Results are up for Coll and I was 33rd overall, or 6th female. About half way through the field, in other words, which is around my usual placing. Quite happy with that.
So, I was watching Top Gear last night. I think I've blogged before about Top Gear and how great it is, despite the fact that I know and care little about cars. In fact, the whole of Dave channel's output appeals to me and most of my pals. Which, considering it claims men aged 20-40 as their target demographic, says something about how they've misconceived what appeals to women aged 20-40. Or maybe something about me and my female friends. Who knows.
Anyway, I love Top Gear. It's great. But it's sponsored by Halfords, who have these little spots before and after the ads. And these spots enrage me. They really do. At first they just irritated me, but by last night I was about ready to stop watching Top Gear (which is, as we have established, great) just because of these enraging spots.
The problem is, they're just blatantly sexist and lazy in their stereotyping. I mean, I know these are just little sponsor bites and not full blown ads, but you think they would have put in some measure of creative thought. Even allowing for the target demographic.
Individually, they're just enough to mildly piss me off, but en masse they just add to the depressing drip drip drip of tiny assumptions made every day based on sex that all then add up together to contribute to nasty big assumptions that ruin women's lives. Possibly without them even noticing (which is even more depressing). In a typical spot, for example, a woman goes to Halfords to get her baby's car seat fitted. Not too bad. Then another women gets her ipod fitted up to the car stereo and indulges in a little flirty banter with the bloke over her taste in music. Slightly nausea-inducing. Then a bloke gets a new roof box fitted and shares an 'all blokes together' moment with the Halfords man relating to how much stuff his wife takes on holiday. That's enough! I'm enraged!
I think what really really annoys me about this last one is that it is too true to life - I've heard exactly that sort of conversation take place so many times.
Did I ever tell you about the time I took my shoes to be reheeled and was just in time to hear the Timpson's guy finish a conversation with his wife on his mobile? The guy hung up, turned to me, and said "All women should have their tongues cut out at birth."
Since I'm fond of my tongue, I asked to be served by someone else.
On the plus side (slightly) I also saw an ad last night that really made me sit up and think. It was for Huggies - the nappies. Nappies adverts are in the same category as those for oven cleaner and tampons and washing powder in that they are without exception boring, formulaic and almost impossible to tell the difference between. I mean, it's impossible to tell the difference between two ads for different oven cleaners. You can tell the difference between a tampon ad and an oven cleaner ad (just). They are also all products aimed largely at women.
So I was astounded by this Huggies ad, which featured a bloke carrying a baby into a hotel room. A rather retro hotel room at that - none of the unbelievably white shiny surroundings usually associated with these ads. Then the bloke goes to change the kid's nappy, laying him on a nappy mat on the bed - yes! A nappy mat! Not a basket full of feathers or a lawn covered in puppies or some other equally unbelievable surface. This ad was going for reality, big time.
And - this is the good bit - as soon as the guy pulls the nappy off a little bit, the baby sends pee shooting everywhere - all over the hotel room, up to the ceiling. It's exaggerated, of course, with the point being that Huggies are great at stopping leaks. But it's not that exaggerated. Babies do pee all over the place. So here was an advert that:
a) acknowledged that men sometimes change nappies;
b) acknowledged that sometimes nappy changing takes place outside of pristine home surroundings;
c) acknowledged that nappies are messy and babies pee everywhere.
Wow. I couldn't decide if I should be excited that society had taken the great leap forward into commissioning such a revolutionary advert or depressed (again) that it should come as such a surprise, in 2008, to come come across a product that acknowledges reality.
Who knows?
3 comments:
Right on, sister.
Although - you have a problem with Halfords but not the Lynx 'all women are sex objects to be used without consideration' ads?
Aww - I aw that too. That Huggies ad is great. I got seshat to rewind it on Sky+ as I hadn't seen it.
And yes, I agree with all you said. I is the drip feeding and lack of awareness that makes me want to beat my head (or the advertisers) against a brick wall.
I've just come across this post by doing a google search of "huggies ad with dad changing nappies". We don't seem to have gotten the ad that you mention in Australia, but we have had one that sounds similar - there's a dad playing with his toddling baby in the backyard, while mum has a cup of coffee on the deck. Dad catches the giggling little girl up and then realises she needs a nappy change. He goes up on to the deck, but not to hand her over to mum to be changed (I've seen that one a few too many times) - just because that's where all the baby's stuff was, including the huggies wipes that the ad turned out to be for. Then dad just went back to playing with the kid. It was really brilliant and didn't resort to any stereotypes or be annoying in any way - it was great
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