In Defense of Men...

Three Fingers of Politics ^ | 6/17/2010 | SkinnieMinnie

[Erin Brown]

Am I the only one who has noticed the sort of cultural trend, if you will, to portray men as generally stupid in commercial advertising? Let me give you a few examples:

#1. Stanley Steemer – The nationwide carpet cleaning company has a recent commercial advertisement that blatantly makes the male husband-figure appear to behave like a bumbling idiot. The audio in the commercial states, “Kids, pets, teens and husbands – ever wonder how you can keep your house clean? Call today about our $99 special.” The images that accompany the audio include kids jumping on a leather couch, a teenage male spilling food on his lap, a muddy golden retriever running through the kitchen, and then the “husband” who is seen blending a purple smoothie without the lid on the blender. As expected, a major mess ensues and he is standing their dumbfounded at how this could possibly happen to him.

Really? A man can’t figure out how that last simple step of putting the lid on the blender? Though it may be fleeting, and you might think I’m nitpicking, just check out some of these other examples.

[Pessimist]

“I have never seen one commercial of theirs that has a black..”

Of course not! LOL!

I notice something similar at the shooting range my wife and I go to, too. Some people have cardboard targets with an image of a thug on them. But they’re all 1950’s looking white thugs.

:)

[sauropod]

You are not the only one.

The Broadview Security people (used to be Brinks) has the man ask his wife in bed whether or not he should go check on the intruder downstairs.

[Kimmers]

I love men....particularly when they are cleaning their guns with Hoppes.....love that scent of a man.....

and yes, women can be just as stupid.....we are emotional thinkers we need men to balance our emotions......and good luck with that boys!!!!!

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

It’s true, but who cares? Most men have enough self-esteem that they aren’t bothered by any of this. It’s only people with low self-esteem and doubts about their self-worth who NEED to see ads that give them a boost.

[Melas]

You didn’t watch nearly enough then. Jim routinely got the better of his scheming wife. It was a staple of the show.

[OldMissileer]

...particularly when they are cleaning their guns with Hoppes.....love that scent of a man.....

Hoppes #9 and G96 Gun Treatment.

That combination is just about the most comforting smell I know. I have spent my life with those smells and they bring back many fine memories.

[Sergio]

As much as I loved “The Cosby Show”, I stopped watching for that very reason. Cliff was always wrong, and his wife was always right. The son-in-laws were also treated none to kindly.

As you can see, this is not a new issue.

[PapaBear3625]

I notice something similar at the shooting range my wife and I go to, too. Some people have cardboard targets with an image of a thug on them. But they’re all 1950’s looking white thugs.

Visualize having to shoot somebody in self defense on a street, with that person happening to be black. Now visualize the prosecutor showing the mostly black jury your choice of shooting range targets.

[Windflier]

...women often view their husbands as about as helpless as kids. Not that they are, but it makes the women feel better to view themselves as indispensable.

And where, pray tell, do you think this mindset originated? Are you old enough to remember when the image of the bumbling, incompetent husband was rare?

The current caricature of men in our culture is not accidental.

Make no mistake. The underpinnings of our culture have been under assault by the left for quite a long time now. This is one of its outgrowths.

[IronJack]

Imagine the howls if the images were reversed, if the woman was presented as a helpless bimbo or a whiny twit.

These advertisers think they can insult me and still expect me to buy their product?

Not gonna happen. Vote with your wallet.

[warchild9]

Actually, this trend is the result of two factors:

1. Since women do most household purchasing (according to all polls), a product has to make them feel “empowered” when they surrender their property for its use (that’s called “buying something”). “I’m smarter than my absent/unemployed husband” works better than the old “can I please my master” advertising of the 50’s and 60’s. Seriously, some of those television ads from when a lot of us were kids are hilarious.

2. I lived in New York and dealt with advertising types quite a bit, and believe me, they’re mostly fags. Nothing more needs to be said about that.

[ConservativeWarrior]

I’ve investigated “bumps in the night” twice since we’ve been married.

The only words Mrs. ConservativeWarrior has said were “Be careful” as I left and “thanks” when I returned.

[MissTed]

I've been pointing out how ridiculous the "men are hapless" commercials are to my 9-year-old daughter. My MIL wanted to get her a "Girls Rule/Boys Drool" t/shirt and my daughter refused it!

Atta-girl!!

[Little Ray]

Actually, IIRC, this is the result of advertiser tests on focus groups. In advertisements where the actors depicted are black or Hispanic, blacks and Hispanics respectively, tended to react better and were more likely to buy the product.

Whites apparently were not affected at all by the race of the actors. They reacted the same to advertisements regardless of the race of the actors.

Presumably, the ad agencies discovered the converse was true - if the actors depicted these races in a negative way, then individuals were less likely to buy the product. So the "bad guy" on the alarm commercials is always depicted as white.

So it is racism, but not on the part of the advertisers, but on the part of segments of the intended audience.

[Ellendra]

Are you old enough to remember when the image of the bumbling, incompetent husband was rare?

I'm not that old, but it is one of the reasons I love old TV shows, like the Dick Van Dyke Show or Andy Griffith, from back before the PC madness. We recently got a DVD of the first season of My Three Sons and I love it. The dad is fallible, yes, but he's also clever and kind. The scripts are more original, too.

[1951Boomer]

“The feminazis of the 70s and 80s made it socially acceptable to attack men”

And I’ve noticed it’s particularly acceptable to attack WHITE men. My husband and I laugh at the security system commercials that always show a white intruder—never a Black, Hispanic, or other type. I’m sure they’re thinking “payback” time—that it’s high time a white guy is portrayed as the one busting down the door or eyeing a hapless woman.

[ICCtheWay]

All may be true - but it denigrates white people... If it were done in reverse - it would not be tolerated by various ethnocentric hate groups such as La Raza.

[randomwalk]

i think we should start the list of stupid white men products not to buy...see if this has any effect on ad agency thinking, as time wears on. I already sort of boycott stupid white men advertisers, but as usual, my one purchase at a time is not changing anything...

[Windflier]

I'm not that old, but it is one of the reasons I love old TV shows, like the Dick Van Dyke Show or Andy Griffith, from back before the PC madness.

Well, I was in grade school before the close of the 50s, and I can tell you for a fact that the American family really was very different before the feminazis and their fellow travelers came along.

When I was a kid, it was rare to meet another kid who didn't have a momma and a papa at home. When I was a kid, most moms didn't work outside the home. It made for a much more secure and stable upbringing. When I was a kid, most any man could go to work and provide a home for his wife and children.

Thanks to decades of hard work by the left, that sort of family is becoming the exception, rather than the rule.

I'll tell you though, it's a lot easier to build a strong nuclear family today, if you're lucky enough to have been raised that way. Thank God that I was, and that my own family more or less meets the old standard.

[ICCtheWay]

I think you have a good idea. Let’s include white men as the epitome of all criminals too.