Using codes of masculinity to sell products to guys is nothing new, but it’s usually about beer, “hard lemonade” or deodorant. It’s also usually funny, and pokes fun at male insecurities while celebrating them. A new Snickers commercial, however, seems to just be about beating the crap out of sissies.
It opens on a guy in bright yellow shorts sashaying down a sidewalk. He’s speedwalking. Suddenly a truck comes roaring over the houses and smashes onto the street beside the man. Mr. T is in the back of the truck behind a Gatling gun. He yells at the man to stop speedwalking: “You a disgrace to the man race!” he shouts. Then he fires candybars at the man, and the man dances around on the sidewalk in fear and takes off running. The tagline: “Snickers. Get some nuts.” (You can watch it here.) Yum! Now when I want to satisfy my hunger and think about shooting down a mincing, nutless homo in suburbia, I’ll know what candy bar to buy! Thanks, Snickers!
Bob Garfield at the magazine Ad Age wrote an open letter last week to the CEO of Omnicon, the ad corporation responsible for the spot, accusing him of using “dehumanizing stereotypes” and “jokey violence” in of all things a candy commercial.
This letter is to you, but it is equally to your colleagues throughout the industry. Are you so bereft, of ideas and simple humanity, that you must be reduced to stereotyping and bullying? That you must identify an “other” to ridicule, or worse? That you must build a brand on the backs of people who have harmed no one save for challenging a high-school locker-room standard of masculinity?
He points out that Omnicom says it practices corporate responsibility by “ensuring that we use our position to promote socially responsible policies and practices and that we make positive contributions to society across all of our operations.” Then why, in a candy ad that you assume is at least partially targeted to children, would you go this route? Garfield points out that it’s not just about anti-gay attitudes, or more broadly about gender roles and what’s “okay” for one sex or another. It’s really about attacking people who are different or seen as weak:
You don’t have to be gay to be the target of macho aggression. If you are slight, or weak, or meek or odd. If you don’t like football or groove on Liza. If you read books. If you drive a Neon. If for any reason you don’t fulfill the masculinity expectations of the bully, you are therefor[sic] a faggot and: ridiculed, berated, laughed at, marginalized, stuffed into a locker, beaten up, murdered. Ass-wiggling speedwalker = faggot. It’s code. Likewise sweater-draped poodle walkers who squeal “oooooooh!” This kind of ad, which normalizes and even incites contempt or worse for the supposed faggots, is therefore homophobic whether the runner is gay or not.
Some Ad Age readers have commented that Garfield is being too politically correct and that it’s all in good fun. After all, it’s not a crime to offend someone. At the very least, one of them argued, kids today don’t have the same anti-gay culture of past generations.
Is this true? I’d love to hear from Consumerist readers who are, say, in their early twenties or younger: has bullying based on codes of masculinity abated in recent years? Is that sort of behavior really a thing of the past? Because if it is, good for humanity—but I wonder if a Snickers ad that shows a pop-culture icon firing a large gun at a big ole’ sissy is teaching kids it’s time to bring it back.
But enough about that cheery world of high-school—the real question, writes CV Harquail on her blog Authentic Organizations, is why a global corporation that claims social responsibility would produce a spot that undermines its promises to do good.
What I don’t understand about the responses to Garfield’s letter is that so few people are focused on holding Wren accountable for aligning his organization’s actions with its words. Why is this?
Striving for authenticity, for alignment between who you say you are, what you believe about yourself, and how you behave as an organization, is the responsibility of the organization’s leadership.
And responsibility for being authentic is not confined to leadership: Keeping behavior aligned with the organization’s statements of purpose, vision and value is the responsibility of every employee. The people at Omnicom know this– it’s right here in Omnicom’s Code of Conduct statement:
Our reputation depends, to a very large measure, on you taking personal responsibility for maintaining and adhering to the policies and guidelines set forth here. Your continued cooperation in this regard is appreciated.
“An Open Letter to Omnicom President-CEO John Wren” [AdvertisingAge via Towleroad]
“Homophobia and (In)Authenticity at Omnicom: What can a leader do?” [Authentic Organizations]
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@battra92: Ummmm, aren’t those (allegedly) “straight white Christian Republican alpha males” generally the ones that prop up the World Wrestling Federation and other icons of un-nuanced thinking?
When major corporate commercials look like they could have been used in the movie “Idiocracy” without any alteration, you gotta wonder where this country is heading.
@P_Smith: “maybe”?
hmmm. Macho men get mocked all the time on TV, don’t they?
You know what’s even more offensive? The current Six Flags ad. WHY HASN”T ANYONE taken action against this? It just screams with Asian Stereotype!
First, I really don’t see how can anyone assume the speed walker is gay. Second, if you listen to the lines Mr. T calls him a disgrace to the man race for speed walking and then the KEY “It’s time to run like a real man.” After that the guy is shot with multiple snickers and begins RUNNING. No one can miss that, unless they are too caught up trying to read the guy as a gay man and putting hate crime stickers all over it. The commercial is hilarious, don’t get carried away with PC.
WTF? Snickers has chocolate, and chocolate is for girls.
Just be sure they aren’t shooting you with Almond Joy, because then they are hypocritical with the nuts.
And lighten up, will ya!
@battra92: “I guess Snickers didn’t get the memo that the only people you are allowed to ridicule, find humor in, caricature or otherwise make fun of are straight white Christian Republican alpha males.”
You got it!
Open your eyes: advertising is and always has been rife with outrageous gender stereotypes. In general, advertising says a lot about the society for which it has been created. I’m more offended by the fact that women are in every commercial involving “what’s for dinner” and cleaning products than this.
That being said, to say that this is offensive to gays somehow implies that we are effeminate speed-walkers who wear yellow shorts. The fact that gay groups are actually responding to and identifying with this is what bothers me.
As a real life non-effeminate and non-speed-walking gay guy, I can tell you all that I am not offended by this commercial in particular. Though it is utterly stupid, I can see how some people (young men especially) might find it amusing. More generally, I think most advertising is absurd and would take no special offense at this one over any other stupid ad.
Things have changed in advertising. Now it’s all about creating the goofiest and most clever ad (think geckos and cave men). Snickers is just trying too hard here — and it shows.
I haven’t read through all the comments, but does anyone remember the Snickers Super Bowl ad of two guys accidentally kissing? Where were the gay “advocates” then, demanding that the commercial stay on the air?
And since when do gay guys care about Snickers? Do you have any idea how many calories are in those things?!
Nowhere in this ad is it said that the speed walker is gay.
All of you who are making comments about gay rights and such have null points. You are assuming this walker is gay and pigeon-holing him into being gay because of his choice of exercise. Bob Garfield’s letter is pointless and should be thrown out for trying to incite drama and controversy. Better yet, he should be given a job at Faux News.
Personally, I think speed walking is retarded. Just run, or walk, not both.
it is a joke. sure it uses masculinity and all that or whatever, but at the end of the day its a funny commercial and jokes have been made about people who aren’t masculine enough for as long as I can remember, and I havent heard of anybody complaining about it until now
case in point: the series of videos “david blaine street magic” which a great deal of the humor was based upon the 2 men david blaine use his magic on being homosexual, or at least that was implied. Noone whined about it, they called it good humor.
Grow up Comsumerist, stop catering to the audience of people who were bullied and feel as if all commercials should feature nerds beating up bullies. Yes, I have been teased bullied whatever, who hasn’t? But I have a sense of humor.
Get back to doing your job, telling the world about unjust companies and how to get your problems fixed. Thats what your for.
New and creative commercials are now going to be ran off the air by PC fanatics, and all we’ll have is dull bland programming. That’s America for you.
Isn’t it MORE offensive to stereotype the gay community as a yellow shorts wearing, scared to stand up for himself, speed walker? I watched this commercial and laughed, because it appealed to my less than sophisticated slapstick sense of humor side. I am most offended that this guy just insulted half of my friends by saying that the douche speed walker was representative of them. How dare he?
@alphafemale:
I get finding the Twix commercials in bad taste, but date rape? Really? That’s something of a stretch even if I agree that they’re sending bad messages.
I’m in my 20s, and I can see that there are a lot of people being hypocritical about this- they are somehow equalizing effemiate stereotypes with homosexuality. That’s pretty ignorant, I’d say.
Also, people who get offended at Mr. T firing candy-bar machine gun at a guy on a commercial must have perfect, problem-free lives, because I really can’t think of anything more absurd to get offended about. It’s simply incredible that people have to go out of their way to look for things to get upset about now.
I’m going to buy more Snickers now, actually. I’ve never bought Snickers before. Congratulations, those who complain too much.
@mariospants: One may assume that the effeminate man, or ‘gay man’, might enjoy that sort of thing.
@DoktorGoku: I think I will buy Snickers based on this advertisement too, much like the oven I bought that said “fits 3 Jews” and the rope I bought that proclaimed it was now “perfect for blacks”.
What will Snickers say the next time a gay man is shot in a drive by shooting?
Please people. This is such crap, that men have to be apologetic about being men and no one can take a joke. Please anything with Mr. T is NOT serious. Please PC police move on.
It was a funny ad. I don’t think speedwalking has anything to do with being gay. I think it was just a funny ad, people should stop trying to defend every damn body in the world and worry about themselves. If some gay people got mad about this commercial, perhaps said gay people should defend themselves, rather than some random person who saw the ad and decided that they should “help” the gay community.
Anyhow, ad was funny, people need to get over themselves.
Everyone has a right to their opinions, no matter how asinine or backward. If you don’t like this, express your displeasure with your wallet and buy a Baby Ruth. If you like it, express your pleasure and eat up.
@coolkiwilivin: I never considered it manly to be violent. It is unsexy and repulsive. OTOH, a man who shows kindness and confidence (you know, secure in themselves enough that they don’t have to bring others down to make themselves feel better) is incredibly sexy.
90% of consumerist posters are effeminate. Of course this will piss people off. The majority of people on this site are so insignificant not showing a receipt when leaving a store is the highlight of their year.
That being said I’m not sure what conclusions are being drawn.
“Well, he’s speedwalking so he must be a homo. Also, they are shooting candy at him. This is clearly meant to show how fun it would be to shoot bullets at them. All in all this commercial is supporting murdering gay people”
What?! I mean seriously, what is your life like that this is an issue. At worst its not funny, not a crime.
@Chris Walters: You should have said: “La palabra es MARICON, pinche gabacho!”
@P_Smith: Yeah, I mean, what straight man *doesn’t* want to see a hot pop star in a leather bustier with metal pasties?
Oh yeah, the ones who use fundamentalist Christianity as their closet. Gotcha.
@dorkins: Mr. T should shoot the chocolate and nuts gun at a mulleted guy in a wifebeater drinking a beer next to his huge truck (which probably costs more than his house).
If you want to talk about stereotyping, lets talk about how 90% of commercials portray a white heterosexual male as an ignorant/chauvinistic individual. The worst are any commercial where the male is married. This usually involves a smart, witty wife making fun of her dumb, lazy husband. Where are the cries for the stereotyped white male? So I guess its OK to make fun of the chauvinistic white male but not the effeminate white male? Hypocrisy!
@donkeyjote:
LOL! Why not? It’s already 10 or 15 years behind the times here anyway. They probably wouldn’t notice the difference.
*grew up here, moved away, moved back and is desperately trying to get out*
@citabria:
White heterosexual males are not often the targets of hate crimes.
The people complaining are the same people that are being made fun of in the commercial. it’s a fucking commerciual grow some balls! “Ooohoo Milton, they are making fun of us. Boo hoo”
AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA
Best. Commercial. Ever.
Wait, I’m confused.
WHY is the speedwalker gay? I have plenty of gay friends, and none of them speedwalk. Besides, last time I checked, the definition of a homosexual is someone who has sex with the same gender individual as themselves. So, until I see this character having sex with another man, or talking about having sex with another man, or wearing a tee shirt that says “Yes, I’m gay! I have sex with men!” he’s not gay. He’s just a suburban yuppie speed walker.
Damn you all for stereotyping this poor character.
@picardia: Thanks for the link, I just emailed them.
What a bunch of assholes.
who said the guy in the ad is gay? Mr.T made a comment on his masculinity, but nothing about his sexuality. Maybe the problem here is with everyone else automatically assuming that an effeminate speedwalking enthusiast is gay based on… … What? the way he’s walking?
there IS stereotyping and discrimination at play here, but methinks it’s not in the first place most of us are looking…
@citabria: I am offended by this Snickers commercial and I have always been bothered by depictions of men like you mentioned. I don’t think anybody here has said those are okay but this is not… if somebody did, they were the only one.
Anyway, those commercials/depictions are irrelevant. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
You can tell how much this isn’t an issue by how we’re not all talking about it, at length, with such vehemence.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
The keywords advertisements to the left (at the top) are hilarious because they tag on the words “effeminate men”
Oh, this commercial is the absolute worst – just terrible. Now excuse me while I change…I pissed my pants after I watched it. Honestly, it’s a JOKE. I really didn’t think of the speedwalking guy as gay. Gay-ish, maybe, but merely in the wussified sense of the word, not truly homosexual. Although he may be, not that there’s anything wrong with that (of course).
It’s too bad Matthew Sheperd or Gwen Araujo didn’t speedwalk away from those assholes who brutally and sadistically murdered them. People who say that portrayals like this in commercial media don’t lead to the vicious attacks we have seen all to often on gay and lesbian youth need to come out of the god damned closet of their own ignorance. Who is an ad like this targeted to? Your grandma? That hipster designer dude? NO, man, it’s targeted toward teens. Specifically teen males, who at their impressional age, make shitty discussions because of raging hormones and bad medicine from parents and, I guess, Snickers, that it’s okay, go ahead, it’s totally cool to Smear the Queer. I’m sorry a lot of you people don’t see that.
Upon video review, the commercial’s not offensive, just dumb and unfunny. The absurdity of Mr. T crashing through a house doesn’t really pay off in any way, shape or form. Then again, I don’t really care if anyone thinks I’m manly enough or anything (since we’re all weighing in, I’m straight) to meet their standards.
The ad where the two guys accidentally kissed was funny because of their reaction. I just saw them as insecure, not necessarily how people are supposed to act. There was just none of that in this ad.
Then again, the commercial’s not going to make me any more or less likely to buy Snickers, just because I can’t be bothered to care one way or another. That’s where the ad fails: not eliciting any sort of passionate reaction.
It would have been funny if after being shot, the speedwalking man, who may be effeminate, or possible a bottom, or a settled gay husband, and who clearly is trying to get in the fat-burning zone by doing light cardio or is trying to get cardio while recovering from an injury (possible from a previous confrontation with a candy company), ate the gross candy bar, got out his “nuts”, and then punched Mr. T in the face or in some other way got even despite the fact that he was in an unfair fight because he was provoked by a beefy ex-wrestler celebrity with a weapon that was in a convenient getaway vehicle.
@Bix: The date-rapey bit is on their website, I agree that the commercials themselves aren’t, but I stand by my date-rapey accusation as far as the website goes… And the bonus is that there is a (assumedly) gay guy in the interactive thing as well, and he also is a target of ‘violence’, they even named the guy Bruce…
[www.twix.com]
[happilybitter.wordpress.com]
@satyricrash: Nice way for you to shit on their graves by comparing their murders to a fucking candy bar commercial which — incidentally — does not portray a gay person.
@Hate_Brian_Club: Too right!
I’m sorry guys, but this ad is absolutely hilarious, and has totally got me sold on Snickers. Don’t get your panties in a bunch, eh? I know they will retract it because they have no, um, balls, but that’s only because of the incredibly annoying high-pitched whinging coming from the mass hysteria-generators of the ‘net.
And that’s a shame.
Have you seen the one where there’s a wuss soccer player and Mr T is in a tank and scares the shit out of the wuss, and then the barrel of the tank fires…Snickers. Then he says, “You ain’t scared, you just pathetic!” It was hilarious to watch in the Netherlands, and then I came home and I saw the same ad!
I swear, the commercial is much less offensive than the responses here have been. Is no one else annoyed by all of the “don’t get your panties in a twist” comments? Which just goes to prove that misogyny can be just as endemic and insidious as racism and homophobia. And here’s an additional clue– telling aggrieved parties to “lighten up” and “get over it” only marks you as an insensitive clod. Instead of dismissing the concerns of others how about trying to see things from their point of view? You can still disagree with them, but then you won’t (necessarily) come off looking like a selfish jerk.
I do think “code” for homosexuality and every other formerly acceptable but currently out of favor hatred exists. I think this commercial is a pretty mild example of that. I found it funny because it’s more a parody than anything. If you’re old enough to remember “The A-Team”, the show that made Mr. T famous, you’d realize that shooting thousands of rounds at point blank range and *still* failing to hit your target was that show’s stock in trade. Mr. T is playing the same character he’s always played. This time it’s Snickers that misses the target. After the Super Bowl commercial with the two guys in the garage who accidently kiss while eating a Snickers, you’d think they’d have learned their lesson.
Now having said all that Mars has shown that they can do this sort of commercial right. The footballer taking a dive and pretending to be hurt expresses it perfectly, without risking offense. Many thanks to the person who linked it.
@coren: Well said.
Get over yourselves it’s an f’ing commercial. Give me a break!
Does anyone else remember the soda (I think it was mountain dew) commercial that had two nerds making a video mocking Chuck Norris? He showed up, and they were so scared that they ran away, leaping out a of a high rise window into a dumpster? Why? because Church Norris was there to kick their ass, because that’s what Chuck Norris does.
Where was the outrage over the violence against nerds? Where was the inquest into what Pepsi Co. was doing make a commercial that propagated violence against computer dorks?
Seriously folks, when we lose the ability to recognize something as ludicrous and meaningless (as both the Chuck Norris commercial and this one are) we need a reality check. Laugh or don’t laugh, but don’t attach your PC agenda to something that was never intended to be taken remotely seriously.
@NikkiSweet: It’s not just a black man shooting at a white man! It’s a DRIVE BY!
Kids growing up with fewer anti-gay stereotypes? As a 20 year old, I know my junior high and high school years were filled with homophobic kids (granted high school was all-male catholic). And as someone who works with middle schoolers sometimes during the summer, I know that the ones at least in my area love accusing other kids of being fags just as much as they did in my day. Why should they think it’s wrong? Half of America’s adult voting public is hell-bent on preventing LGBT from having the same rights as everyone else. Not exactly setting a stellar example.