During Saturday’s Super Bowl, a person running the Twitter account for NARAL Pro Choice America, (formerly known as National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League), tweeted some critiques of the commercials. They kind of went ham, and where I see their point in some instances in others they’re reaching. (Full disclosure, I’ve been a NARAL member in the past.)
First off, they loved Helen Mirren’s anti drunk driving ad for Budweiser, and they also had nice things to say about the Axe ad, featuring guys doing their thing in non-gender specific ways, and the Mini ad shattering stereotypes.
The Hyundai ads missed the mark according to NARAL. The themes of the ads, Kevin Hart as an overprotective dad, and women being unable to drive in the presence of hot men (Ryan Reynolds) were arguably sexist. I didn’t think of it that way when I saw the ads, but they have a point there. Here’s what they tweeted about those ads.
Another miss for @Hyundai – In their world, women are bad drivers who get distracted by the mere sight of a man. #NotBuyingIt #SB50
— NARAL (@NARAL) February 8, 2016
Hey, @Hyundai – taking away your daughter's autonomy and stalking her on a date isn't funny. #NotBuyingIt #SB50
— NARAL (@NARAL) February 7, 2016
We need to have these discussions because I know I wasn’t looking at the commercials through this lens, I was just trying to see if they made me laugh. The Buick commercial starring Emily Ratajkowsi, where women fight over a bouquet at a wedding, was also deemed sexist.
They also claimed that the Snickers commercial, with Willem Dafoe as Marilyn Monroe in the Seven Year Itch, was transphobic. That’s a stretch in my opinion, but it was a dumb ad regardless.
Of course everyone is talking about the Doritos commercial, where an unborn baby jumps out of the womb to get some chips. That was a contest entry by an Australian filmmaker named Peter Carstairs. (Incidentally, Carstairs did not win the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest. That went to the cute ad featuring dogs dressing up to buy Doritos. I incorrectly listed the sonogram ad as the winner in my coverage, that ad was just a finalist.) Carstairs says he was inspired by seeing his wife get a sonogram and that he used one of her sonograms to create the animation for the commercial. NARAL calls the ad antichoice and claims that it humanizes fetuses and uses sexist tropes.
#NotBuyingIt – that @Doritos ad using #antichoice tactic of humanizing fetuses & sexist tropes of dads as clueless & moms as uptight. #SB50
— NARAL (@NARAL) February 8, 2016
I didn’t see that at all. To me it was just a funny ad with a clever theme. A lot of people were grossed out by the ad though and vowed to never eat Doritos again. We need to have these kind of conversations about the media we’re consuming because my state made the ridiculous law that women need to get sonograms before having abortions. However I think there’s a point where we can just laugh and consider it humor and be done with it too. NARAL is sounding kind of like PETA to me though with some of the hyperbole they’re using. Maybe they’re doing it for publicity, because it worked.
I think this just proves that we need MOAR DOGS and pets in commercials in general. We can all agree that the best ads featured real animals in costume.
Let’s cleanse our palate with some dog ads.
Congrats again to this year’s $1MM winner, @JacobSChase for #DoritosDogs! pic.twitter.com/D05KrJeUzm
— Doritos (@Doritos) February 8, 2016
The Kevin Hart Hyundai ad did strike me as gross bc I hate that “overprotective dad with his daughter even though with a son he wouldn’t give a sh&t” thing…the other ads were either creepy or dumb, IMO, more than offensive
The dad was overprotective, but I thought that was part of the joke. The ad seemed to be mocking the dad, and in the process, got us to remember the new tracking system on Hyundai.
I know it’s part of the joke, but I didn’t see it as mocking the dad so much as reusing a really tired stereotype
I saw it as the dad letting the boyfriend know he was on to him and will always know where they will be. When he arrived at the door he ignored him and was eyeing the daughter up and down. That is what changed the dad’s tune, not the fact that his daughter was going on a date. At the end of the commercial when they came home, the boyfriend looked dad in the eye.
Yeah, I thought the boy put the dad off, not the daughter.
I agree LP, I HATE the ‘hide your daughters” or “Oh you’re having a girl? Better buy a shot-gun!” jokes. To me they do reek of sexism in that a daughter’s purity must be guarded lest she be ‘ruined’ whereas of course a son can do whatever/whomever he wants because sex will only make him more manly. It also implies that we trust our sons to be smart and make safe decisions but infantilize our daughters and don’t trust them to have their own agency. The other complaints were a total reach to me.
Amen.
I agree with their stance on the Doritos commercial in part. The fetus was due any day according to the commercial but there was a similar fake Facebook post that went viral months ago with a fetus clapping to when you’re happy and you know it. Lots of idiots thought it was real and evidence that a fetus is sentient.
I doubt that’s what was being said by this ad but I immediately thought it would be controversial based on that other viral video.
Um, by a certain stage of brain development, they are indeed sentient… They just don’t have a lot to think about yet! Probably boredom finally pushes them out of the womb, though, rather than Doritos cravings. 🙂
We can insist that the woman has the right to decide what does and doesn’t stay inside her body without ignoring biological realities.
They are sentient, though! Fetuses have memories! That’s why, even immediately after birth, they respond very positively to the sound of their birth mother’s voice – because they’ve been listening for several months already and know her. They’re actually really fascinating things. Most humans get that there is a marked difference between a first trimester fetus (which is when the vast majority of abortions happen) and a 2nd to 3rd trimester fetus. The problem the pro-choice movement struggles with is that there is really no middle ground for them without having to cede at least some points to the anti camp. And that then just gives rise to dumb stuff like this.
The news to me in this is that ads during the Super Bowl are a THING. Bloody hell.
I’m boycotting all of it.
Super Bowl ads are a major thing. Ad time is super expensive (like 5 million for 30 seconds) due to the major expose they get, so companies go all out with their ad campaigns. Some people just watch the Super Bowl for the ads! Which is nuts
It’s like a major culture shock for this Britisher!
They have been a part of the show for a while. Companies spend tons of money because there are so many millions of people watching. Sometimes they run longer than a typical commercial and are almost like a short-film.
I hate to say it, but until the last few days, I had no idea that the half-time show was a big deal either. I’m such an ignoramus. This whole Super Bowl thing really is the most American thing ever, isn’t it?
Yeah, it’s 4th of July level America
Talk about overanalyzing
Some of these tweets … I won’t even get into it. Antichoice. Please.
I hate when people try to get offended about things by way over analyzing them. There are enough issues in the world to outraged about, you don’t need to make up some bs to be mad about.
Everybody is mad and offended at eeeeeeverything. I’m mad at that video because, I’m offended by that movie, because…, that ad was… I’m like JC, you can’t do or say anything without all the hypersensitivity.
I think people are overanalyzing things a bit too much. If they are so put off by a funny commercial they must really hate these over the top TV comedies where the dads do just that, untrusting of the guy that their daughter is going out with.
And are people really taking the Doritos commercial that serious?
People need to be offended to show that they are more evolved and smarter than everyone else. Its so ridiculous and seriously getting out of hand. This overreaction is why people dismiss legit complaints.
Absolutely ridiculous. I see this types of stories and I wonder, are they SERIOUS? It’s really best to ignore them.
That Doritos sonogram ad was gross to me. And yes, I did think of “they are giving too much credit to a fetus / I can see antichoice people loving this” when I watched it.
This times a million.
I didn’t even think of it that way.
Thing is, it’s fine for dads to have some worry over their daughter dating since they’ve been in the shoes of a teen guy. But, if you trust her enough to go on a date in the first place, then you should trust her judgment. Just have some ground rules like when she should be back. If he does end up hurting her, then be my guest. But if you’re just meeting him, let it rest until he really seems problematic.
If we reach the point that we can’t try to laugh at all anymore, we are lost. I am staunchly pro choice but let’s give everyone some credit: no one actually thinks a fetus is going to or capeable of grabbing for Doritos. It’s obviously just a joke (and similar to one many pregnant women make about their gestating baby responding to certain foods/sounds, etc.
+1
I’m with you anon.
Hyundai: “In their world, women are bad drivers who get distracted by the mere sight of a man.”
Gloria Steinem: “In her world, young women are bad feminists who get distracted by the mere sight of a male Sanders supporter.”
(Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.)
10/10
nice!
I heard about that too. Apparently any woman who doesn’t vote for Hillary is a Cool Girl.
I thought women who didn’t vote for Hillary were going to Hell? *Hillary clapping enthusiastically.*
I thought the Kevin Hart was the butt of the joke? No? *shrug*
Next year I want to see Hyundai showing my youthful reality: young male drivers who roll down their windows, stick their heads out and yell, “Hey, sweetHAWT” at any female between 14 and 24.
Oh, was that only my neighbourhood?
In places I’ve lived, what guys yell at me when I’m walking is far less printable… And it happens for decades longer than the twenties, although I suppose they might hesitate for an obvious senior citizen. Maybe. The only preventative measure is to walk with a man or a child (marking you as belonging to a man). Which is why many guys don’t even believe it happens so often to us. Doesn’t happen when they are with us.
I was flashing back to the 70s and it sucks that it still goes on. And you’re so right- how would they know when it doesn’t happen to them.
Next time I take the bus, I’m going to tell some random guy to smile.
I LOVED the Kevin Hart commercial! Thought it was funny. Give it a rest.
+1
It was. Some people just like to complain about any little thing.
we have become so politically correct that we can’t laugh at anything because someone is offended. Sometimes it is just a joke, get over it. Did they offend the dogs in the Heinz commercial? How about cats, that’s discrimination? No large dogs were used. They only used brown dogs. What about dogs that can’t run fast. They didn’t use any tall dogs either. We need to stop. You can find offense in anything and everything if you try.
Well said–it’s a Commercial. Loved it.
Humanized fetuses, antichoice themes? I hope I never have to see these words again.
So it has gone from the point where abortion should not be judged to abortion should not be illegal to abortion is not a big deal to anything that does not pro-abortion message is horrible? I am anti-abortion but I can see the logic of the firts two points. However these days the society has to almost celebrate abortion.
Celebrating abortion? You are joking right?
Are you just pretending to not see how over the past 10 years the Cons and others with a right-wing agenda have worked overtime to repeal Roe v Wade? Do you not know how much abortion laws have tightened to the point where it’s becoming more and more difficult for women to get an abortion?
How is that demonstrative of our society “celebrating” abortion?
I hope it’s a joke but fear it’s not.
Women don’t celebrate abortion but we sure as hell celebrate having the legal right to safe abortion.
“Humanizing fetuses’ is a disturbing term. Anyone who has had a late-term miscarriage or given birth prematurely might be surprised to learn what came out of them was not human.
Well put.
+ 1. I’ve had two kids and I can assure you they were very human before they were out of the womb. And can think that and still be pro-choice. WTF is wrong with folks these days?
Yes, that is disturbing.
As far as reaching for Doritos — my son was reaching for his toes in one sonogram, kept trying to grab hold. To pretend that a near term baby/fetus isn’t capable of doing little things like that is silly. The ad was merely depicting a common thing during pregnancy – getting the sonogram right before delivery (to see its position, etc.) and then joking about it responding to Doritos. Any woman who’s carried a baby to term can tell you that the fetus/baby can and does respond to outside stimuli, such as music, a parent’s voice, etc. How that is “anti-choice” is beyond me, regardless of how you feel about abortion.
That’s a disturbing comment made by the person at NARAL. That fetus in the ultrasound looked to be about 8 or 9 months old and the woman looked very pregnant. I’m pro-choice. However, I think NARAL made more of a point for the anti-choice people than pro-choice with that tweet. Ick!
Sad story: I live in a state where, for years, people who delivered stillborn babies were in a legal gray area. They could not receive a birth certificate because it was not a “live birth.” However, they could not receive a death certificate either, since, legally speaking, the child was never alive. In some states, parents of stillborns can get special certificates of acknowledgement that mark the event, give them a chance to name the child, etc. It’s a legal acknowledgement of your child and allows you to get access to stuff like burial plots, etc. Well, my state didn’t have them for years because a single “feminist” legislator kept protesting and holding up the bill because of fears that it would grant human status to the unborn and that could be used to challenge abortion rights. The bill was written in such a way that it clearly did not do this, and even most abortion rights orgs don’t oppose such bills. But she did. Finally, the press made a big stink of it, she actually got primaried and there were all these awful ads running with parents who couldn’t get legal recognition for their babies, etc. – omg, it was awful. That’s towing the line to such an extreme degree that you become what you hate – dogmatic, unyielding, compassionless, etc. It was one of the most wrenching things I’ve ever seen. Just awful.
And yes, I agree. As somebody who has had to comfort a friend after a pregnancy loss, the idea that such a loss was not human is offensive. Her grief was for a human child. I wouldn’t have any time for somebody who’d try to argue that grief was mistaken.
+1 “Humanizing” a fetus? Wtf does that mean? I’m pretty sure fetuses are human… My fetuses weren’t like giraffes or something and then magically became human when they popped out.
NARAL and it’s outrage at “humanizing” a near-term fetus does more to hurt pro-choice advocates than anything zealous right-wingers could do. I first heard this today and actually thought it was some type of right wing joke about how ridiculously extreme NARAL and when I saw it was real, I was astounded.
I will say that I had lots of anti-choice acquaintances cheering the Doritios commercial even before NARAL made any comments. They don’t take it as a joke, it is very very serious for them and another way they try to use the ‘see! This is what the majority of people think of with a fetus. This is why abortion is awful.’
I think NARAL will take it as a joke, when anti-choice groups do the same. And they aren’t really.
Exactly. For everyone who thinks it’s just unnecessary hand-wringing or faux outrage, THIS is why it’s an issue.
People underestimate how crazy some on the Right are.
But I don’t buy that this was necessary. Overreacting doesn’t help your side in the least. All the media coverage I’ve seen of this is about how crazy NARAL is. The Right by and large is just now pointing at NARAL, laughing and saying, “see how extreme they are?” If they were trying to get ahead of the Right, they played right into their hands on this one. NARAL failed big time and should own it.
Normally I would agree with you but in this case I don’t see it as an overreaction at all. It’s merely a response that matches the incendiary tone of people like Katrina Tinko and other anti-choicers who decided to politicize the commercial in the first place in hopes of pushing an agenda.
But Kitten, here’s the issue: who’s talking about Katrina Tinko? Nobody. Everybody is talking about NARAL and their stupid tweets. Frankly, this is probably Katrina Tinko’s dream. You don’t win by getting to the same incendiary level as what you despise. The ad had absolutely nothing to do with abortion, fetal rights, etc. It was about a term child basically inducing their own birth to get some Doritos. Weird, but hey, it’s an ad. NARAL’s tweet basically suggests that a basically term pregnancy shouldn’t be thought of as human, and all the stupid ladies who call it a “baby” (myself included) are morons who don’t know better. If I were an anti-abortion activist, this is a golden egg right in my lap.
Your argument is basically, “Well, they do it too!” And speaking as a parent of two humans, that doesn’t work when they pull it, and I don’t buy it anywhere else, either. If the rhetoric around abortion is incendiary right now, then how does it help to throw another gallon of gas onto that fire? (it doesn’t).
Yeah no. I still completely disagree with you.
I don’t think staying silent on the matter is the best response. If people think NARAL is overreacting or whatever, I’m fine with that.
The conservative Right relies on the Left to be the quieter, more polite, and level-headed opponent and it’s f*cking tiresome. Meanwhile, the Right gets a free pass to engage in inflammatory and derogatory language for the sake of riling up their base. The point is that they speak to their people and reinforce how they feel–it’s not like they’re changing anyone’s minds. Why can’t the Left respond to their own as well?
So Conservatives are incessantly granted the stage based on the fact that they are the louder ones? Sorry but I’m tired of their demagogic, dogmatic bullsh*t getting the spotlight.
So “we shouldn’t do it too” is your solution? Because that’s been working so well in terms of the Dems getting sh*t done? They’re so worried about offending people or being impolite and so focused on the idea of compromise that they’ve effectively let the GOP steamroll them in Congress and elsewhere.
NARAL made important points. Whether they made them in the way you would have preferred doesn’t really concern me in light of the larger conversation of women’s inherent right to have agency over our own bodies.
Also, I know you like to argue your point in the hopes that someone will finally concede but I’ll save you the trouble on this one.
I disagree with you.
I won’t change my mind.
Fin.
The right relies on the left to be quieter, more polite, and level-headed? That is the funniest thing I’ve read in a long time. ESPECIALLY in light of some of the absolutely ridiculous comments about the Super Bowl ads.
@Robin – Yes, Kitten basically turned willful ignorance into an art form with that comment.
I think one can think of fetuses as human and STILL be pro-choice. I know that’s how I feel. I don’t think it’s an either or situation.
I agree. I think that life begins at conception. Of course it does. But the question is whether or not that unborn life has the same legal rights and personhood as a born person, and I don’t think it does. I’m pro-choice and I think fetuses are human. What else are they, alien?
Well, sure. You can believe that a fetus is a living thing, a human thing, that abortion ends a living thing’s life and still believe that a woman shouldn’t have to support a life she doesn’t want to. That’s doable. It amazes me that so many people think those are at odds. One of old classmates is a fetal medicine specialist who constantly talks about how science learns more and more each day how human we really are prior to birth and how it’s impacted her views on the subject (she remains pro-choice, but she did embrace a 20 week limit a while ago). She gets that it’s a morally complex issue and that termination needs to remain a viable option AND you can acknowledge the humanity of the fetus/unborn/whatever your term is too. It’s not that hard, people.
I recommend reading the little bit that Christopher Hitchens wrote about abortion (generally, I’m not a fan, but his stuff could often be thoughtful and considered, which I do admire). He was adamant that you can acknowledge the humanity of the unborn (his term of choice) and still believe that abortion sometimes is the best choice. He was pretty harsh to pro-choice advocates, who he viewed as hindering their own argument by refusing to acknowledge what almost every normal person gets – that yeah, that’s a living thing in there, and it’s becoming a full person. You can accept that both can be true.
Agreed. This is one point I tend to knock heads with other pro-choicers about – you can’t NOT acknowledge the fact that terminating a fetus means terminating a potential life. We have to always keep that in mind because losing sight of that means losing sight of the need to keep it as humane and compassionate as possible. In fact, if anything, that’s the reason you SHOULD support abortion – because what other reason is there to have a person endure that procedure than out of concern for a child’s life or its mother’s?
I’m adamantly pro-choice, and I thought the Doritos ad was really dumb because babies don’t eat Doritos, but I have a problem with the complaint that the ad was “humanizing fetuses.” Fetuses are human. They do not and should not have legal rights or “personhood” but they ARE human. To try to argue that they aren’t isn’t honest or helpful.
LOL but that’s the whole point. Of course babies don’t eat Dortios; especially ones that are still in the womb. But the ad is saying that they are so good that even an unborn baby wants them. We know fish don’t eat Doritos either but they still made a commercial where a fish jumped out the water and stole the fisherman’s Doritos. Or the little boy riding the dog like a horse or the dog and man suspended in air because they are dreaming about Doritos. And one of my favorites is Sling Baby where the baby who can’t even walk sling shot his way across the yard to get to his brother who was in a tree house teasing him with a bag of Doritos. .
It also bothers me that they are complaining that the ad is humanizing fetuses. To me it looked as if the baby was full term and close to delivery date.
Ha, yes, I got it, but babies don’t have teeth! Lol
Weiners, weiners, weiners. That’s all.
My family have had dachshunds all our lives. Oh, but in Australia we call them sausage dogs. It’s funny hearing them called weirner dogs.
I was dumbfounded to read that folks who actually saw that dumb commercial take it to mean that “see, fetuses have feelings, too!” Really? Are the fetuses of the world just like dogs then- neither of which actually KNOW what a Dorito is? Good grief- that is terrifying. I am sadly familiar with how science is routinely ignored to pass legislation far and wide to restrict access to abortion, but this take beats all.
I’m only offended by the lack of great commercials this year😑
Me too!
Remember the E-Trade babies and the Bud Clydesdale who broke loose to join his farmer daddy and the little puppy the Clydesdales ran to rescue ?
The commercials this year stunk.
The X Files one was great.
Stuff like this is why Christopher Hitchens said that the pro-choice said will always be on the defensive – because it can’t admit when maybe they aren’t making much sense.
“Humanizing” a fetus? Well, a human fetus would have human characteristics! It’s growing into a full-fledged human! I’d expect it to somewhat resemble the species that propagated it! And the ad makes very clear that the woman a few days from her due date. I highly doubt abortion was entering into her mind at that point (and even if it was, no doctor would go along with it). It’s a stupid reach that makes the organization, and by extension feminism, look dumb and out of touch and dogmatic. And it’s why there constantly seems to be this losing of ground.
He wasn’t advocating an abortion at her late stage of pregnancy. He was speaking against the anti-abortionist habit of wrongly attributing fetuses with abilities only older fetuses or even children have. A fetus can’t chew solids, and hasn’t got a digestive system advanced enough to cope with solids either. This is true, even if his choice of the word ‘humanize’ was awkward and ill fitting when the fetus is that big.
I loved the anti-drunk driving commercial by Helen. It was spot on.
Regarding the Kevin Hart one, we could also say it is sexist towards men as well. Why are we assuming all boys are perverts and can’t be trusted with girls?
Very disappointed with the majority of Superbowl ads this season.
Seriously, EPIC FAIL.
The only two decent ones were
Snickers (DaFoe)
Hyundai (Hart)
Superbowl Babies w/Seal was an embarrassment and cringe-worthy.
Seems like nobody can take a joke these days. Everyone is so easily offended. Sheesh.
They’re commercials! It’s just a bit of fun.
Seriously, my mom had a saying that’s perfect here, everyone needs to drink a cup of cement and harder the f up!
Looooooved the heinz commercial! We have a wiener dog and it’s always a fight between dressing him up as a hotdog or a shrubbery (my baby brother wanted to be a knight who says Ni!). The hellen mirren ad was amazing and I can’t believe I’m saying this but the Axe commercial was one of the best I’ve seen inclusive, creative
The only commercial that made me laugh out loud was the one with the guy arguing with the orange. It was so stupid it eventually made me laugh. I also kind of enjoyed Colbert calling Rhianna “Rhi-Rhi” but the rest of the commercial fell flat. Helen Mirren’s commercial was great.
The Buick ad was annoying. So tired of the old cliche that women are desperate to get married. My husband and I were together for many years before we got married and the number of stupid comments we heard was ridiculous. People just assumed that he was the one dragging his feet when it was the opposite.
I just thought the Kevin hart one was funny
The Super Bowl was on Sunday not Saturday.