Have you ever noticed how in commercials women look smart and perfect, while men usually look like morons? This video series examines countless examples of a gender being consistently portrayed as inferior.

rogersmith25 · 2012-02-17T11:50:31+00:00

If you think about it, commercials like this being so typical can also be a knock on women as well, since marketers are recognizing women as the more impressionable consumers who also need to be given an ego trip to be swayed into buying something.

2012-02-17T06:51:13+00:00

I've been saying the same thing for a while. Can't turn on the tv without seeing a man being degraded in a commercial.

2012-02-17T10:30:29+00:00

Twenty years ago people just referred to this as the "Dagwood effect" (from the comic Blondie, who was married to Dagwood)

It has been going on for quite some time.

Roddy0608 · 2012-02-17T09:50:48+00:00

I think the recent Sainsbury's advertisements are quite nice.

jvardrake · 2012-02-17T06:55:13+00:00

This has bothered me for a while, too. Every commercial in which there are mixed genders always portrays the man in the negative light, and the woman in the positive light.

About the only sorts of commercials that make me feel bad for women are the cleaning supply ones. I seriously doubt women are as happy about cleaning as they are always portrayed..

Digi2112 · 2012-02-17T16:47:11+00:00

Maybe it is that more women watch tv and or pay attention to commercials.

eskachig · 2012-02-17T05:23:59+00:00

It's absolutely true that men in commercials and TV are portrayed as bumbling idiots.

But the announcer grates on me a little.

Also some of those commercials are pretty good, the popcorn one I thought was pretty hilarious.

picklehammer · 2012-02-17T06:24:14+00:00

not the best video/narrator/examples but an important issue in advertising. I don't think you can watch television without seeing something like this.

foresthill · 2012-02-17T07:20:04+00:00

Want to know what is hilarious about this guys example? The men are portrayed as ignorant buffoons to cater to the female opinion (who are usually the people who do the shopping in the household). These types of commercials typically cater to the female gender because they can relate to all of the little quirks men sometimes have (I find myself doing stupid stuff quite a bit - but these commercials are exaggerated for comedic effect).

So what is hilarious is these are usually male or companies run by men that create and deploy these advertisements to appeal more women to their products. It's a giant scheme just like the diamond industry. The narrator for this video either is just trying to cause trouble/make a point, or doesn't understand basic marketing.

Sorry. It needed to be said.

merkins4peace · 2012-02-17T15:05:39+00:00

There were two commercials that drove me nuts! The one where the husband is power washing the deck and another where the woman had to "instruct" the husband on what fertilizer to use because he was too stupid to figure it out. I keep thinking that if there husbands were so damned dumb how do they live in those beautiful houses? LOL, definitely a first world issue, but irritating nonetheless.

I changed the channel when these commercials come on.

I have also noted where it is deemed acceptable for the female to close fist hit the man in the face, etc. Violence towards females, correctly unacceptable. Violence towards men, grrrl power!

DomesticApe · 2012-02-17T17:29:48+00:00

The narrator is rather irritating and whiny.

slumdog-proper · 2012-02-17T17:38:24+00:00

I think it works both ways, that women and men are conveniently portrayed the way they need to be portrayed the way advertisers deem them to be exported. Nevertheless the idea that men in general are dunces who cant manage without women to solve problems for them is a grab to give women the idea that they really are entitled and self empowered but at the cost of men, as opposed to a gesture of their own abilities and qualities.

Bobsutan · 2012-02-18T02:54:16+00:00

This is a pretty well known TV Trope regarding a hierarchy of mockery. If men and women are in the commercial the man will be made to look foolish. If white males and males of a minority group are in the commercial, the white male will be made to look foolish. The simplified version is minority women > white women > male minorities > white males. It's the outcome of 20 years of political correctness that made it forbidden to criticize or even hint at negative stereotypes regarding women and minorities.

DoktorTeufel · 2012-02-18T08:32:56+00:00

Heh. I think all of us MRAs have noticed these commercials. I certainly have. They've been around for decades, and they're still with us today: Fathers, husbands and boyfriends are routinely portrayed as idiots, mess-makers, clumsy oafs, thoughtless cads, and blabbermouths, while their female counterparts are portrayed as smart, competent, graceful, well organized, sensitive, and responsible.

In fact, such commercials sowed the initial seeds of discomfort in me as a child and teenager — seeds which (much later) matured into a full awareness of men's rights issues in our society, and of the ridiculous double-standards most people seem to accept without question.

However, I only very recently realized that not only do men's rights issues exist, but that they're every bit as severe and worthy of recognition as women's issues. In fact, they're arguably more worthy of recognition, because while feminism is widely advocated and accepted as PC, men's rights issues are downplayed and MRAs themselves are ridiculed and persecuted.

Nobody_special · 2012-02-17T15:54:03+00:00

These commercials are very offensive. They are psychologically training youth.

DeepFriedChildren · 2012-02-17T08:53:21+00:00

Interesting. Brings up many questions about the extent to which advertising affects society and vice versa.

discdigger · 2012-02-17T15:31:53+00:00

Watch a beer or deodorant commercial, and women are portrayed just as poorly.

Watch a sports/luxury car/truck commercial, and men are gods.

It depends on the audience being targeted.

Nobody_special · 2012-02-17T17:24:31+00:00

Its in so many. Here is one from citibak. Notice who the star is. Who is on top. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE4bcq8Plzk

Stupid men :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W36rqvcUD6E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KERwnA8VfFM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud3LH1dvmu0

There is a pattern here.

2012-02-17T06:17:54+00:00

Many excellent points. The announcer could take a chill pill.

claudemartin · 2012-02-17T06:35:55+00:00

As a guy who leaves dirty glasses on the sink or counter, I deserve a klondike bar when i do remember to put them in the machine.

PresidentCleveland · 2012-02-17T07:11:37+00:00

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