Advertising Sets a Double Standard

¶ … Advertising Sets a Double Standard for the Male Gender by William Sea. Specifically it will discuss Sea's argument in the essay, and support his conclusions based on the content of several advertisements featuring images of masculinity. Males in today's advertising represent everything from gay fashion designers to macho construction workers and everything in between. Sea's arguments show that advertisers are hoping to create "misleading notions of masculinity" according to what they are selling, and that is shown in many examples of male-oriented media advertising.

Sit down to watch the League Division Playoff Series on television, and you are immediately awash in male testosterone when it comes to advertising. Apparently, even though the stadium stands show plenty of women in attendance, male-dominated commercials take over during commercial breaks. These ads run the gamut from beer commercials to Viagra ads and cell phone pitches. The Viagra ad currently running, showing a mature man and women arguing quite childishly over a remote control, illustrates Sea's argument perfectly. This ad is clearly geared to the older male who is having trouble with relations with his wife or girlfriend. The ad ends with the two dancing off into the sunset, presumably over their spat, while the announcer lists the many different things to watch out for when taking Viagra, while the background music sings "Viva Viagra" to the tune of the Elvis classic, "Viva Las Vegas." Everything about this commercial illustrates those misleading notions of masculinity. First, the idea that today's man would give up the remote so easily, fight with his wife, and then run off too bed simplifies and dumbs down older men, and the music in the background seems to be telling the viewer that he can be as attractive and desirable as Elvis was, if he only uses the magic blue pill. The ad also seems to imply that older men all have erectile problems, they all want more sex, and their wives are just waiting for them to pounce. As with many other male-oriented ads, it presents a simplified and stereotypical view of men and their needs, which if you only watched major league baseball, seem to be primarily beer and sex, and in about that order.

Sea also believes that many portrayals of men, especially fathers, can be extremely offensive, just as offensive as using women as sex objects. He writes, "For every advertisement that portrays a woman as a sex object, there is also an offensive portrayal of a man who is unable to do anything but ogle and blunder" (Sea). One of those ads that uses both women and men as sex objects is the current Bud Light commercial also running during the league division series. The commercial shows an attractive woman at a bar (which is unusual), and notes that "x-ray vision" is now a feature of Bud Light. In a twist on female sex objects, the women sees an attractive construction worker outside, flirts with him, and then is repulsed when his overweight boss in tidy whiteys appears. The woman is repulsed, and wants to leave the bar. This is a total turnaround on the male-oriented ads that show unattractive women becoming more attractive as the night wears on and more beers are consumed, and it makes the man the sex object. However, it also indicates the offensive portrayal of the men, who ogle the woman, especially the overweight boss, who is totally convinced of his own sex appeal. This shows how ads use male stereotypes and misleading notions of male masculinity to appeal to men. This ad might seem that it is for women, but it is really appealing to all the men who think they are the hunk construction worker, even if they are really the overweight boss in reality. These unrealistic notions are supported by ads like these, and they help the industry create male role models that are often parodies of themselves.

Fast food ads are another notorious medium that perpetuates this skewed view of men and masculinity. Some ads portray men as hopelessly inept, especially when it comes to eating or cooking. The men in Carl's Jr. ads, for example, are pathetic and hopeless when it comes to food. In one ad, a young man places an entire avocado, unpeeled, in a blender and expects guacamole to come out. Another shows several men attempting to eat "healthy" by ordering miniscule portions, while the ad urges them to come in and eat a "man-sized" breakfast sandwich at Carl's, instead. Both of these ads portray men as pretty much idiots when it comes to food, another of Sea's jaunts into offensive portrayals of men and masculinity. Clearly, these are big, brawny men who are browbeaten by their off-screen women to eat healthy, when they would much rather go into Carl's and scarf down a huge burger and fries.