Portrayals of Men - New Cingular Ads

Sire there would have been a different reaction if the ethnic roles had been reversed, but there's nothing new about that. I remember hearing a song not too long ago. i forget the title, but it had the name Earl in it. it was a playful ditty about a woman joyfully killing her husband, if I recall. Imagine the reaction if a man had sung so warmly about his wife's demise.

That was Goodbye Earl by the Dixie Chicks. Dennis Franz played Earl in the video version.

RJLeahy said:

i forget the title, but it had the name Earl in it. it was a playful ditty about a woman joyfully killing her husband, if I recall. Imagine the reaction if a man had sung so warmly about his wife's demise.

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Actually the woman kills her husband after beating her for years, so it wasn't simply for the joy of killing that she did him in.

Saritams8 said:

2 guys are looking at a TV broadcast on a cellphone, one White, one Asian. The phone rings and the White guy says "Your TV gets phone calls?" The Asian man answers his phone and to get rid of the White guy, he throws a tennis ball for the White guy to fetch.


How do you think this ad is being received? Do you think there would be a difference in response if different ethnic backgrounds were represented? If it were women in the ad?

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Obviously (at least to me) it's playing on the "Asian guys are smart" stereotype. That's apparently apparently OK, since it's a "positive" stereotype. They probably could get away with a woman throwing the tennis ball too, because it goes against stereotype (hey look, that sexy gal knows how to use electronics, amazing!). I think the only way they could get into trouble is if the ball thrower was a white dude and the fetcher was non-white or female.

I'll confess that I simply don't get it. Why would anyone want to buy a product when the advertising campaign suggests that some consumers are too stupid to use the item?

All Cingular ads should feature Jeff Burton. This is my decree.

http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/jburton00/cup/

RJLeahy said:

Sire there would have been a different reaction if the ethnic roles had been reversed, but there's nothing new about that. I remember hearing a song not too long ago. i forget the title, but it had the name Earl in it. it was a playful ditty about a woman joyfully killing her husband, if I recall. Imagine the reaction if a man had sung so warmly about his wife's demise.

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I seem to remember that there WAS some controversy about "Goodbye Earl." My dad is a Dixie Chicks fan, and he said that some people weren't too happy about it when it was released. And Eminem did write a song about killing his real life wife.

C.bronco said:

All Cingular ads should feature Jeff Burton. This is my decree.http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/jburton00/cup/

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Wouldn't that help promote talking on the phone while driving? Bad idea.

Peggy said:

Obviously (at least to me) it's playing on the "Asian guys are smart" stereotype.

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I haven't seen the ad, but it seems like it's more of "this other guy is stupid." I can't say whether the intention was along the lines of "Asian guys in general are smarter than white guys in general," but that's the other potential meaning.

I think it would be received quite differently if it was a black guy and a white guy, and the black guy threw the tennis ball. Or a white guy and a black guy, and the white guy threw a basketball.

In the first case, it would be taken as that particular white guy is dumb. In the the second case, I think it would be taken as overtly racist.

robeiae said:

I haven't seen the ad, but it seems like it's more of "this other guy is stupid." I can't say whether the intention was along the lines of "Asian guys in general are smarter than white guys in general," but that's the other potential meaning.

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Well, the stupidity is relative. I was trying to imagine the same ad with two similar white guys and I don't think it would work - why would one guy "get it" and the other guy not? There needed to be some kind of difference between the two - race, gender, age, class or something. Some of those combinations are more offensive than others.

robeiae said:

I think it would be received quite differently if it was a black guy and a white guy, and the black guy threw the tennis ball. Or a white guy and a black guy, and the white guy threw a basketball.

In the first case, it would be taken as that particular white guy is dumb. In the the second case, I think it would be taken as overtly racist.

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I mostly agree, except that I think in the first case that the ad might be interpreted as a reversal of stereotype in the same way that having a woman throw the ball might. I think the Asian guy was a safe pick, since it plays on a stereotype (being good at math and technical stuff) that is mostly positive.

Saritams8 said:

Okay, so the Asian stereotype was "positive," but how do you feel about the other guy chasing a tennis ball like a dog? I mean, not tech saavy is one thing, being equated with a dog is another...

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Personally, I don't like adverts that portray anyone is a demeaning way - and I do think it goes beyond "not tech savvy" into "dumb as a dog" and/or "so dumb he'd be amused/distracted by anything". I think it does play into the stereotype of the "regular guy" who's not too bright. I don't see how insulting potential customers is a good business strategy.

I looked for the ad online and it looks like cingular has a whole series of European-American guy with more phone-savvy Asian-American guy ads:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSth53XrV_M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yOZ8f8E5Og
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itH5l19Tubw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clar6scSd4k

robeiae said:

I haven't seen the ad, but it seems like it's more of "this other guy is stupid." I can't say whether the intention was along the lines of "Asian guys in general are smarter than white guys in general," but that's the other potential meaning.

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Apart from the racial angle, I think there is a stereotype of guys -- being needlessly competitive, for example. Ads featuring women tend to not have that "competitive" undertone or message in them. But ads with men tend to perpetuate this "one is better/smarter/handsomer/taller than the other." Ads that feature this kind of competitive messages tend to hire male actors.