Has anyone seen the new commercials/TV spots for the furniture chain Bohus? This new set consists of four TV spot and two radio spots, all having the slogan "Ladies first". The basic premise is that you've got a couple, where the female keeps up to date, is well dressed and properly made up, and she feels that her strong desire to renew the furniture in their house/apartment/what have you is held back by the male. And how is the male portrayed, you ask? Of course he's a knuckle-dragging, unwashed slob who prefers eating in his boxers over the sink to having a nicely set table, and who'd been still living in a cave but for the grace of the goddess who has taken him on as a charity project. She is committed to improving their common living situation, he'd rather spend the money on himself. Of course, the soundtrack for the TV and radio spots is "Lady Marmalade" from "Moulin Rouge".
If this doesn't sound utterly sexist to you, imagine the roles turned in a similar set of commercials targeting female stereotypes. Imagine the same couple, now with the guy properly dressed. Let's roll out the 1950's gender roles and ask the guy: "Aren't you tired of having to carry the majority of the financial burden while your wife is mostly occupied with shopping and watching soaps?" Or "Are you tired of having to do all the thinking in your household because your wife is a dimwit who went to hairdressing school?" In the background, Manowar songs like "Pleasure Slave" are playing.
Roll out those commercials and watch how quickly they get taken off the air, followed by big televised debates and the companies being ostracized by the serious market. You know; outside of the segment of losers who buy magazines designed to target the "male population". As if that's one, homogeneous market, merely interested in cars, tits and guns. That's quite the insult, and so is the assumption that you can make a magazine or a TV channel suitable for the vast majority of female viewers, which is what "FEM" is all about.
Make no mistake about it; Bohus is really going for the lowest common denominator here, and I for one sure hope they'll lose big on their exploitation of the double standards that seem to prevail for the use of gender stereotypes.
If this doesn't sound utterly sexist to you, imagine the roles turned in a similar set of commercials targeting female stereotypes. Imagine the same couple, now with the guy properly dressed. Let's roll out the 1950's gender roles and ask the guy: "Aren't you tired of having to carry the majority of the financial burden while your wife is mostly occupied with shopping and watching soaps?" Or "Are you tired of having to do all the thinking in your household because your wife is a dimwit who went to hairdressing school?" In the background, Manowar songs like "Pleasure Slave" are playing.
Roll out those commercials and watch how quickly they get taken off the air, followed by big televised debates and the companies being ostracized by the serious market. You know; outside of the segment of losers who buy magazines designed to target the "male population". As if that's one, homogeneous market, merely interested in cars, tits and guns. That's quite the insult, and so is the assumption that you can make a magazine or a TV channel suitable for the vast majority of female viewers, which is what "FEM" is all about.
Make no mistake about it; Bohus is really going for the lowest common denominator here, and I for one sure hope they'll lose big on their exploitation of the double standards that seem to prevail for the use of gender stereotypes.
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6 comments:
Well, I was with you all the way up to the Manowar point... ;-)
But I think you are right to a certain point. This is a stereotyping of male (and actually a bit on the female as well, as she is not "allowed" to decide when to redecorate at home).
However, it got to be allowed to have some fun, even if it do some stereotyping. I think the slogan "Ladies First" might be a bit over the line for a furniture store, but then again I've seen worse.
The part with the man is the uninterested slob, is sort of OK. As I see it, they are trying to be funny. I didn't think they succeed, but that's just my opinion and who am I to judge. However, I do think that targeting just the female like they do will damage the store in the long run. It may not be sexist, but it does alienate the male population. And at least among my circle of friends and colleagues, it is quite common for the man to have a substantial part in decorating the home.
Sure it's allowed to have fun, but only if you can flip the coin and get the same response, as per my examples. You of all people should know that's not the case. ;-)
In this day and age it's downright retarded for a furniture/interior design chain to use a marketing strategy which implies that only females are interested in buying your merchandise. And yes - it's sexist, dragging down both genders at the same time.
There are plenty of commercials who employ stereotypes for comic purposes, but which consciously use mirror images, if you will.
Tell it to somebody who cares:
postmottak@bld.dep.no
http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/bld/dep/minister.html?id=62
(I couldn't help myself)
Damn - teh Google-Fu is strong in this one.
Sure it's allowed to have fun, but only if you can flip the coin and get the same response, as per my examples.
Sure, if there was a well-dressed man with a slob wife, it would still be just as unfunny...
You of all people should know that's not the case. ;-)
No comment... ;-)
In this day and age it's downright retarded for a furniture/interior design chain to use a marketing strategy which implies that only females are interested in buying your merchandise.
Yes, that was what I was trying to say.
And yes - it's sexist, dragging down both genders at the same time.
Here is where we slightly disagree. I think it's just too stupid to be sexist.
Agree - it would still be unfunny, but you'd have special interest groups jumping all over it. With this one, there's nothing, and that's the double standard I'm complaining about.
Sure there are worse examples - like every time Vi Menn or FHM rolls out a TV commercial, but those commercials are for much more narrow market segment of, shall we say, cerebrally challenged people, so you don't expect anything better. Unless you rent a furnished apartment, you need furniture, so this one targets pretty much everybody.
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