Stephanopoulos seeks advice for Obama from Old Spice Guy. Plus a discussion on gender/advertising.
On Twitter, @ GeorgeStephanopoulos wrote:"@OldSpice Hey Old Spice Man -- Political question: President's lost some female support. How does WH get those women voters back?
Answer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Bli13rO9A&
Context: Old Spice has engaged in a two-day viral campaign where the Man Your Man Can Smell Like™ answers Twitter/Yahoo/YouTube questions via 180+ video responses.
Yes, this is relevant to the community #dontjudgeme. Dont think so? Think this is just an excuse to feature shirtless Old Spice Guy on ONTD_P? Fine. Let's debate the sociological implications of Old Spice's successful viral campaign with regard to gender/sexism/misogyny:
Hello Ladies. Look at your man, now back to me and lovable gender stereotypes.
Posted by: Jamie Doak in Boob Tube on Feb 21, 2010
Okay. I love this commercial. I've watched it a million times and still laugh every time he says, "I'm on a horse." And then it ends, and I feel like a bad feminist because there's no getting around the fact that the entire thing is based on gender stereotypes. Ahem:
"Sadly, your man isn't me- but if he stopped using lady scented body wash he could smell like me."
"It's an oyster with two tickets to that THING you love."
"Look again, the tickets are now DIAMONDS!"
"Anything is possible when your man smells like a man and not a lady."
"I'm on a horse." (Okay, that's not sexist, I just wanted to say it again.)
But somehow even though I know there's some crazy gender stereotyping in it- it doesn't feel as sinister or harmful as say the Dockers "Wear the Pants" commercials which give a very clear message about reclaiming masculinity.
The Old Spice commercial seems much more light-hearted and fun. It seems that because it doesn't take itself seriously, we shouldn't take it's gender stereotyping seriously either. In fact, maybe because it IS so over-the-top and playful with its sexism, it actually draws attention to how ridiculous that stereotyping is and makes a semi-feminist statement (without intending to, of course.)
It's tricky territory though when you label sexist jokes as feminist satire- because a lot of really sexist things get said as "jokes" when really they're just sexist things being said. It's hard for me to draw the line here because I DO think humor is a great way to introduce feminist ideals to a broader audience but I also don't believe that humor is an excuse for sexism.
I'm willing to count the Old Spice commercial as satiric. But mostly because he's on a horse.
Source: Bust Magazine
________________________
Mad World: I'm on a Motorcycle
post by Kelsey Wallace, July 6, 201
Our very first post in this series was a discussion of the "I'm on a horse" Old Spice commercial. Some of us loved it and felt guilty about it, some of us loved it and felt great about it, and some of us just loved to hate it. Whichever camp you're in, you might be interested to know that Old Spice just released a follow up.
Again, as in the last ad starring the charming-yet-previously-unknown Isaiah Mustafa, there is a lot to love here. This spot continues the one-shot style of the previous installment, which is impressive to say the least. In fact, this one takes it further by having our hero jump off of something onto something else (a motorcycle). Fun!
On the other hand, this ad continues-in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, but still-to perpetuate stereotypes about what makes a "real man." These stereotypes include: love of adventure, ability to build a kitchen with his bare hands, love of baking, motorcycles, etc.. In addition, the ad assumes that a man with these qualities would be a dream come true for all "ladies." Sure, this ad is making fun of those notions to a certain extent, but does that excuse the essentialism taking place here?
Something that is especially interesting to me is that this is an ad campaign about ad campaigns. It references ads, makes jokes about ads, and glorifies in being an ad. It isn't about Old Spice at all, really. (In fact, a friend of mine who works at the ad agency that produced these spots told me they were having trouble in focus groups because no one could remember what the ads were for, they only remembered the main dude.) The charisma of the main character drives the campaign, and viewers look forward to the next installment because of the clever camerawork and Mustafa's over-the-top line delivery-not because they want to hear more about Old Spice body wash.
So what do you think? Are you glad this campaign is continuing, or do you want it to just fade away? What should we make of ad campaigns that take on lives of their own, separate from the products they promote?
Source: Bitch Magazine
_____
Personally, I clearly dont feel bad for liking these ads, haha. Nor do I think liking them makes me a bad female postmodernist. I fall into the camp that sees these as deliberately over-the-top caricaturization of common gender stereotypes, even if it is, in the end, just to hawk a line of body wash. Share your own thoughts.
ETA: His real name is Isaiah Mustafa ( IMDb | Twitter ). ^_^
Answer:
Click to viewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Bli13rO9A&
Context: Old Spice has engaged in a two-day viral campaign where the Man Your Man Can Smell Like™ answers Twitter/Yahoo/YouTube questions via 180+ video responses.
Yes, this is relevant to the community #dontjudgeme. Dont think so? Think this is just an excuse to feature shirtless Old Spice Guy on ONTD_P? Fine. Let's debate the sociological implications of Old Spice's successful viral campaign with regard to gender/sexism/misogyny:
Hello Ladies. Look at your man, now back to me and lovable gender stereotypes.
Posted by: Jamie Doak in Boob Tube on Feb 21, 2010
Okay. I love this commercial. I've watched it a million times and still laugh every time he says, "I'm on a horse." And then it ends, and I feel like a bad feminist because there's no getting around the fact that the entire thing is based on gender stereotypes. Ahem:
"Sadly, your man isn't me- but if he stopped using lady scented body wash he could smell like me."
"It's an oyster with two tickets to that THING you love."
"Look again, the tickets are now DIAMONDS!"
"Anything is possible when your man smells like a man and not a lady."
"I'm on a horse." (Okay, that's not sexist, I just wanted to say it again.)
But somehow even though I know there's some crazy gender stereotyping in it- it doesn't feel as sinister or harmful as say the Dockers "Wear the Pants" commercials which give a very clear message about reclaiming masculinity.
The Old Spice commercial seems much more light-hearted and fun. It seems that because it doesn't take itself seriously, we shouldn't take it's gender stereotyping seriously either. In fact, maybe because it IS so over-the-top and playful with its sexism, it actually draws attention to how ridiculous that stereotyping is and makes a semi-feminist statement (without intending to, of course.)
It's tricky territory though when you label sexist jokes as feminist satire- because a lot of really sexist things get said as "jokes" when really they're just sexist things being said. It's hard for me to draw the line here because I DO think humor is a great way to introduce feminist ideals to a broader audience but I also don't believe that humor is an excuse for sexism.
I'm willing to count the Old Spice commercial as satiric. But mostly because he's on a horse.
Source: Bust Magazine
________________________
Mad World: I'm on a Motorcycle
post by Kelsey Wallace, July 6, 201
Our very first post in this series was a discussion of the "I'm on a horse" Old Spice commercial. Some of us loved it and felt guilty about it, some of us loved it and felt great about it, and some of us just loved to hate it. Whichever camp you're in, you might be interested to know that Old Spice just released a follow up.
Again, as in the last ad starring the charming-yet-previously-unknown Isaiah Mustafa, there is a lot to love here. This spot continues the one-shot style of the previous installment, which is impressive to say the least. In fact, this one takes it further by having our hero jump off of something onto something else (a motorcycle). Fun!
On the other hand, this ad continues-in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, but still-to perpetuate stereotypes about what makes a "real man." These stereotypes include: love of adventure, ability to build a kitchen with his bare hands, love of baking, motorcycles, etc.. In addition, the ad assumes that a man with these qualities would be a dream come true for all "ladies." Sure, this ad is making fun of those notions to a certain extent, but does that excuse the essentialism taking place here?
Something that is especially interesting to me is that this is an ad campaign about ad campaigns. It references ads, makes jokes about ads, and glorifies in being an ad. It isn't about Old Spice at all, really. (In fact, a friend of mine who works at the ad agency that produced these spots told me they were having trouble in focus groups because no one could remember what the ads were for, they only remembered the main dude.) The charisma of the main character drives the campaign, and viewers look forward to the next installment because of the clever camerawork and Mustafa's over-the-top line delivery-not because they want to hear more about Old Spice body wash.
So what do you think? Are you glad this campaign is continuing, or do you want it to just fade away? What should we make of ad campaigns that take on lives of their own, separate from the products they promote?
Source: Bitch Magazine
_____
Personally, I clearly dont feel bad for liking these ads, haha. Nor do I think liking them makes me a bad female postmodernist. I fall into the camp that sees these as deliberately over-the-top caricaturization of common gender stereotypes, even if it is, in the end, just to hawk a line of body wash. Share your own thoughts.
ETA: His real name is Isaiah Mustafa ( IMDb | Twitter ). ^_^