I think it's Snicker's use of the football players disgusted reactions that pushes this over the line. How far over I don't know because I really liked the first ad (and why does no-one pickup on the phallic subtext of the Snicker bar that goes from flaccid to erect before the guy can resist a mouthful). First ad is harmless (imo), but seems like Snickers is asking their darling young gay bashing consumers to realize how disgusting the whole thing is before asking them to pick the appropriate next not so clearly harmless ending. And that's leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
But, I blame Snickers for "directing" and "editting" the interviews in this homophopic direction. I almost feel sorry for the players (I like the one guy that just says how crazy it is they pull out their air -- looks like he's not going to be baited). If Snickers is trying to put together a campaign like this, then they the players are gonna have to show disgust. They "socially" wouldn't be able to have a neutral or positive reaction. The players are being placed in lose-lose situation here. (Seemed to me that a lot of the disgust from the players was feigned, not that feigning disgust isn't homophobic in itself ... but that points to a bigger and more subtle issue.)
Then when I thought about this, what's interesting about this ad is: it is (at least the first one) designed to appeal to gays (admit it almost all of us liked that commercial) and gay-bashers at the same time. Win-Win. For Snickers.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-02-07 12:18 pm (UTC)I think it's Snicker's use of the football players disgusted reactions that pushes this over the line. How far over I don't know because I really liked the first ad (and why does no-one pickup on the phallic subtext of the Snicker bar that goes from flaccid to erect before the guy can resist a mouthful). First ad is harmless (imo), but seems like Snickers is asking their darling young gay bashing consumers to realize how disgusting the whole thing is before asking them to pick the appropriate next not so clearly harmless ending. And that's leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
But, I blame Snickers for "directing" and "editting" the interviews in this homophopic direction. I almost feel sorry for the players (I like the one guy that just says how crazy it is they pull out their air -- looks like he's not going to be baited). If Snickers is trying to put together a campaign like this, then they the players are gonna have to show disgust. They "socially" wouldn't be able to have a neutral or positive reaction. The players are being placed in lose-lose situation here. (Seemed to me that a lot of the disgust from the players was feigned, not that feigning disgust isn't homophobic in itself ... but that points to a bigger and more subtle issue.)
Then when I thought about this, what's interesting about this ad is: it is (at least the first one) designed to appeal to gays (admit it almost all of us liked that commercial) and gay-bashers at the same time. Win-Win. For Snickers.