I am apologizing #LikeAGirl for Super Bowl Ads’ #WarOnMen
No need to humiliate boys to appease the self esteem of girls.
While Professor Jacobson was surfing the Twitter stream during the Super Bowl, I was savoring the free market creativity of American advertisers.
The runaway favorite commercials feature cute puppies and horses. One particular ad, however, brought out an entirely different animal in me: The Mama Grizzly.
I have a serious recommendation to T-Mobile executives: Fire the idiot feminists and their beta-male minions who came up with this commercial:
The dialog for one of the scenes, in which Sarah Silverman & Chelsea Handler characters duel over first-world lifestyle quality, has Sarah Silverman’s insipid character inform a newborn’s mother: “I’m sorry, it’s a boy.”
It was a real piece of #WarOnMen propaganda.
As a mother of a son, who is a 100% all-boy alpha male that I have been delighted to raise as such, I was appalled by the crass anti-maleness of the statement. Let’s play a game of substitution, shall we?
Pan right, and have Silverman’s character whisper, “I’m sorry, it’s a girl.”
The blow-back from NOW and all the other elite feminist groups would have been of Category 5 Hurricane proportions, with the T-Mobile executives dutifully making the rounds to all the talk shows on their apology tour. After a vitriolic social media campaign in which the participants would be likened to Boko Haram rapists, the company would have been compelled to donate millions to girls’ educational programs and the feminist organizations leading the charge. Finally, the feminist activists would not have been satisfied until all parties involved in that commercial were brought to tears, like Dr. Matt Taylor (the comet scientist in the iconic shirt).
But, insult our boys (and half the future market for T-Mobile products) and what do we hear? Here’s another animal to demonstrate:
That the National Football League is now the target of progressive activism is apparent to anyone who is paying the slightest bit of attention…which is me, because Super Bowl is the only game I watch annually. Between the concussion crusade, the controversy associated with the video of Ray Rice hitting his fiance in the elevator, and #DeflateGate, I was preparing myself for “kinder, gentler NFL” advertising pap.
However, the advertisers went beyond their original mission in many instances. There was a second ad that was exceedingly offensive, too. Always, the feminine hygiene product manufacturer, ran this gem of inanity on behalf of the #LikeAGirl campaign.
In the attempt to build up the confidence of the girls, a boy being interviewed is embarrassed and humiliated when the narrator connects the term to his sister.
I have worked alongside men for many years…enough to know that terms “Like A Girl” are not intended to insult women…but to inspire a better performance out of another individual. If anybody’s self-esteem is going to be shattered by its use in the friendly sparring that occurs in daily social interactions among men, boys (and, shockingly, even among my female compatriots), then there are more significant issues that person is facing.
There was no need to sacrifice a young man on the altar of political correctness to appease the self esteem of teen girls.
Shame on the executives at Always who green-lighted this commercial.
Leaders of feminist groups behave as if they speak for all women. Well, today, I am usurping the “All Women” Speaker’s role, and I formally apologize, #LikeAGirl, to all Super Bowl fans who were subjected to these vapid excuses for female empowerment.
Personally, I will never buy T-Mobile or Always products again. In fact, I assert that one of the animals featured in the Sprint commercial (my favorite), is probably the creative genius behind both these pieces….I am sure my Legal Insurrection friends will readily guess which one, too!
Another helpful hint that I will offer, free of charge, to next year’s Super Bowl ad creators: You do not build up one client base by tearing down another. That’s a plan that is full of fail.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
I am the mother of 3 sons, I have a Chemistry degree and I submit that the problem is not, and never been, male society. It is that incredibly mean-spirited, bitchy, oppressive society the little girls make for themselves.
I used to take my kids to school in the morning, and actually go into the classroom every day, and I observed that boys and girls live in alternate, separate societies in the same rooms. I was glad I had boys.
The boys had haircuts that did not require combing, and they wore T-shirts and pants, which would be filthy if their mothers had allowed it. The girls each spent an hour on their hair, every morning, not to mention selecting the properly acceptable clothing. And they checked each others’ appearance — mercilessly.
The boys had games they played, and the teams were determined by order of arrival. The girls had cliques, and they were always “not speaking” to somebody.
I do not know where that awful culture came from, because I surely do not think it came intentionally from the parents. On the other hand, at that age, the hour spent on the hair and clothing was done by the mothers, as were the playdates.
Yes, there is a glass ceiling. Yes, men make assumptions that may not hold for any given individual, but yes, men in STEM jobs have scientific backgrounds and open minds. Further, there are NO institutional barriers against women.
I threw “like a girl” until I was in my 30s. That is because I had NO physical training as a child. I joined a softball team, which required 3 women, and all the women threw like girls, that is to say, with a characteristic ineffective motion. I said I did not want to throw like a girl, and would they please help me. The guys did, and I played home plate, which meant being able to throw reliably to second base. The guys were never the problem. They were helpful.
The commercials were aimed at the wrong group, and the wrong problem.
Hey Valerie,
Just loved your comments and wanted to start off with a hearty Kudos and props for being a mom who loves her sons and can see when a problem exists.
I wanted to comment / editorialize back to you due to something you said:
“I do not know where that awful culture came from, because I surely do not think it came intentionally from the parents”
I know exactly where this comes from – but I beg you read through my comment so you do not misunderstand.
The problem comes from girls themselves. Now, no, this is NOT a “bash women” comment, so please read on.
Let’s start with boys, so you’ll see where I am going with this.
Boys: Boys have, stereotypically, certain traits. Some good, some bad, and some good in moderation, and bad in excess.
Boys can be, and often are, little hyperkinetic balls of curiousity, tinkerers, desiring to be men of action (early trait of a desire to be a hero), and can also not be as verbally nimble of girls, can be emotionally brusque, not always as empathetic as girls, and so on and so forth.
We know this – so, for boys we raise them knowing that they have (again, stereotypically) these traits, and are ready for the bad ones when they arrive. We channel this and set boundaries, and make punishments for when a trait goes bad (too much aggression, for example)
But – here’s where there’s a problem – for boys **we admit there are bad traits and we discuss it and plan for it**
For girls – we can’t even have that discussion, let alone fix it.
Social exclusion, whisper campaigns, malicious gossip, “helpful comments” that are in reality incredibly hurtful thing, violency-by-proxy etc etc.
But, due to PC politics, we can’t even *DISCUSS* stereotypically bad female traits, let alone address them, nor even contemplate punishments & deterrents.
What is the remedy? Being able to discuss these stereotypical traits, develop, same as we have for boys, strategies for encouraging them when good, and deterring them when bad, so we can develop a mature person.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on my ideas, and hope that you reply.
– Steven
It’s obvious to anyone paying attention that, overall, men are nowhere as mean to women as women are to each other.
Truer words were never spoken!
The “like a girl” ad was particularly dumb.
Does anyone really not know that the phrase is the equivalent of “like a baby” and “like a little kid”?
I saw the Silverman line as part of the character in the ad – the kind of overbearing, self-righteous individual who would get into a selflessness and cellphone competition with someone else.
Not everything is a political comment.
JWB,
With respect (sincere, and not snarky) – I would disagree.
The compare and contrast alone demonstrates how, due to PC politics, this is now acceptable as a joke, but ONLY if it’s applied to men.
While the ad in and of itself may not “be political” – due to the times and hypersensitivity of feminist “sensibilities” it needs to be addressed.
Beyond that, are we supposed to assume that there was no motive in casting the minimally-talented but openly-progressive feminazi Sarah Silverman for this role?
“Not everything is a political comment.”
Except that’s how the LEFT treats everything, so everything actually IS a political comment. These people are relentless.
Sorry you had to sit through that. When I them say ‘throw like a girl’ I just had to click the fast forward button.
I saw the ad and it made me angry and reinforced the notion that under NO circumstances would I ever use the product advertised. I raised a boy and a girl. Two totally different personas and qualities. Both superior in school but my daughter was the more accomplished athlete. The ad denigrated one sex and praised the other. Why? It wasn’t cute or funny. It is like libs in Hollywood getting up at an awards ceremony and saying something like “I can’t believe you are a Republican”. Don’t these companies/libs realise that they are insulting about half of their future or existing customers?
“The “like a girl” ad was particularly dumb.
Does anyone really not know that the phrase is the equivalent of “like a baby” and “like a little kid”?”
The point, I believe, is to turn it around and I actually think that is cute, but you don’t have to belittle the boys to do it. I missed all the commercials though – I guess I’ll see them this week…
Seriously, a downvote for that?
Social pressures forced me to watch the super bowel (sp intended). All in the room agreed it was the worst year for commercials ever.
In the car pool this morning the suck of the commercials was also brought up.
When the it popped up that they were selling feminine hygiene in that throws like a girl commercial… I laughed my ass off.
sarah silverman : A Not funny, not talented pile of garbage, no wonder I didn’t notice her man hating commercial.
Watching the game reminded me of why I’m so glad I cut cable… these pukes are not welcome in my living room.
More zero sum identity politics with rainbowhead pandering, too.
proudly raised three daughters, all athletic, played all different sports (softball, volleyball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse), so the “throw like a girl” thing had a special meaning – They all play on co-ed teams now as they are out of school, and what a pleasant surprise to their male teammates to see “the girl” stuck in right field gun down a runner trying to make it to home on a single to right. That a girl!!
Don’t forget, after the apology tour, the T Mobile executives would have been required to fall on their swords.
Like this: http://youtu.be/X0GGndnnOqw
Maybe next year they can feature a “tampon toss”.
Title IX is so 1970’s. And yet society still knows what “throw like a girl means” because many girls choose something other than sports, and maybe even prefer dolls if the feminists don’t insult them publicly for not choosing sports, despite all the pressure.
My Mom came from a family of eight and they all played ball together, and she played in “A League of their Own” even way back then. I ran a coed volleyball league for ten years and the women that played did not throw like girls. But it was often hard to find even one third women, because many women don’t chose sports.
It’s insulting to insist they must all act like boys. Thankfully many young women still prefer to be sugar and spice and everything nice, and don’t let feminists demand they learn to throw like a boy. I guess feminists find those women offensive, though perhaps the feminists should pass their own “throwing test”.
The ad was stupid and insipid of course.
But it is correct that football and the NFL in particular are under attack by the whacko left. Football is too violent, the players too highly paid and undisciplined, the helmets too hard, too many concussions, and it is …. too American. It is therefore a prime candidate for sissification. Coastal mothers are being advised not to let their precious sons play this altogether too rough sport. It’s ok for those poor kids in flyover country but not for our delicate boys.
The delivery scene was fake! They should have borrowed the baby from American Sniper.
Oh. And, not only doesn’t a delivery look like that … no one can keep their shoes on when putting their feet into stirrups. In all probability that chair had to hand from the ceiling … making it possible for the baby to come out.
How could that ad possibly work? What were they selling?
The skating rink in the basement though, was good.
I’m a real man in every sense; and, frankly, I love women! I think they are superior to men in many ways, both physically, e.g., enduring pain, and mentally, e.g., enduring men! I’ve never understood the “need to humiliate boys to appease the self esteem of girls”. Women have the upper hand already, deciding which males qualify for their attention. Women who believe they must castigate men in general must have deep scars from some bad personal experiences and are venting. I feel sorry for them.
Those women who fell they must castigate men to enhance their self esteem do so because deep down they know they have nothing to offer.
Can we please replace the word castigate with denigrate? Castigate is too close to castrate and if enough women misread it….
And the irony of it is that those girls, towards the end of the ad, did in fact throw, fight and run “like a girl.”
“Like a girl” has never been an insult towards girls or women, so I will answer the question they ask around 20 seconds into the video:
Q:
When did doing something “like a girl” become an insult?
A:
When idiotic feminist extremists twisted things to turn it into an insult.
I must now go burn my copy of The Sandlot for it is blasphemous bigotry in retrospect.
Indoctrination of young minds by the far left must never, ever take a day off. Not even on Super Bowl Sunday. What did you expect?
Mmmm. I wonder where my comment from earlier today went. I made an argument that the “Sorry, it’s a boy” was, in the context of the commercial in which the protagonists were engaged in oneupmanship, like the rest of their claims, mocking the way people attempt to upstage each other. It was supposed to be absurd. I also asked if the author and other commenters understood that in the T-Mobile commercial Kim Kardashian was mocking herself. This commercial was in the same vein.
Much ado about nothing. Let’s trade dumb blond jokes instead.
“There was no need to sacrifice a young man on the altar of political correctness to appease the self esteem of teen girls.” —————————————-
I disagree. The point of political correctness is to make a point, just not the one you imagine. The point being made is ‘we are in control, never forget it.’ The more idiotic the statement uttered in a public setting without ensuing reputational harm to the speaker the more everyone receives the message that these people are, in fact, the people in control (so don’t cross them). By that standard the advertisement you dislike was very very effective.
The “like a girl” commerical was completely [n-word] rigged. We could ask those [r-word]s to take it back, but if they did they’d just be [i-word] givers or would try to make a settlement and [j-word] us down. Either way we’d just get [g-word]ped. I can’t believe that anyone could _really_ find it demeaning. Everyone knows that terms like “like a girl” are just lighthearted fun and don’t really imply anything about anyone. Except maybe about the people who use and defend them: they imply a _lot_ about them.