Stop Crying Wolf

Originally posted on 02/06/07

Ok, I just watched the snickers "kiss" ads. Here they are since Mars, Inc caved and pulled them off their website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHkoZ7ngAM0 "Chest Hair" ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCOQTVbQPbY "Wrench" ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dkKPgZNA-Y&NR "Motor Oil" ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rb3bN7pUyE&NR "Love Boat" ad

Now, apparently, various gay rights groups (GLAAD, Matthew Shepard Foundation and HRC) are all pissed off about these ads. All of these groups, in my opinion, have missed the point of these ads. First off, in all actuality, these ads had no real political agenda one way or another. Like all ads, the only agenda was to sell a product and make money. That's it. No more. No less. I took the ads as making fun of these kinds of "manly" men, men who would rather do something stupid than be thought of as gay. I laughed because I have met these kinds of men. I am betting most of us have at one time or another. They are moronic and they deserve to be made fun of. After all, making fun of a stereotype it the first step in getting rid of it, right?

Some people have gone so fare as to say that the only way you could find these ads funny is if you are homophobic. This is a stupid statement at best and a prejudiced one at worst. Not everyone who doesn't think the way you do is homophobic. Not everyone is out to get you. I'm not saying there isn't homophobia out there, just that there isn't homophobia EVERYWHERE out there. Getting one's knickers in a twist over something like this simply lessens the attention paid to something that actually should inspire knicker twisting. We all know what happens when one cries wolf.

People should not take themselves so seriously. Bigotry in all its forms is a serious matter but humor can be a powerful weapon in combating it. Losing that simply to avoid offending one group or another lends the appearance of legitimacy to that bigotry and that hurts everyone.

On a side note, as a furry bastard the "Chest Hair" one really made me wince as well as laugh.

Rant over... for now