Physical & Emotional Abuse Support Group
Abuse is a general term for the treatment of someone that causes some kind of harm (to the abused person, to the abusers themselves, or to someone else) that is unlawful or wrongful. No one deserves abuse, period. Abuse can be emotional, physical, or sexual.
I'm not super into the SuperBowl, but I do enjoy the commercials. This year featured the usual list of some clever ones, some eye-rollingly stupid ones, and some really bad ones. There were a few I laughed at, and the spot for the new Transformers movie had me transfixed.
There was one I hated, though. Reeses has a new cup filled with Butterfinger, instead of Peanut butter. They pitched it something like this:
A couple of drab, ordinary-looking people sit in a marriage councellor's office. The man is labelled Peanut butter, the female, Chocolate.
The man pipes up "Really, there's no complaints - we're perfect together."
The woman interrupts "We're ok together. But the spice is gone. It's not exciting anymore."
Cut to the councellor. "Hmm. Well, I know what you COULD try..."
And a young man, peppy and bouncy, labelled Butterfinger pops out from behind his chair. He crosses the room and sits between the two on the couch.
Cut to product shot and announcer.
Back to couple on the couch, Butterfinger massaging the woman's shoulders, the husband massaging Butterfinger's. "Ok, now switch!" Peanut butter says, turning around. "Nah, I'm good." Responds Butterfinger.
And cut.
Disgusting. At best, the 'solution' to a flawed marriage is a threesome - one that completely invalidates the husband and ignores him. At worst, encouraging an affair. What would the emotional reaction have been if "Butterfinger" were an attractive woman who lavished attention on the man? Was it targeted to men, or women? What does it say that they assume women would be drawn to the idea of excluding thier hapless husbands in order to 'carry on' with a fun, young guy? This Ad does a disservice to Men, Women, Marriage Councellors, and the institution of Marriage in general. I'll not be trying the new product.
Did anyone else see any they liked or disliked?
There was one I hated, though. Reeses has a new cup filled with Butterfinger, instead of Peanut butter. They pitched it something like this:
A couple of drab, ordinary-looking people sit in a marriage councellor's office. The man is labelled Peanut butter, the female, Chocolate.
The man pipes up "Really, there's no complaints - we're perfect together."
The woman interrupts "We're ok together. But the spice is gone. It's not exciting anymore."
Cut to the councellor. "Hmm. Well, I know what you COULD try..."
And a young man, peppy and bouncy, labelled Butterfinger pops out from behind his chair. He crosses the room and sits between the two on the couch.
Cut to product shot and announcer.
Back to couple on the couch, Butterfinger massaging the woman's shoulders, the husband massaging Butterfinger's. "Ok, now switch!" Peanut butter says, turning around. "Nah, I'm good." Responds Butterfinger.
And cut.
Disgusting. At best, the 'solution' to a flawed marriage is a threesome - one that completely invalidates the husband and ignores him. At worst, encouraging an affair. What would the emotional reaction have been if "Butterfinger" were an attractive woman who lavished attention on the man? Was it targeted to men, or women? What does it say that they assume women would be drawn to the idea of excluding thier hapless husbands in order to 'carry on' with a fun, young guy? This Ad does a disservice to Men, Women, Marriage Councellors, and the institution of Marriage in general. I'll not be trying the new product.
Did anyone else see any they liked or disliked?
Over here people are verrrry sensitive to that stuff. A hint of distaste and the company/broadcasting watchdogs will be inundated with calls. And they do tend to listen and respond, at least.
Do you guys have any such forces? Perhaps they need a good telling...
There are some extremely provocotive commericals aired during the super bowl, but also some real genius. This year, it cost $4 million for 30 seconds of airtime. Every company shelling that out brings their A game - and it's a delight for a social observer like me to see what the agencies think are going to be most effective this year.