Newsflash - Fathers are spineless numbskulls

Hey, kind reader - have you noticed the disturbing trend in tv advertising? That trend is making adult males (usually dads) look like complete imbeciles. I understand the reason for it, from a pure marketing perspective. Women are responsible for most of the purchasing done these days, apparently. It doesn't make these commercials any less distasteful or insulting. Just in case you haven't actually noticed these ads, here are a few examples:

Lowes - A sissified hubby gets bullied not only by his wife, but by their cute little pre-teen daughter each time he sighs with relief that the house projects are finally finished. The wuss then whips out the wallet to buy whatever the girls demand next.

Cheerios - Poor Steve asks his snotty wife if she's eating Cheerios to lose weight, and winds up sheepishly saying that the cereal box also says, "Shut up, Steve."

Goodyear - the wife angrily says to her husband "You're an idiot!!" after he buys the other brand of tire.

Verizon - a father is trying to help his young daughter with her homework when he is belittled and scolded by his wife, who orders him to "leave her alone!" and go wash the dog.

Yoplait  - Some pathetic numbnut gets abused by his droning girlfriend over luscious yogurt. See a write-up on this commercial here: http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2010/04/yoplait-light-proves-men-can-eat-yogurt-too.html

There are many other examples; these are a few that just popped into my head. Look, you could argue that it's all in good fun, but rest assured that:

1. It is costly advertising that has been specifically designed to produce a calculated end result: Stroke the egos of females and make them feel in control of the purse strings by demeaning the male and reminding him that he is not in control of the purse strings.

2.If the people being portrayed as morons in these commercials happened to belong to some minority group - or if they were women - someone would be suing someone into homelessness.

photo credit: candrews via photopin cc

There is already an epidemic of disrespect in this country, and now we're teaching children that it's okay to make fun of bumbling, fumbling, helpless, hopeless, doofus Dad, if the reason is to bully him into submissively buying more crap that we don't need. I'm not even a father, and I take offense to it, out of sympathy for what the Dads of America have to deal with.

Guys, if you happen to notice these derogatory, demeaning commercials, and you still have some self-respect, take note of the advertisers. Then, buy your stuff from those advertiser's competitors. Or better yet, send an email to the company, and let them know you'll cease doing business with them until they stop disrespecting the American male for the sake of a buck. And women - if you still have any respect left for your boyfriends and hubbies, you can do the same on their behalf. Think about how you'd feel if the ads made all women look like boobs. (That pun was too good to pass up, sorry.) I like a good, hilarious stereotype as much as anybody, but not when it is designed expressly to subconsciously manipulate our purchasing behavior. If we want to see stupid dads behaving like morons, we can watch the Simpsons or Family Guy. At least we'll understand the point of the satire.

On a more positive advertising note - kudos to Travelers Insurance for their brilliant (and entertaining) campaign showing wild animals hanging out with their predators in peaceful harmony. That's creative advertising! 

The Cove wins an Oscar - maybe you should see it now.

The brilliant documentary The Cove has completed its amassing of awards by taking the Oscar for Best Feature Documentary. If you haven't seen the film yet, and you consider yourself a compassionate human being, I recommend that you watch it. It's much more than a basic documentary. It has the excitement and suspense of an action film, and the engaging, eye-opening detective work of an exposé.

 Here is a trailer:

 The debate rages on over the captive marine mammal issue, but the moral and ethical implications of capturing these animals for our fun and profit is becoming increasingly clear.

Update (December 9, 2015):

Another film was released in 2013, documenting the plight of the Orca or Killer Whale, as they're called. The film is called "Blackfish." It details the story of Tilikum, a captive Sea World Orca that has been responsible for several human deaths (this, despite the fact that there is no record of an Orca ever attacking a human in the wild).  Here is the trailer:

Extra credit activity

If you're like me, (you're probably not, but that's a popular way to get people's attention), you most likely receive more offers for credit cards in a given month than you'd like. C'mon, you know you do. Yes, you've contacted DMAchoice.org and any other agency who can help to reduce your junk mail, but still the envelopes come. What do you do with them? If you're like most folks (see, it really does work), you either throw them straight in the round file (a.k.a. trash can) or you exercise your right to protect your privacy by shredding them. Here's a suggestion for a much more effective process:

Start saving them. Then, once a week, or once a month, or whenever it's convenient, take the stack into the bathroom with you when you're about to make a deposit. Open the envelopes, and place the contents - minus any identifying information - into the bank's postage-paid return envelopes. Heck, mix and match - be creative. Again, be sure to remove anything that can identify you, or you'll just wind up getting even more junk mail. Do NOT take advantage of the fact that you are currently producing bodily waste to adorn the paper with your genetic signature (although this could both save toilet paper and give you a brief sense of satisfaction) -- that's unsanitary and just plain wrong. Pop the return envelopes in the mailbox, and don't forget to shred the parts with your personal information on them.

This will result in the following:
1. More income for the poor, beleaguered Post Office - they need the cash, apparently.
2. Less incentive for the banks and credit card companies to keep killing trees and bombarding us with this junk every week. If they have to pay to receive and process millions of envelopes stuffed with unwanted, useless crap in them (kinda like what they send us), they might actually rethink the practice of annoying us with these relentless offers in the first place.
3. Less trees needlessly wasted on this junk.
4. Less junk mail you have to shred, since it contains information that people might use to steal your identity.
5. A chance to hit the banks in the only place it hurts them - the bottom line - as a signal that you're tired of their practices.

It takes very little effort on your part, it feels somewhat satisfying, and it's democracy in action. It's a chance to speak your mind with demonstrative action, and maybe help inspire positive change. If you like this idea, by all means, spread the word around and let's start a movement. In order to do good, we must first do something.

Palin's got the issues well in hand

Teleprompter this, notes on hand that... the problem is so much larger than who is the better speaker and who is the lesser of the many evils we must choose to elect. Now, we have Mrs. Palin collecting 100 grand to bad-mouth the sitting president for using the same technology that every president has used since its inception (and that she has used herself), while she scribbles talking points on her hand in order to answer simple questions that she has been given in advance. If it weren't so tragic, it would be funny.

The real problem is much more complex (which is probably why so many seem to be missing it, choosing instead to focus on never-ending inane distractions). We now live in a country where:

* Fox News is apparently considered the most trustworthy news source (I don't even know where to begin with this one - this is more worrisome than N1H1 ever was).
* Palin is still riding the wave of support that had her nearly a heartbeat away from the driver's seat of this once-great nation, and the woman needs crib notes on her hand to remind her to slip in catch-phrases about such hard-to-remember core values as energy and tax cuts. She continues to astound us with her incompetence and holier-than-Obama attitude, and folks still pay attention to her. Why? What if she wasn't so folksy and easy to look at? Would anyone pay attention to her?
* Selfish miscreants committing heinous acts of evil suffer less harsh punishment than many individuals who commit minor crimes (much depends on who is committing the crime, of course) Punishment no longer fits the crime, and this is a major source of our problems. It seems that the only way to keep people civil and law-abiding is to make the punishment greater than the reward.
* The millions spent on beer and snacks to celebrate a football game last week could have provided food, water, and other necessities to an entire third-world country. Never mind the money spent on promoting the game, the prize money for winners and losers, the merchandise sales, etc. Our priorities - in terms of caring for our fellow man and addressing what is really important - seem skewed.
* People expect a single man (or woman) to fix overnight all that has gone wrong with our country, and that simply cannot be done. Where so many are guilty of creating this situation, it will take an equal number to right the ship before it sinks.

My final thought is this: Be careful what you wish for. If we eventually place Palin - or someone of her ilk - in the White House, we will reap what we sow.