am I starting to not really give a sh*t about sexism in advertising these days? Funny thing happened yesterday at my VCPE meeting, one of my friends was watching (ironically) the banned Guinness commercial where this woman appears to be engaging in an orgy-like scenario with three guys who happen to be sharing one beer off her back. Here’s the vid again just in case you have NOOOO idea what the heck I’m talking about (warning: may be found offensive):
Now, she was totally repulsed by this, and kept exclaiming how sexist it was and inappropriate. Yeah, she’s right. It’s sexist. Yeah, it’s inappropriate. Weird thing though? I, being a female, didn’t think “wow that’s so sexist” the minute I first watched the video. No, my first reaction was “HOW ARE THEY KEEPING THE BEER FROM FALLING OFF OF HER BACK?!”. Now, maybe that’s just my inner guy finding this to be entertaining, but have I (and perhaps some other females) become so desensitized by advertising that I no longer react when my own kind is being objectified? Huh. And do I care? Nah, not really. Maybe this was the ultimate goal of marketers, to give them more flexibility in how they deliver their messages to consumers without offending them, and maybe it worked, because honestly? All I care about is if the ad grabs my attention and/or makes me laugh. ‘Nuff said.