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Friday, 10 February 2012

Of Yoghurt and Casual Violence: The Dannon Superbowl ad.

 Let's start by showing you a video that isn't about Heavy Metal

  So what we have here is a couple mucking about one day. He has yoghurt, she wants it and he's teasing her with it. Then suddenly she smashes him to floor with a headbutt and takes the yoghurt.   Note that when he gets back up he's visibly cowering away.  
 According to the mainstream media, this ad has been a critical and commercial hit with several people praising it for being "playful" and "witty"
 Am I the only person who struggles to see the humour here?
 Judging by the Youtube comments, no. A number of other posters have expressed their dissatisfaction at an ad showing domestic violence as "funny" And make no bones about it, the message of the ad is "This yoghurt is so good. it's ok to beat up your man to take it." As you might expect, they've basically been told to STFU and get a sense of humour. 
  Incidentally while this advert has attracted a certain amount of controversy, the headbutt isn't the reason. As it turns out, the music apparently sounds a lot like a track by Australia's John Butler Trio and fans are furious, causing Dannon to release a statement aimed at easing flak.
 Hmm. Battering your husband - funny. Nicking a half-minute clip of music = heinous.

 There are a lot of reasons I'm interested in Men's Issues: Unfair divorce courts, being beaten over the head with a "Male Privilege" that almost certainly fails to apply to most men, some of the people involved in Feminism being obviously completely fucking mental and yet still given their soapbox and a license to spew bile. All important issues. But the one that got me started down this particular path was : Adverts.
 I started noticing one advert after another where the bloke was portrayed as a bumbling moron, adverts where women cheerfully treated their menfolk appallingly, ads that made me ask "That's supposed to be me up there is it?  And how much damage is that doing to the public perception of men?"
 So I don't think this ad is funny. I don't think this ad is playful. I think this ad is sending out a dangerous, misandrist message and I am not happy.

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