Comments on: Super Sunday: The Day Masculinity Dug its Own Grave

By: Richard Clark

Richard Clark — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:44:04 +0000

I agree, The Dane. I really liked the Dove commercial. A whole different animal from the Dodge Charger ad in my opinion.

By: The Dane

The Dane — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:51:16 +0000

I actually kind of liked the subversion of the Dove ad. You’ve got this guy doing all the stuff of everyday life. He’s a good member of society, doing what is required and expected of him, having good times along the way, living a life that a goodly number of his audience can relate to. And then the audience who is already relating to this guy, who is probably used to yelling at a guy on tv for blowing a pass—this largely-male, football-loving audience is shown that this guy, who they can relate to (who they can respect), is tied overtly to not just a bar of soap but a bar of soap that is gentle, soft, and is intimately associated with an immediately feminine term like care.

Out of all the commercials I’ve seen so far, the Dove one was my favourite.

By: Sam Van Eman

Sam Van Eman — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:21:24 +0000

Good thoughts, Richard. I touched on (Can I say that?) the masculinity point yesterday and spent my free Grand Slam breakfast this morning discussing the topic with friends. As for the Charger ad, at least he was doing all of those domestic things. Kinda like the guy in Dove's Men+Care ad.

By: The Dane

The Dane — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:35:51 +0000

How is domestication emasculating?

I will, however, agree that marriage is a proposal of diminishing returns for most unbelieving men—those who will continue to be able to parley themselves as attractive to their sex of choice. For those who will not be able to continue to attract women as they age, marriage is an arrangement of security.

By: Nathanael Snow

Nathanael Snow — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:28:22 +0000

I liked the Charger ad. If we are not willing to recognize that marriage is a sacrifice, that it is not perfect bliss, that it is not frequently domesticating in an emasculating way, then we are not being honest.
Of course, I wonder why people bother to get married at all under these circumstances, except that it is a mutual exchange sort of contract for convenience.
As believers, marriage is a mutual giving, rather than exchange, but we cannot expect this perspective to show up in popular culture. I guess what I am saying is that marriage is a raw deal for most unbelieving men, and this ad captures one of the small ways men compensate (superficially) for their position.

By: The Dane

The Dane — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:46:29 +0000

I did like the look on the guy with glasses on the Bridgestone commercial: *whimper* Tires. We wanted tires.

I also like how the subliminal message is that gearheads are either homosexual or made asexual by their passion for steel-belted radials. It’s a very acute message that incisively peels at the inherit homosexual subtext of events like the Super Bowl.

I’ve only seen the three ads you’ve provided here, but the first one along with being dumb was actually just boring. If I were watching tv or the Super Bowl or whatever, I wouldn’t have made it to the punchline. Which, of course, was not worth the payoff.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:30:52 +0000

I was watching with a big group and not one person laughed or even grinned at the punchline of the Bridgestone ad. And I was glad.

Google ad was definitely the best for me.

By: Teresa Hauck

Teresa Hauck — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:26:20 +0000

Good thoughts, Rich. I know that football is traditionally a “guy thing,” but there are thousands of women that watch the Super Bowl. Of the people I know, it’s nearly equal viewership, so it’s insulting that they know we’re watching and purposely degrade women to our faces. It’s like they’re saying, “If you’re not Megan Fox or some scantily clad equivalent, then your husband/boyfriend resents you.”

By: Drew

Drew — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:53:08 +0000

Great article Rich–you summarized my frustration with the commercials. I didn’t watch all of the commercials, but I did see both the Bridgestone and the Charger commercial. Like you I was disappointed in their portrayal of masculinity, but more so, I found it very sad that marriage was portrayed as stifling and joy-killing.

I was reminded how powerful the allure of possessions continues to be in our culture and how confused our culture is about masculinity as well.

I also thought the google ad was brilliant.

Isn’t it crazy that now we can review just about any Superbowl commercial online the day after the Superbowl. I remember the day when if you missed the Superbowl, you never saw those commercials again!

By: André

André — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:41:44 +0000

A pretty depressing parody, if you ask me…

By: Richard Clark

Richard Clark — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:34:41 +0000

Wow! That sounds very much like a parody.

By: André

André — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:18:40 +0000

Is there more than one version of the Google ad? The one I found on youtube ends in “how to hire a divorce attorney”, instead of “how to assemble a crib”. I wonder if that was a different version, or just a parody…

By: Joseph

Joseph — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:51:51 +0000

Agreed! The Dodge Charger commercial aired during a lull in the conversation and games we were playing at my house. Our crowd last night was myself, my wife, one other married couple, and 5 girls from our youth group. So this commercial aired, and we were all sitting there waiting on the punchline. Then it came, and all of us just sat there. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t touching… It was just there. And none of us liked or agreed with the message.