downturn has to do with Americans seeking out healthier and more nutritious food options. Personally, I still see plenty of people eating crap just not stuff that clearly tastes like dog poop such as the McRib. Think about it, people are beating down the doors of every Krispy Kreme shop in town - so yeah, this Americans-As-Health-Nuts concept is ridiculous. But back to what I was saying, Mickey D's has come up with some new salads to get them out of the red and last night I saw the first ads for them. And guess who they're trying to market this product to? Women!!! Only women!!! The entire commercial focussed on how "you're a special kind of woman so you deserve a special kind of salad." It was filled with trim, little waif-like women, daintily forking bits of lettuce into their pouty mouths, while captions like "she's a plumber" or she's a construction worker" flashed underneath. There were no men in the commercial at all. You know why? 'Cause real men eat meat while real women are required to only graze lightly in order to keep their figure. That's what's really important when you're a women. And the captions!!! Is it really still shocking to people that women occupy jobs in all areas of the workforce? Does someone out there actually think that women can only be secretaries or homemakers? Are these the people who are eating the Filet O' Fish? Can we liberate their minds with lettuce? I'm not sure what this commercial was all about but I just felt insulted and angry and then things got worse. Has anyone seen the Coors Light commercial "A Toast to Wing Men?" To be honest, I had never heard of a "Wing Man" till the visitors from hell came last August. As you may recall, Top Gun was one of the dullard husbands favorite movies. I, myself have never seen that crap ass film (I hate Tom Cruise with a passion usually reserved for George W. Bush) but from what I understand a "Wing Man" is a guy who goes out with his friend and so kindly offers to hang out with a dogfaced girl so his pal can pick up on her cute friend. It's a shitty concept and if it happens a lot in the real world, I don't need to know about it. I suppose my naivet� on the topic can be attributed to the fact that all the men I've ever met in a bar (or elsewhere for that matter) have been both charming and handsome and I've felt ever so lucky to have their company (can you feel the sarcasm rising and my face getting red with rage). The Coors Light commercial offers as I said earlier "A Toast to Wing Men" and commends them on "taking one for the team." What f*$king team, I ask? The team of men?!!! Or simply the team of heterosexual, thick necked, boy types who shop at Abacrombie and Fitch who are so busy being complete bastards that they fail to realize they're no real prize themselves? What the hell?!! I asked Pete and he guaranteed me that he had never been asked to join this team. Then he got the hell out of my way since he noted the look of pure evil in my eyes. My attempt at a calm, unemotional evening was shattered. I was pissed. I mean, I know full well that the media is all about stereotypes and the reinforcement of gender roles and all of that but both of these commercials seemed so overtly offensive. There was nothing funny or witty about either of them. I really couldn't believe they made it to network television. I'd boycott the products advertised but I never purchased from these vendors in the first place (I haven't had fast food in seven years except at a local establishment like Taco Del Mar and consuming Coors Light when you live in the City of Microbrews is punishable by lethal injection under the current state statutes) so what's a person to do? I suppose I'll just be frustrated for awhile or maybe I'll write a letter to CBS. Perhaps I'll avoid tv for a bit till I'm over this. 11:35 a.m. - 2003-04-25 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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