Entry #7 Stereotyping

The website "Dumb Men" posts pictures from commercial videos which are made to look like postcards with titles written under the pictures. When you click on the postcard, it opens the commercial video. The advertising companies convey their messages to the public by making fun of men.

The purpose of the website is to show how the stereotyping of American men as dumb is used from different companies in their commercial videos. We all remember the "Sonic"commercial video guys.

The audience is everyone. The women’s reaction is expected to be positive and agreeable, and the men’s reaction probably not positive, but memorable. From the tone of his/her writing, which is most of the time sarcastic, I assume that the author doesn't agree with this kind of stereotyping of American men.

The opinion of the author is expressed in the written messages under the videos. These messages give a brief description of the video clip and then a comment from the author. Comments like: “You have to go to another country to see a commercial where the man outwits the woman” or “I give GEICO some credit for also including the wife in the stupidity and not singling out the dopey white dude as the idiot like so many other commercials”, or “Thanks for depicting us men as idiots, Fidelity”, shows that the author does not agree with the stereotyping of American men as dumb.

The commercial video that I like is “Yoplait Confused Husband Commercial”. The husband overhears a conversation of his wife about her diet consisting of eating pies and keeping them in the house. Of course, the husband’s reaction and I would say, who would not do the same thing, started looking in the fridge trying to find the delicious desserts his wife is talking about. Instead of desserts we, as audience, see stacks of Yoplait yogurts in the fridge and understand what the wife is referring to, but the "clueless" husband keeps looking because he did not see anything he expected to. 

Then the voice of the commercial says:” Yoplait Light with Fourteen Delicious Flavors and a Hundred Calories” and the wife asking the husband what he is doing. His face is showing the frustration and the shame that he could not find what was he looking for. 

It is funny and at the same time I felt sorry for the guy. This situation can make anybody confused. Why would somebody expect to see yogurts instead of pies when hears the words "pies". He takes his wife’s word literally and this makes him look “stupid”. I find his “childish” behavior as the author says, actually as very naive. This is what makes us, the audience, sympathetic to the guy in the commercial. 

The company "Yoplait" uses the satisfaction of the wife of losing weight by consuming flavored as delicious desserts yogurts, to show the positive sites of its product. The part of the husband is the funny site of the commercial to make not only women but also men to pay attention to their product.

The message of the commercial: “Eat delicious yogurt, which tastes like desserts and lose weight”. Audience: everybody who wants to lose weight while eating yogurt which tastes like pies. The comedy in the commercial makes the product memorable and desirable. This is the purpose of the company-to make the audience buy their product.

 

I think we can all relate to situations where we experience shame and frustration of not being able to figure out a “simple thing”, because we accept things literally, not understanding the second meaning of words. I had similar experiences when I first came to the USA. Sometimes people use words which have another meaning and if we do not know the second meaning, we can become a target of embarrassment. 

I find the website interesting. The author makes a point. I personally share the same opinion as the author of the website. I disagree with stereotyping the American men as dumb. I think they are honest, interesting ,and funny.
I think that the possibility of somebody to make fun of his/her negatives is a sign of moral strength.