"There is difference and there is power. And who holds the power decides the meaning of the difference." --June Jordan

Saturday, November 21, 2009

When Female Vulnerability is the Best Way to Sell a Message

Via AdFreak, a commercial in which "pervy scrubbing bubbles" watch you bathe:



This ad caused me severe discomfort. And not in the "I'm so convinced not to spray soapy chemicals in my shower, now" way, but in the "I am so fucking pissed they had the nerve to prey on women's vulnerability to the oppressive male gaze to try to sell me a product way".

5 comments:

Jeff Fecke said...

I can almost see the premise working -- almost. Okay, maybe not. But I can see it being done in such a way to be only mildly disturbing. However, at some point, it crosses the line from mildly disturbing to utterly horrifying. Seriously, this is downright evil. It makes me want to buy cleaning products just to spite these morons.

Tracey said...

I was thinking that, too. Like, maybe if they had done this differently, it almost could have been cute. Like if the bubbles hadn't been so overly creepy or if she hadn't seemed so completely exposed. Or did it ever occur to them to just stop the damn story before she ever got into the shower? I think their point was already communicated before she was standing there all naked and uncomfortable. Yeah, I just found this mess completely appalling. Especially from a company that's trying to promote health and environmental responsibility.

plumpdumpling said...

I had to watch this with the sound off because we're watching a movie, but even then, it was creepy. Mostly, though, I just felt like the woman was stupid. They're BUBBLES, lady. They pop if you touch them.

Bachelor Girl said...

I saw this on Feministing, and it's really kind of gross. I often wonder just WTF marketing and advertising teams are thinking. Where's the woman in the room?!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.