During the Superbowl, there is always a big hype about the commercials that are aired. This year, the commercials mimicked many of the previous years with ads with images of alcohol, fast cars, and sex appeal. One commercial in particular caught my eye; the Doritos commercial. In the clip you see a single mother welcoming a date into her house while her son takes it upon himself to set "house rules" for his mother's date. The media plays up the comic factor on the commercial hoping to generate laughs from the audience. After a closer look you see that they are setting expectations of masculinity for young boys and even encouraging using violence to get your point across. It is following classic gender roles by having a little boy using violence instead of a little girl. It is also a racial role, portraying all African American characters instead of Caucasians resorting to violence. These ideas are crucial to examine because they display images and convey messages that show young boys what is expected and acceptable of them. After viewing the clip, what are you're thoughts? Do you think this commercial is potentially damaging for kids to see? Or is it all just in fun and games?
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Macho for Nachos.
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Personally I thought the commercial wasn't about the kid being a bad model but rather the man and the woman. For as little we know about the two in the commercial it looks as if they could be on a first or second date. If it is as such then it would seem that she is being far too sexual and forward as evident by the seductive walk and looks. Equally as bad is how the man states at the woman's ass as she walks away. He is showing the child that it is ok to be a womanizer and that it is ok to do as he did. Is that how men and women should behave? Of course not, but however many millions Dorito spent on the commercial will set back any article or journal about sexist behaviors due to the millions of people that watched it. And because so many people probably thought nothin of it and actually thought it funny shows how in grained that aspect of sexism is. Truly sad.
ReplyDeleteWhen I viewed the commercial I did actually laugh because I have seen this type of behavior from young boys who are over protective of their single mothers'. It does actually stereotype the black male adult though who happen to be staring at the mother's body as she walks away. It gives him the image of a thug and jerk that doesn't respect women but rather a person who is trying to win control over a child and a woman. It depicts the kid as a man who has control over his mother's household as if he can dictate her life. I don't necessarily think the Dorita company were trying to stereotype black males. Because of their assumptions they used black males in the commercial instead because black males link to violence and appear to be more dominant characters than white males. If they had white males playing the roles of the characters people would still laugh but it's true many people would just see it as a commercial that couldn't be realistic. Instead the commercial appears more realisitc with black males playing as the characters.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this commercial. I got the feeling that the little boy was letting the man know that he better not touch his mama and the reason for the slap was because the man was much bigger. That being said, I do agree with you that it kind of portrays black males resorting to violent behavior right off the bat. And that in my opinion should not be done, however I still crack up every time this commercial comes on.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching this commercial during the superbowl I was cracking up because I had never pictured a little boy slapping around someone older then him and telling people who can and cannot date his mom. I totally agree with Katie because its showing younger boys that its ok to show violence when in this case its just for entertainment. I think not only does this commercial display a racial and violent image to young viewers but this also can be a behavior problem for a child because they will start being abusive towards others around them.
ReplyDeleteSomething i noticed from watching this commerical is it is protraying a "male" in this case a boy having to protect and lay down the law for the women indicating that she is not capable of protecting herself. When the male date is watching her walk away he is looking at her like she is a piece of meat and not a human being.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watched this commercial, I laughed. It is funny to think of a little boy running the house and making the rules for his mother. However, it is probably more common than not for young boys to be very protective of their mothers and showing her date that he needs to be respectful as well. I think that the commercial also stereotypes African American men in the way he just watches her as she walks away and makes that face. It shows the sexuality reference between males towards females. It does give the message that violence is okay. I think that the commercial could be potentially harmful to the young children who don’t know better and see this young child, which is the same age, slapping around a grown man.
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite commercial from the super bowl. I thought it was really funny. But it does show gender roles. You would never see a little girl slap a man like that. It is cute that the little boy is looking out for his mother but I think it is potentially harmful for young children to watch this. When children are young they tend to copy things. This commerical suggests that violence is okay. Children don't know better at the age and this commercial doesn't send the right message to kids.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this was the funniest commercial out of all the super bowl commercials! i laughed about it and quoted it. I think companies such as Doritos think this is obviously more focussed on their sale ratings than racist suggestions or portraying traditional gender roles. as much as i would usually agree with accusations, I have to say I truly dont find this offensive. This might be because i have seen so many degrading advertisements that this just seems light to me. I think it is inappropriate how the man clearly checks out the kids mom- i would have threatened him too!
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