In searching for a recent news story that would fit in nicely with our class discussions on gender equality and modern raunch culture, I thought it was the perfect time to reflect on the Super Bowl that occurred last weekend. As an avid football fan I truly enjoy watching the Super Bowl, but many people across America watch for the commercials. This year a thirty second ad on CBS during the game cost around three million dollars so not only could only large corporations market their products but also we presume that much time and money was invested in the marketing for these short advertisements. These companies strive to stand out and appeal to a wide audience through common attempts at humor and creativity. However, due to most Americans short attention spans and the rise in raunch culture that Ariel Levy discusses, many of the commercials were rather controversial.
Clearly there were many expressions of female sexuality and male masculinity presented in these commercials, as have been the stereotypes for as long as we can remember. Godaddy.com had several commercials with their spokeswoman Danica Patrick encountering woman who also want to be known for their bodies. Bud Light had several commercials of men being themselves while laughing and drinking a cold six-pack. These types of themes are to be expected considering the variety of the audience watching the super bowl and thus the desire of many companies to play it safe and show the natural gender stereotypes to appeal to the common American. However, this year’s set of commercials truly objectified women by poking fun at the institution of relationships, marriage, and everyday femininity in general.
The latter is exactly what Eric Ward discusses in his blog the day after the commercial. Surely, the Super Bowl commercials have a major impact on corporations and the American audience so they are covered by major newspapers but I believe Eric’s lack of corporate sponsors and possession of a personal blog gives him the forum to openly criticize many of the commercials from last Sunday. Ward begins by claiming that super bowl Sunday is the largest abuse and objectification of women every year. He comments on the sad truth that the dehumanizing of women through these advertisements stems from well-educated and wealthy individuals. Ward also rightfully claims that many of the people signing off on and paying for these short ads are primarily middle-aged, white men. He discusses the first quarter of the super bowl and how ads have come to the point of devaluing elderly woman and mothers. Ward references a Snickers commercial that strangely claims the only way to stop playing football like an old lady and be a man is to eat a Snickers bar. Another ad involved Tim Tebow tackling his mother as a symbol for anti-abortion.
The Tim Tebow ad sparked particular controversy leading up to the Super Bowl because it involved a political issue as opposed to a campaign for a product. Apparently Tim Tebow’s mother was having trouble during her pregnancy and was advised to abort her child but did not for religious reasons. The ad then claims that women should not abort because if they do, someone like Tim Tebow would never have been alive to achieve all of his accomplishments and make a mark in American history.
GoDaddy.com has become infamous for objectifying woman by showing female sexuality through their famous Nascar spokeswoman and very attractive Danica Patrick. During the super bowl, the company portrayed several ads of Patrick interacting with successful businesswomen who claim they would rather give up their jobs and be a “GoDaddy girl” if they were considered attractive enough. Such an advertisement would provoke a plethora of criticism from Ariel Levy who critiques women for expressing their sexuality to get ahead so a scene of women who have already succeeded without their looks would undoubtedly be thought provoking for her.
The marketing pitch of Dodge Charger and Flo TV were possibly even more degrading to women by poking fun at the basic institution of relationships and the pains of spending time with women. Dodge Charger displayed an ad of a man going through his daily routine with a song claiming how his girlfriend makes him do terrible chores, listen to her complain, and plainly annoy him so he should at least be able to choose which car he buys. The ad basically claims the only way to avoid complete emasculation is to choose which car you buy. Thus, Dodge is advocating that being in a relationship with a women removes all freedom and takes away a man’s supposed claim to fame, his masculinity.
Flo TV hired popular sports commentator Jim Nantz to broadcast over a couple’s daily events the same way he would a football game. The ad shows a man shopping and eating with his girlfriend and pays particular attention to him helping her look for clothes. Flo TV claims that the only way to get through spending quality time with one’s girlfriend is to get a portable TV and Jim Nantz calls to the man to “put the skirt down.” While this may be a clever marketing technique, Flo TV basically claims that spending time with women is too unbearable without television to distract men.
In the second half of the super bowl, when ads are presumably even more expensive, Bridgestone showed an ad of a man in the future who is faced with a tough decision to keep his Bridgestone tires or part with his wife, to which he chooses the former. Clearly Bridgestone is trying to over exaggerate the value of their tires, but they do so by degrading the institution of marriage. Ward writes that he and his friends were so bothered by the commercial that they will never buy Bridgestone products again.
Personally, I believe Ward is being too extreme in that case and overall in saying that super bowl Sunday is the most prominent day of domestic violence against women. However, I do believe that the overall collection of advertisements from Super Bowl Sunday is a commentary on the current state of American society. Since the super bowl has the most viewers of any program across the country and unlike most football games the audience exceeds just men, we should approach the advertisements as a way to target the largest demographic. Marketing and advertising are one of the largest industries in the country and this is the biggest stage for their work. Thus, it is indicative of our modern society and its plunge into extreme raunch culture that these ads are aimed at men, women, and children across America. Previously we would expect beer commercials to portray female sexuality, but now companies across all genres are degrading women not just for their bodies but as people in general. As a twenty year old who has only grown up in the current state of raunch culture, I obviously participate and happily accept it. However, I do believe there is a strong difference between women choosing to express their sexuality in Playboy or Girls Gone Wild and marketing companies investing millions in portraying women as lesser beings to the entire country at large.
Levy, Ariel. Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/e/r/eric_ward/2010/02/super-bowl-commercials-throw-w.php?ref=mp
I think that Danny makes a really good point in saying that the commercials can reflect the current state of issues such as class, sexuality, race, and identity in our society. I am not sure if it is because I am enrolled in this class or because it was blatantly obvious, but while I was watching the Superbowl, I too took note of numerous advertisements that portrayed women negatively and reinforced the gender role ideology that we endorse in society. This poses a numerous problems. Firstly, as Danny mentioned the Superbowl is so widely watched that the target audience is increased tremendously, which allows these commercials to have a profound impact on more viewers than usual. Secondly, the fact that people will still make purchases that support these large corporations helps to reinforce and perpetuate this gender role ideology. If no one ever stops the cycle the corporations will continue to use these tactics to advertise because they feel that their audience can relate to what they are portraying, and in turn will then purchase their product.
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