Why do cleaning/cooking product advertisers think women are the only

[Kalyke]

entity who cleans the house or cooks in it? Why do they think men are dumb as bricks and only interested in beer and sports, but completely ignore their children, wives and house?

This is a jump off of sub-thread in another very sexist thread regarding "dumb men," but I think its an important topic.

Seriously - think about cleaning commercials: Why aren't dads washing their daughters' rooms with Fabreeze? Why aren't fathers plopping in loads of wash brought home by their college-student kids? Why isn't Mr. Newly-wed worried about how his stuffing will taste or his placement of dishes at his first Thanksgiving will go over?

And, for Pete's sake, why aren't mops pinning after the men who dumped them for a Swiffer?

It's sexism all the way around and I've, personally, sworn off purchasing any product that makes men look stupid or objectifies women to the point that they're "dating" cleaning tools.

[fascisthunter]

1. sexism sells

[Kalyke]

5. Apparently not to me.

But... I thought the idiom was that "sex sells."

Unless, of course, you're Nigel Tufnel and need the Hostess with the Mostess to explain the difference. :hi:

(Kidding with you, of course).

[fascisthunter]

13. me neither

but I guess it works too well on others out there. I'm sure the fundies appreciate the sexism.

[gkhouston]

114. I find stupid commercials of all kinds a real turn-off with respect to the products

being promoted. I don't think I get the message they want to send. All I think is, "we paid idiots to market our stuff. Maybe our stuff isn't any good, either".

[Echo In Light]

10. Dumb AND sexism sells bigtime. The more unreal, loveless and superficial = more cool in corp culture

[Captain Hilts]

2. Yep. Sexism sells. Women are NOT inherently tidier than men. Ugh! They ARE, however,

more likely to feel guilty about it.

Advertisers prey on female guilt...for being fat, ugly, normal smelling, not having enough iron, not having big enough boobs, not having a clean enough house.

Imagine all that advertising aimed at men.

[KittyWampus]

15. advertising to men often involves appealing to their inner 8 year old. See- car commercials

ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM

[redqueen]

26. lol

[Kalyke]

27. LMAO!

I know the commercial of which you speak, but couldn't tell you what automobile they were selling to save my life (without The Google).

What I particularly find odious about commercials aimed to men are those beer commercials with all those slim, hottish women. Like any woman who drank that much beer would be that slim. :rofl:

[unpossibles]

45. I think you could also substitute "penis" in there somewhere

Advertisers prey on men's fears too, just they are different fears.

[Still Blue in PDX]

122. Or enlarging their not-so-privates. eom

[Hello_Kitty]

17. Like I pointed out in that other thread

The notion that men are not wired or evolved to be able to clean was thoroughly and forever revealed to be fallacious by my time in the military. Oh, men can clean. They can clean quite well when someone is standing over them making them do it and checking their work with white gloves. And holding up their weekend liberty until the job gets done. Cleaning day was always on Friday for that reason. The reason a lot of men in civilian life are slobs is because no one holds them accountable. Women are expected to be neat and clean and when we are not people look askance at us. If a couple live together in a dirty house people blame the woman. To make matters worse people don't just ask why she doesn't clean the house, it's more like why doesn't she clean his house. Sexist assumptions are still very much alive and well and being passed on. I know so many people with kids where the daughter helps out around the house while the son sits on his ass being waited on or has learned how to act stupid when asked to do something. And it's not like the boys are doing yardwork. Everyone has landscapers now.

[Captain Hilts]

22. Military men, clean, hug each other and say "I love you" to each other. Weird how

they don't have the hang ups non-mil men have about those things.

[Kalyke]

30. My hubby is a veteran: US Army.

Maybe that's why he will clean. He does most of the laundry, cleans one of the bathrooms and does the dishes and wash up after meals as his general chores. Chores outside of our weekly/daily things are divided upon time, who can physically do it - I'm a rather short woman so having me trim trees or clean gutters is kind of stupid and mostly shared duties (yard work, Spring cleaning, etc.)

He complains about cleaning, but he does do it.


Oh - and he does the bulk of the household shopping. I HATE to shop.

[Captain Hilts]

32. It's a function of the way we were socialized. Women and military men are forced to do so. nt

[Hello_Kitty]

41. Yep.

And even in the military there was a difference between the married guys and the single ones. I'd see some guys "forget" how to clean and shop and press their uniforms after they acquired a wife.

[Captain Hilts]

33. By the way, he sounds like a keeper. nt

[Kalyke]

48. He is.

My only complaint is that he's loud... probably from years of shouting in the Army. :)

[unpossibles]

47. I'm not military, but I was raised by a single mom

so I learned early on how to clean, cook, sew, etc. In fact, I thought this was pretty standard things all kids learn until I went to college and lived with people who did not learn these things, some of whom had never even had a menial job at which to learn these lessons.

FWIW, I love to cook, don't mind doing dishes or cleaning (generally) even if I put it off sometimes, and enjoy all sorts of "non-manly" activities and am more than ok with it. In fact, the ads portraying men as helpless children annoy the piss out of me, even when the stereotype sometimes does apply to many men.

[Odin2005]

91. Same here!

Minus the sewing. People are always surprised how good I am at doing those "non-manly" activities, as if it was something impossible for us guys to do.

[distantearlywarning]

101. My husband is the same way.

He was raised by a (very feminist and independent) single mom too, BTW. She would have laughed him out of the house if he ever became too "helpless" to do his laundry or learn how to cook. And what do you know, he grew up and married another strong woman! We share all the tasks around here (e.g., we both know how to cook and do laundry, we worked together on landscaping the yard this summer, etc.), and we have a great marriage where both partners respect one another.

For my part, I can't understand why women marry men who never figured how to do the basic tasks of adulthood. I just want to cringe when other women make jokes about how they have an "extra child" around the house, and that sort of thing. I personally don't find childlike helplessness sexy or appealing in any way whatsoever, and I would never put up with that behavior in a ostensibly grown-up man.

On Edit: I noticed that a lot of posters are suggesting that military men are less helpless than other men. Interestingly, I grew up in a military family (dad and grandpa were Army officers), and my dad was always responsible for 50% of the household duties growing up. It seemed so normal to me that I was in my teens before I realized that other people's families didn't necessarily work that way.

[Captain Hilts]

103. It's all a product of socialization. Women and military men are socialized to be neat.

They're not all neat, but they're socialized that way.

[Romulox]

50. But who gets to be the arbiter of what is "clean enough"?

Who has decided that your standards are the correct ones? In the military, the chain of command is obvious, but in the civilian world, not so much.

So when you say, "The reason a lot of men in civilian life are slobs is because no one holds them accountable." I wonder where this authority flows from? Both the authority to a) set the standards, and b) enforce these standards once set? :shrug:

[Kalyke]

53. I think the poster simply meant the basics of clean...

...as in dishes not encrusted with germy, left-over food or floors not covered in pet accidents (either directly laid or indirectly tracked in) or enough grass and leaves to be outdoors or clothes relatively free of stains and stench... that sort of thing.

I don't mind toys and magazines and newspapers about, but if the house is dirty enough to make you ill, then it's not so much about standards, but about health and safety.

[Romulox]

54. I dunno...her using the military's hygeine as an example doesn't really support that theory, imo.

:shrug:

[Hello_Kitty]

58. Yes it does.

I was debunking the assumption that men are innately incapable of seeing dirt and cleaning. You are splitting hairs over standards but my assertion that you are able to clean when there are consequences if you don't stands.

[Hello_Kitty]

57. I agree that the standards aren't as clear and the expectation isn't overt.

Some women may seem that they are overly fussy but you have to realize the intense social pressure we are under to keep spotless and beautiful homes. Obviously, not all women strive to live up to it. I'm able to tolerate a large amount of messiness now that I'm out of the military but I'm the one apologizing profusely for the state of the house when people drop by, not my boyfriend. I know that people are going to judge ME for the state of the house, not him.

[Romulox]

63. I think women should give up their perceived moral authority to set domestic standards...

for their own good!

Much like women's weight and fashion, this is largely something you do to one another, imo.

That said, I am one of those (apparently not *that* rare) male cleaners, so my opinion may be a bit skewed. I mop my kitchen once a month. Anyone who mops less than this is a slob; anyone who mops more frequently is a fuss bucket. :silly:

[Kalyke]

73. You'd mop more frequently if you had a rescued doggie who

has health-based tinkle issues as a result of malnutrition, abandonment and lack of care.

:)

We mop nearly daily, but he can't hold it and it's a medical issue, not a behavioral one, as we initially thought.

Slobbery and cleanliness are still the invention of necessity.

(Oh - and us cool people who love Fords are neither slobs nor fuss buckets - we're just smart. Hee hee)

[Odin2005]

88. IMO many women even are socialized to be overly concerned about cleaning.

My mom is one of those. My apartment is pretty decent, not spotless, but a lot better than many guys my age, and yey mom still hounds me about it and actually tells me that I "need a woman to make you are keeping your place clean". :eyes: :rofl:

[redqueen]

38. Well, they do get the treatment over baldness...

and not having a big/hard enough erection.

And there's some product that aims to make them style their hair... shows gangs of hot women going around and giving makeovers to guys with greasy hair or something.

Most commercials are so painfully stupid.

[FarCenter]

3. Because women do the selection while shopping

Men, if they are along, push the cart.

[Captain Hilts]

6. Not necessarily true. In my world retired military officers LOVE to do the hunting.

The base commissary is full of retired captains and colonels.

[Kalyke]

8. How hard can it be to buy 99-cent bleach, a 29-cent box of baking soda, a

99-cent bottle of vinegar and a 5-buck mop?

Seriously - that's all you need to keep a clean house.

[Captain Hilts]

20. Look at those prices - when's the last time you went shopping?

[Kalyke]

35. I buy non-name brands.

Seriously! I do hate to shop, but I have been shopping (just last week).

We got three boxes of baking soda for less than a dollar, generic bleach for 99 cents and a good-sized bottle of vinegar for less than a buck.

We go to Big Lots for things like these. They are far cheaper than in the grocery store.

We also live in Tennessee. I keep telling y'all our cost of living is cheaper here.

[Romulox]

28. None of those things have cost that much for years!

Actual prices:

32 oz white vinegar: $2.19
1 lb Box Baking Soda: $1.09
3 Qts bleach: $2.19

:wow:

[Kalyke]

43. I guess where you live, they cost more.

I have NEVER paid over a dollar for baking soda.

I once paid nearly $2 for bleach at the grocery store, but it's so much cheaper at Big Lots that I rarely buy anything but groceries at the grocery store. I buy cleaning products at Big Lots (both stores are within blocks, so I'm not running all over town to save 50 cents).

[Gwendolyn]

39. Maybe more men than women are aware of that --

and so might be less likely to be sucked into buying a luxury cleaning item like the swiffer.

As someone said downstream, advertising bases itself off concepts that work, and often they test them to the target market through focus groups, etc. There are obviously people out there who approve of those ads and are buying up the product as a result. Car ads no longer feature geeky guys getting car jacked by 6 foot tall sultry Italian spies because people complained. Same goes for cleaning products, etc... ads.

Here's what it would look if cleaning ads targeted single guys.

Tide Coldwater:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfWScN9JZ5s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Q3vIF6oYg&feature=related

[Berry Cool]

77. And those are just as sexist as the current ads

because the assumption, like in the beer ads, is that you have to sell men by promising them sex with hot chicks.

[Gwendolyn]

They're both fake ads.

The first one is Dave Chapelle actually making fun of those ads, utilizing what he calls "slow motion making everything better." The second wouldn't sell well because no one wants to buy detergent from a young guy with other things on his mind. Tide would be dumb to market to that small of a demographic.

No point in using a harassed working woman as she doesn't have the time to obsess over which product is best. So, the default is the homemaker. She's a good rep because she obviously has time to check out the best product and prices and if she's attached to her swiffer or tide, that's good enough for everyone else. I'd like to see a retired male senior, or a gay male homemaker in one of those, just to mix things up a little.

But again, ads utilize certain advertising tricks because they move product and solidify brand. Humor, bad taste, memorable jingles, and sex. You can bet that if they use sex to sell men, it's because it works. The same way that the stupid swiffer ad doing what it does, works.

[Berry Cool]

110. I know they're fake.

I just don't see why the advertisers think "the homemaker" is such a big market anymore. I think statistics will tell us that a huge number of women work and they are not any more obsessed with detergent brands than men are.

And really, there have to be a lot of guys out there who buy detergent--at least the single ones. I'm not saying anyone should use sex to sell them. But isn't there another way? And some way that doesn't involve the assumption that a woman knows more about cleaning than they do (whether it's their mother, girlfriend, whatever)?

[Gwendolyn]

89. Dupe... :-(

[Lochloosa]

74. Sorry. I do ALL of the shopping. And I cook every night.

And, yes I'm married.

[FarCenter]

96. Then you would be able to estimate how many grocery shoppers are males by themselves

What percentage in the checkout lines are like you.

Advertizers spend their money on the greatest share of the audience.

[Dreamer Tatum]

98. Good for you. But most shopping is done by women. nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

97. You called it. nt

[supernova]

4. Also, women buy a good chuck of these products

still.

So, what do we see in 2009, women still mopping the floor. The old mops trying to romance the woman are the worst to me.

:grr:

[csziggy]

11. At least we're no longer worrying about waxy yellow buildup!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTnAfOmvBc0

[left coaster]

7. Most marketing/advertising is well calculated..

..and I'm guessing the numbers show that women are the ones most often purchasing domestic cleaning products.. but I do agree with you, the male and female stereotypes used in the advertising that you describe, are often stupid and insulting, and I'm tired of seeing them too..

[SteelPenguin]

65. Bingo

The thing most people seem to miss in this thread is just how calculated all this stuff is. You don't have an advertising agency just sitting around saying "Well it's a cleaning product, lets have a woman buying it." They know very well who shops, who cleans, who makes purchasing considerations. They do constant research on all this through a variety of polling companies with armies of people with clipboards in malls, websites, and mailers.

I absolutely 100% guarantee you that if 51% of the purchasers of household cleaning products were purchased by, and decided to purchase by, men, then the commercials would be targeted towards them.

They try and target markets. They determine the market for their product and then target it as efficiently as possible. It doesn't mean that men don't purchase cleaning products, it just means that they're in the minority.

It's basic statistical analysis, and something apparently alot of people are incapable of understanding. It's not sexist, it's marketing.

Of course this generally, as indicated, this usually dumbs down advertising to the most simplistic and primal shapes to hit as many people as possible, and even the people often irritated by the commercials can still receive the message from them. Most will still purchase said product, regardless of whether or not they felt themselves above the commercial. They know that too.

[superduperfarleft]

9. I do 99% of the cleaning in my house, and I'm male.

And yet I don't get horribly offended at stupid TV commercials. I guess there must be something wrong with me.

[kiva]

12. And, as an extention to your rant, why do

advertisers think that only married women do housework/cook/operate domestically? I am a spinster and guess what? No housecleaning elves have ever appeared to magic away the dust; no laundry gnomes live in my washing machine and the cooking fairies either don't exist or are on strike. I know that anyone stupid enough to believe Cosmo think that all single women have cleaning women, take their clothes to be laundered, and either go out to dinner with hot bachelors or starve, but not so much.

[Captain Hilts]

19. I've never heard a United Statesian woman describe herself as a 'spinster'

are you English?

It's been interesting to see all the north American types - Canucks too - bombard the British press on using this word to describe Susan Boyle.

[kiva]

72. No, but try to get to Britain as often as possible -

only once a year or so...must be hanging out with other Anglophiles :7 I do love the word 'spinster' though, so much character implied in the word.

[Kalyke]

49. Trust me - I was a single Mom for five years and prayed for housecleaning elves!

My first husband was a cheat and an abuser and, eventually, a skip-out on child support.

The only cleaning woman I could afford was me!

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. The only cleaning products sold to men are for keeping your car

sparkly new.

But the fact is, men don't clean the way women do, for the most part, and when we do clean it is with whatever is at hand.

I take my cleaning very seriously. I vacuum twice a year, whether it needs it or not.

[SoCalDem]

16. Women still do most of the grocery shopping, so ads are aimed at them

just as most beer ads are aimed at men:)..ad-men know their target audience, even though not "ALL" women do the shopping.. it's a numbers game:)

[Javaman]

18. It's a plot by the right wing...

to sell cancer causing cleansers to women to decrease votes among women who are, generally speaking, Democrats.

Okay, snarking aside. I agree.

The concept of "domesticity" in the ad world still seems to be stuck in the 1950's. Men, eat only meat and are completely clueless, children are always hopelessly cute, even when they destroy the house and woman clean to within an inch of their lives and are able to look like they stepped out of cellophane when their clueless hubby comes home from work.

I can go on and on about the mass brainwashing we all have been subject too via the ad men, but what's the point, we all know it. The trick is not to fall for it.

I personally hate TV, but it's a love/hate thing. I enjoy a few TV shows but hate hate hate the commercials. They are inherently evil.

[Arugula Latte]

21. The ones that bug me most are where the "wise man" is condescendingly

telling the hapless little wimminfolk housewives how they should be getting stains out of their laundry. That is a model straight out of the 50s and it's still going strong.

[madrchsod]

23. i`ve always cleaned our homes..drives my wife nuts!

since my sisters told me i`d better learn how, i`ve done the laundry,ironing,and cleaning for 50 years..

[JerseygirlCT]

80. Good for your sisters! And you!

My husband was taught to do those things, too. When we got to college, he was one of the few guys who actually had been doing his own laundry for years. Hard to believe now, but my son reports that many of his friends still don't know what to do!

[liberal_at_heart]

24. My daughter hates that

She points that out everytime she sees a commercial with a woman using a cleaning product.

[Bunny]

25. Target Women's take on this is pretty good. I love Sarah Haskins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqDzKad2Q3M&feature=related

Here's one for laundry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BEM7x9iVcc&feature=related

And this one asks us why we marry those doofy men in the first place:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7vtyheqPVU&feature=related

[Kalyke]

60. Oh those were hilarious!!!

I'm passing those around.

Thank you!!!

[HughBeaumont]

29. Here's another thing -

Why are all of the husbands in these commercials (and just about every sitcom, for that matter) as let-yourself-go-to-Pizza-Hut slobby, out-of-shape and nasty as possible, but the wife (the one doing the cleaning and cooking, of course :eyes: ) HAS to be stunning in the looks and figure department? And you never, EVER see the reverse happen?

[Hello_Kitty]

34. Not to mention she's a nagging buzzkill.

It's interesting when you contrast it to old sitcoms where the standard plot paired a goofy woman with a controlling tight-assed prick of a man. I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, etc, all followed that plot arc. Of course, the woman was always pretty. That part hasn't changed.

[Captain Hilts]

37. DON'T get me started on slobby/homely guys married to hot babes in ads....nt

[left coaster]

42. I admit this annoys me..

I wonder if this good looking, competent wife/out of shape, dim husband duo is designed to make me, as a woman, and the dominant buyer of household related products, feel good, or superior to my husband/men in general? Because it has just the opposite effect on me.. I am ashamed to publicly admit that I have been known to yell back at the TV and ask why the studly hubby/frumpy wife teams are so under represented in these damned commercials! :)

[Gwendolyn]

51. Yes, that's the reason why. Look at how many women post here about how useless men are.

Refer to their lazy assed husbands that way. Ads are produced to feature what the potential buyer can identify with, as well as dream of becoming.

Back in the 90s, some Tide and some other laundry detergent ads featured scenarios like young, good-looking men playing with a child and then doing the laundry. The thinking was that this was what working women dreamed about, and by buying Tide, you could make it happen. Guess these types of ads didn't move product as well as those depicting the stay-at-home wife, as they fell by the wayside.

[redqueen]

44. That's also very common in movies.

How many movies involve an overweight/dorky/nerd type getting a hot woman?

How many involve the reverse?

*sigh*


ETA there are very few, but in nearly every one of them the formerly undesirable girl magically becomes hot at the end of the movie... so that doesn't count.

[HughBeaumont]

64. First question: thousands. Second question: NOT thousands.

Although Clive Owen does end up with the somewhat nerdly woman in The Croupier. :)

[redqueen]

67. Haha... yes, NOT thousands.

Thanks for mentioning The Croupier... I'll be seeing that one for sure. :)

[Cali_Democrat]

46. Good point.

Sexism obviously.

[JerseygirlCT]

81. Oh yeah. The man always looks like a schlub, and

he's somehow married to fashion model material.

And how often do you see an older woman with a good-looking younger man? Yeah, that's what I thought!

Drives me mad, too.

[gkhouston]

119. and younger. The wife usually looks younger, especially in Viagra commercials. n/t

[ZombieHorde]

31. I believe the reason is money.

Companies hire market research people and the market research people finds out who is buying those types of products.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

36. "Centrum for Men" --

In the commercial, the copy says something to the effect of "some things are made just for men" -- and shows three images, including one of a power drill.

I sooo badly want to take a picture of msyelf with my drill and send it to the company/advertising agency -- what last century thinking they do. :eyes:

In Advertising Land men never vacuum, wash dishes by hand, dust, shop for the family, although I have noticed some of them have started to actually wash clothes. :D

There is a terrifying amount of sexism in advertising, always has, always will be as long as it sells products.

[havocmom]

40. While there are lots of men who clean house, women do the majority of the shopping

We are the gathers, they are the hunters. We do more of the shopping, the gents do more of the hunting... for the clicker, car keys, glasses, sunglasses ;)

Actually, years of observation have led me to believe a good many gentlemen get married because they are tired of keeping track of the clicker, car keys, glasses, sunglasses. I am very lucky, my gentleman frequently asks 'Honey, where's the spray stuff for the walls (windows, floors)?'

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

52. It's Called Marketing. Ever Hear Of It?

Sexism? No. Target market? Yes.

Fact is, when it comes to those sorts of products, women are far more interested in the advertisement and product type. That's a statistical fact. So the advertiser making an advertisement that caters to the core market is simply a no brainer, and there's not a thing wrong with it.

[Kalyke]

55. I am in marketing (although not product commercials).

So I get your point regarding target markets... BUT... I'm beginning to questions those numbers.

With the economy, I'm somehow left doubting that women care much about advertising and product types: a box of baking soda is cheaper than tooth-whitener, bleach alternatives, clean-smelling carpet salts and bathroom-scrubbing powders, for example.

But my biggest doubt is this: while women may still make these purchases more often than men, I doubt the number of women buying these products more often than men directly correlates to the percentage of commercials on TV that depict this action.

In so-far-as sexism is concerned, yes, OMC, it's sexist to reduce me to an object wooed by a mop or an object to sell beer.

[Hello_Kitty]

62. People think marketers are poring over scientific demographic research all day

That is part of what they do but they are human and have the same biases and assumptions as everyone else. A lot of times they operate on hunches and gut feelings and they don't always get it right.

[Kalyke]

75. Agreed.

I do some basic calculations on sales team proposal-to-close rates and compare that to the total cost of output. I read some publications regarding regulations as it relates to the product and services my company sells and tailor our best-practices based on general trends, planned regulation changes and product initiatives with our manufacturers.

I don't pore over scientific demographic research for hours to determine what method works best on men in IT or women in IT or regional bias in favor or against a certain product or service. That would be a waste of our sales team's time.

[rucky]

56. Billy Mays ads are pretty gender neutral.

And that Shamwow guy - he can do it all day!

Maybe the way around this is to make ads that are equally annoying to both genders?

[pipi_k]

70. Vince the Shamwow guy is an annoying little shit, but...

I find him somewhat amusing...

:7

[Warpy]

59. Most of the advertisers are men and men approve the ads

and I'm afraid they're mostly from that generation of men who spent their childhoods in the 50s and 60s and grew up feeling entitled to the services of an unpaid maid.

That's why they ASSume only women do the drudgery.

[Pithlet]

118. Oh, but it can't be. It must be due to research!

It can't be due to the fact that cleaning products are a necessity. I mean, I buy them anyway even though I'm annoyed at the commercials and think they're sexist as hell. I have no choice.

[Warpy]

129. I don't buy anything that's advertised, at least not here

My general cleaner is some super concentrated stuff from Costco. I dilute it to suit the job. My mild cleaner is Dr. Bronner's. My laundry soap is some Mexican stuff that comes in a plastic bag and that I dump into an old detergent box.

And that plus baking soda and generic bleach round out my arsenal.

The best part is that I know I'm not supporting sexist bullshit.

(come on, didn't you always want to tell that ring around the collar man looking daggers at his wife that washing his neck might be a better idea than buying some expensive brand name shit?)

[Pithlet]

132. I know, I'm big on Costco and no name brands myself.

My point was I'm not buying that market research validates these stereotypes, particularly with such a need based product. They're perpetuating them. Most people who go into the store, myself included, aren't consciously supporting that sexist bullshit either. They're going into the store to buy the product to get what needs to get done. If a person has the time, inclination and knowhow to do the mixity doo dah and not buy the ready made stuff, more power to them. I think that's great. Tends to be much better.

[pipi_k]

61. Brawny paper towels had a TV ad featuring a really hot guy

making a cake for his wife...does that count as a good one?

[Mari333]

66. always hated that concept on commercials.

really puts down men, too. like they are dweebs who cannot fend for themselves.

[la_chupa]

68. maybe you should swear off sitting around looking for some reason to get your knickers in a twist

[Captain Hilts]

71. This is not a helpful comment. Read a different thread. nt

[Kalyke]

84. I'm not wearing knickers.

:P

[Ratty]

69. Mama's Got the Magic of Clorox 2

Hate, HATE that commercial

[JonQ]

76. They probably did a study

or more likely many studies and found most of their customers were women so they aimed their ads at that demographic.

If their main demographic were latino-transexuals then their ads would focus on that group. Advertising is fairly mercenary, they're going to go with whatever the numbers suggest will work.

[bluetrain]

78. Thanks for pointing this out. The Stupak Amendment has made it apparent that we MUST call out ALL

misogyny at EVERY turn.

[JerseygirlCT]

79. I don't know, but I've been wondering the same for many years now

And I think both men and women ought to find it insulting - women because the assumption is that they ought to be doing all the housework (boy do we still need to rid society of THAT assumption!) and men because it assumes they're too stupid to do anything with the kids or housecleaning - obviously a stupid assumption.

[Hepburn]

82. What used to piss me off to the max?

The commercials for Feminine Deodorant Spray.

[Kalyke]

85. Me, too - mainly because that particular product caused women

to swim in yeast infections, thus making them smell worse than their natural, but clean, odor (or like baby powder the spray emulated) ever did.

[Captain Hilts]

104. Yeah. And few women need to take iron supplements also. nt

[gkhouston]

120. Yes, where have the FDS and Massengil commercials disappeared to?

I guess we weren't so "unfresh", after all. :eyes:

on edit: And what about "ring around the collar"? Are people just throwing away their shirts or have men stopped sweating? :shrug:

Halitosis? Used to be everyone had bad breath, too. I guess pharmaceutical ads have priced everyone else out of the business.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

83. Additionally mothers are always the ones getting meals for the kids

And when the Dad is in charge of preparing a meal for the children, he doesn't know what to do so he improvises and gets either take-away or uses a tinned meal and pretends it is authentic. Or he doesn't know what to do and the child has to tell him

Another advertising stereotype

[Odin2005]

86. That BS drives me nuts.

The woman is always the dutiful housewife and the guy is a dumb, lazy schlep. Wow, insulting both sexes at the same damn time! I don't get how this BS sells things.

[Kaleva]

87. It's a stereotype most everyone accepts.

One would never see a commercial where the man is the dutiful househusband as the wife sits on the couch drinking beer and belching.

[Captain Hilts]

102. I know. And, at least in my world, they're just not true. Insulting. nt

[phasma ex machina]

133. M$M's epic fail in the wake of the Inet makes me doubt that M$M stereotypes ever truly sold. nt

[Kaleva]

90. Why is it that men are usually driving the car when they are with a woman?

I see women driving all the time but only when they are with another woman, by themselves and/or with kids. When I see a couple in a car, it's almost always the man who is driving.

[Hello_Kitty]

92. I'm guilty of that. I hate driving.

I hate it even more when I've got a passenger because I feel like they're judging my driving.

[Kaleva]

94. I played a joke on wife one time.

I went to the car first and sat in the front passenger seat. She came out of the house, walked up to the car and was surprised to see me sitting in her usual spot. She told me to get out of the car and get into the drivers seat which I did.

I doubt very many couples have a debate as to who is going to drive each and every time they go out together.

[gkhouston]

123. If you took those curb-seeking radials off the car, you'd have no problem at all.

;-)

[niceypoo]

93. Because my wife is a crappy driver

Turns without looking first, changes lanes AND checks blind spot simultaneously, then jerks back into the original lane if there is a car. She once got pulled over for a DUI while sober cuz she was zigzagging all.

Ive let her drive a couple times but I get too jumpy, too many close calls, and I end up driving. When I was a kid my mom did all the driving even when my Dad was in the car. Shrug??

[Captain Hilts]

105. Yeah, I don't 'get' that. I think it's still a control thing. And men think they're

better drivers, just as they think they're better investors, when neither is true.

[Kaleva]

108. My wife prefers that I drive and I don't mind.

[Captain Hilts]

109. Yes, I know folks like that. But the pattern in advertising, and in life is so strong. nt

[Kaleva]

111. It took strength to control a team of horses

and maybe the reason why it's mostly men who do the driving today is that it's an hand me down from the real horse power days that's not been questioned.

Also, the earlier vehicles didn't have automatic transmissions, power steering or power brakes.

[Captain Hilts]

113. True!

[gkhouston]

126. I don't think so. My mom drove a stick back in the forties and she's a little

bit of a thing. Yeah, it took more effort and coordination than driving an automatic with power everything, but it wasn't weightlifting.

[lukasahero]

131. Haven't car been around for 100 years?

How long does it take for us to evolve?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

106. I've found women gravitate toward the 'passenger' side of the bed, too.

...if memory serves

[gkhouston]

124. I don't know; my husband and I split it up pretty evenly.

Especially on long trips, it makes more sense to trade off.

[lukasahero]

130. My husband drives his car, I drive mine

Problem solved.

[Kaleva]

95. Did you have an imaginary set of pedals on your side when your wife drove?

[Dreamer Tatum]

99. The ad execs used to call commercials for cleaning products "Two C's in a K"

That is, "two c***s in a kitchen." That format was found to sell a LOT of household products.

[distantearlywarning]

100. Amen, sister! Preach it!

I've noticed this for years, and it really hacks me off.

Interestingly, it irritates my husband even more than it irritates me. Probably because at least my gender is being represented as the competent, attractive portion of the equation, whereas his is being represented as slobby, incompetent, out-of-shape, and incapable of doing the smallest things around the house without the condescending help of a supermodel wife. Some of these commercials are enough to send him into a 10-minute rant about how he's sick of men being "the dumb ones" in advertising.

[Kaleva]

112. Think of TV shows

Wilma was much smarter then Fred. Same with Peter Griffen and his wife Lois on "Family Guy". The stereotype of the idiot husband whose ass is saved weekly by his super-mom wife has been around for decades.

[Captain Hilts]

134. I marvel that more men don't get pissed off by this image. nt

[kentauros]

107. Another advertising "truth" I hate:

Men can BBQ like champions, but they can't find their necessary ingredients at the store. Huh?

[Pithlet]

115. I agree. It drives me crazy, too.

It's sexist and demeaning toward men and women.

[Touchdown]

116. Because stay at home Dads are "lazy bums, who can't hold a job"

Stereotyping hurts everybody.

[nadinbrzezinski]

117. The simple answer is... they are still selling

the 1950s when men went to work and women staid home to do the work and cook.

SO they are selling an ideal with the product. I could write a book on what is wrong with that, but this is what they are selling to the buying public.

It is so good to be able to decipher these things, a women's studies ...

[PassingFair]

121. Because almost all advertising creative directors and art directors are MEN.

And the "marketing" executives at the corporations
they work for who approve the ads are men.

That's why most advertising SUCKS ASS in a
country where women make 75% of the buying
decisions EVERY DAY.

[Arkana]

125. Wolfgang Puck's got his own line of cookware.

Other than that, I don't know.

[cbdo2007]

127. Next you'll be complaining "why are Men the only ones with penises? I'm so jealous."

Geez, get over it. If anyone should be mad, it's me, a man who does all the cooking and cleaning in my house but alas, I actually have about 1,000 other things on my list of things to get mad about before this.

You know why women are the ones marketed to here? If the advertising company did a study and found that they would make even $1 more by advertising to women over men, then that's what they're going to do. I know you think the world is out to get you as a woman, but really in the whole scheme of things you aren't that significant that people are sitting around conspiring against you.

[cbdo2007]

128. dupe