I dunno, I thought it was a nice vacuum cleaner...

Nice!

I sometimes feel so far away from the MEN in advertising. Really? Are any men this stunted and stupid these days?

Of course a large number of men find Sarah Palin sexy and I just don't see how, so I guess I may be out of touch with the American male zeitgeist.

Very funny, Susurration! Very well done.

Of course men aren't that stupid, it's playing to a stereotype, arsie. At a deeper level it's really demeaning to men AND women. Not all of us want jewelry, or anything for that matter.

"it's playing to a stereotype" I know but why does that still sell at all? "it's really demeaning to men AND women" and again, why does it still sell at all?

Some women are just so ungrateful ...

I hear ya, arse_hat - I get so tired of the same old stereotypes being dragged out about men that I wonder if it's me that's out of step with the world sometimes.

deborah, there's a TV ad playing here at the moment for a "worst Christmas present of the year" contest or some such crap, where a couple of the short segments are a guy saying "she said she didn't want anything!" and later a woman saying "he got me nothing. Nothing!" More stereotypes, but a bit more balanced maybe. Or something.

Are any men this stunted and stupid these days?

Agreed: this stereotype pops up all the time in ads, usually with comic intent, and it's demeaning and insulting.

One of my first college projects, waaaaay back when, was to find some TV clips that operated on unspoken social assumptions. I brought in five ads that cast men as comic incompetents in the home, who relied upon their humorless female partners to marshall them. It was stunningly, infuriatingly easy to find examples.

Other ad stereotypes:

Kids are way smarter than their parents
Girlfriends have frank talk about contraceptives at coctailparty using medical terms
People act weird ad their pets look surprised
Drivers meeting each other at the stop light always end up talking
Sweet, frail grandmother is tough chick.
Gruff, hulk-sized biker are sensitive guys
Babies can talk!

Product stereotypes:
1. Product is so amazing packaging is animated and can dance
2. Product is so amazing it makes bizzare things happen
3. Product is so amazing that people are awestruck by it and don*t notice bizzare things happening around them.


Most common male stereotypes;
1. Dumb Jock/sports enthusiast
2. Emasculated husband who cannot master simple household chores
3. Loveable and/or horny old geezer
4. Preoccupied businessman on the verge of enlightenment
5. God

(oh wait another one, all threads involving advertising = SUMMON DABITCH!)

People act weird ad their pets look surprised

In my experience, pets are more likely to look disdainful when faced with odd human behavior. (Yes, I understand that this is a projection.) (But not always. We used to have a marvelously dignified mother cat, sort of a dowager queen type, who routinely freaked out intoxicated guests by perching nearby, narrowing her eyes, and looking intently at them. People would start to fidget.)

Women have an orgasm when they taste ice cream or yogurt or perhaps something less greek-ish if you are not in the greece.

Especially if it is low-calorie.

3. Loveable and/or horny old geezer

WOOT! There's hope for me yet. Well, except for the lovable part. I am working on the old geezer part too.

I don't know why it sells, arse_hat, I really don't. It doesn't sell me. I just enjoyed the silly ad.

And beyond advertising - it seems most sitcoms seem to have some clueless guy as the lead. I don't get that either.

it seems most sitcoms seem to have some clueless guy as the lead. I don't get that either

You must mean the standard sitcom formula, "Fat Guy/Hot Wife."