My very first entry on this site started off with me criticizing the film industry (http://thepenguingazette.blogspot.com/2011/05/shitter-stainment.html) and their ridiculous ad campaigns. I’ll admit that I’ve seen some pretty good ads out there. They can give you info on new products, and tell you about things that are going on around town i.e. movies, concerts, etc. I’ll also admit that I get stuck watching those late night infomercials (SLAP CHOP HELL YEAH!!!) because unfortunately that’s the only thing on after 1am…..and they are stupid funny. Sometimes though I see some commercials that shock even my warped sense of humor and I wonder who the genius that thought that up was. Then I immediately think “who’s the genius that’s getting two checks and some time to clear their desks for this assault on the airwaves?” Some of these ads leave me shaking my head and wanting to wash out my eyes with Clorox.
Some of the raunchier ads to appear on the small screen use sex in a huge way to sell their products. Everything from beer to cars to soap use the allure of a well dressed man or a scantily clad woman to make our little heads (pun intended) go berserk and our whispering eyes wander until we have said product. Don’t get me wrong, me being of the male persuasion makes me extremely suseptable to these tactics and frankly I love to see just how far the ad companies will go to make a buck. Well….let’s be honest I like seeing the funny/filthy ads. I’m astonished at what is allowed to be shown to millions of viewers with no rating system attatched. Part of me thinks that the reason people don’t get all hot and bothered by the ads is because we have become over-sexed and mostly desensitized. Some of the following ads will show you just how far some companies will go. While they are pretty damn funny some of them are a bit on the “WOW” side. Here a just a few of those ads.
Some of the commercials I’ve seen are specifically marketed towards “the fairer sex” such as douches, shampoos etc., as they should be. There are a few of these ads that are a bit much though. Many women may remember the Herbal Essences ads that always portrayed some woman in the shower having one of those Harry Met Sally moments in the shower, screaming her head off at the super orgasmic feeling of….. washing her hair. Really? I’ve known many a female that has washed with this stuff and while it may do wonders for her folicules, the intense screams….not so much! I know this reference is a bit dated but as far as I am concerned it was just the tip of the iceberg, and possibly the start of the raunchy or riskee commercial campaigns. More recently Summer’s Eve ( a feminine deodorizer) put out 3 ads that are so over the top that they have been pulled because of the backlash they have received from not only women saying that they are not only offensive to women but partially racist to top it off. The 3 ads are broken up into Latino, Black & White women. There is a single hand in the middle of the screen making a “vertical smile”……yup that’s right ladies and gents a vagical (magical vagina for those of you not in the know) hand puppet! Each hand tries to take on the characteristics of the ethnicity it is supposed to be, the White hand acts “white”, the black hand acts like the stereotypical “black” persona with the head shaking and “Sistah Guurrrlls”, and the Latino hand acts like a New York Puerto Rican with all the “attitude” and blazing fast Spanish to boot.
My wife showed me these ads late one night on youtube and we both agreed that the only thing that would’ve been worse would have been if a baby’s head popped out of the hand! For some odd reason by the next morning the ads were taken off of almost every video site on the internet….hmmmm….imagine that! I just so happened to have procured them so you could all see them and be completely amazed.
It’s very interesting to me that they decided to do the three ads based on the ethnicities, although I’m not really surprised about the stereotypes they used. Stereotypes in ads have been used as long as ads have been around, from the “cool soul brother” drinking the finest malt liquer to the “paranoid asian convienience store owner” who had to keep an eye on the “hoodlum kids” (usually some type of latino). My favorite ads (phesiciously speaking of course) are the ones that McDonald’s puts out for their “African-American” customers. They usually have the afor mentioned “soul brother”, he is usually shucking and jiving to some cool beat about how tastey his food is. They use the “urban” slang to relay this message with a lot of “Yo Yo Yo’s” and “Dis iz Da BOMB YO!!”. In some of the newer ads they even go as far as to have someone sing a faux R&B song about nuggets. Latino based ads get pretty ridiculous too. We (big shock you guys….I’m Mexican!!!) get the Taco Bell/El Pollo Loco/taco shell ads. All the actors have these extra thick accents….EXTRA THICK! They sound like Antonio Banderas mixed with Scarface and a side of Speedy Gonzales. Which reminds me, wasn’t Taco Bell using a Chihuahua with the accent mentioned above for their ads? REALLY, no one found that offensive? What about the little fire breathing dragon or grungy looking panda for Panda Express and Pick up Stix? I’m just waiting for the “Ad Men” to make the fatal mistake of equating black people with monkeys so all hell could finally break out and we can end this practice…..and single handedly take us back to the days of harsh racial slurs…so last week. Well here are a few of the videos I was talking about.
That's right I hit you with the "Soul-Glo"!!! You can't handle the truth!! Some of you might be wondering why i added the COX commercial with the little Mexican girl. It just irritates the crap out of me that they had to show some condescending sounding white lady telling the little girl how to speak her own language. You know damn well that you can push 2 and speak to a Spanish speaking associate. I may not speak Spanish myself but something in my soul got extremely pissed off when i saw this, but I'm getting side tracked and that's another rant.
Maybe I’m putting too much on this…maybe I just saw one too many off color ads dealing with vagically-over-sexed-nugget eating-animals dancing to hip hop and thought to myself “Self you need to blog about people having too much fun.” I don’t think so though, a lot of the ads are pretty damn funny. I just wanted to show some of the more shocking ads so we can see what has to be done in order to get your product noticed. Appearantly being straight up is not very desireable when it comes to making a profit. I can’t lie the glitzy, ridiculous ads have staying power, enough in fact to make me blog about them. So to that aspect they have done their job and then some and a “well done” is in order, but short of porn they don’t have much further to go before they are just completely over the top offensive. Don’t worry smutlings that time will be here soon!
Well everyone its time for me to wrap up another edition and get ready for the art show of the year! More compelling topics next week, but if you’re in San Diego on the 13th of august please come by the address on the flyer for some beautiful art work by 3 up and coming artists that you will be sure to fall in love with. You won’t want to miss out because you’ll have to wait a whole year before you can see a show of this caliber again!!!!
Until then I hope you’ve enjoyed what you have read and will make your way back for more!!!
-Editor & Chief of The Penguin Gazette,
Rudy
P.S. I'd love to hear what you think about this topic. Comment below and follow if you dig it!!! You can also sign up for emails so you don’t miss a single minute of Penguin Gazette greatness.
P.S.S. For your viewing pleasure.....and because i cant get the song out of my head.....
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