Stirring the Pot: Controversial Commercials

[Lola16]

Cheerios "Just Checking" ad with the interracial couple. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYofm5d5Xdw

I love how the father yells "Kim?" when he wakes up covered in Cheerios.

Of course, Cheerios was smart and capitalized on the notoriety around the ad and launched a follow-up ad that appeared in their first ever ad buy for the Super Bowl.

[Rick Kitchen]

The Honey Maid Grahams ad with the gay couple, the interracial couple (and the wife in that couple looks like she may be Arabic while the husband is a soldier), and the couple with the tattooed dad.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ix_CGwdAc

[Lola16]

 

The Honey Maid Grahams ad with the gay couple, the interracial couple (and the wife in that couple looks like she may be Arabic while the husband is a soldier), and the couple with the tattooed dad.

OMG, yes!  That has blown up on my Facebook newsfeed amongst my ultra conservative friends.  They claim it's anti white and anti straight.  Where's Anita Bryant when you need her?

[Rick Kitchen]

The comments on the YouTube channel for that ad are disgusting.

[Kromm]

Any Superbowl commercial with Kate Upton (because you know... Middle America is scared of breasts).  I think there have been two of three of these in the past few years.

[Portia]

I only saw this ad a couple of times before people went crazy and it went away. A woman I semi-know on Facebook commented on how "disgusting" it was. This from a person who'd very publicly cheated on her husband . . . but mind you, it was a heterosexual affair, so apparently she was in a moral position to judge the cute, happily married gay couple in the ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kHeVJpNix4

Edited April 2, 2014 by Portia

[Rogaine2233]

Gay, straight or interracial, I HATE infidelity portrayed on commercials.

[Rinaldo]

Sharing a smile and maybe a drink, in full view of the spouses, is infidelity?

[izabella]

There was infidelity in that commercial?  I'm genuined confused on where that was.

[Rogaine2233]

There wasn't infidelity in that commercial. I was referring to the topic which was mentioned briefly in e thread. Sorry for e confusion.

[Milburn Stone]

The Honey Maid Grahams commercial--did that run on television? Or did they only have the courage to make that a "YouTube" "social media" spot?

I guess I ask because I do think it would take more guts to run that on network television than in the comparatively more progressive (and more segmented) environs of the internet, and I'd be more impressed if they did. 

I feel the same way about the Kindle commercial, although, because it's a more niche product than breakfast cereal, its progressivism would take less courage to run on network TV than in the Honey Maid case. (I have to say I do think the guy's "let's celebrate" carries a hint of "like to get to know you better, nudge nudge wink wink"--a hint that turns out to be a red herring--so I understand why some might see a suggestion of infidelity before the even more "shocking" revelation happens.)

Edited April 2, 2014 by Milburn Stone

[muffkins]

I've seen the honey-maid one on tv, but not the kindle one.

[Taylorh2]

I've never seen the "Honey Maid" ad. I'm a Black female and my husband is White. I love when I seen interracial couples/families on Tv in commericals and eleswhere

:-)

[Lola16]

I've seen the Kindle ad on cable tv, not recently though.  I didn't like how the guy's voice shifts to sounding more effeminate once the woman says "her husband".  As if we need the verbal queue that he's gay?

[Bastet]

I remember seeing that Kindle ad quite a few times, but that was a while ago; I hadn't thought about its absence from the airwaves, but I wonder if it was yanked due to complaints.  I always liked it, not just for the casual inclusion of a gay marriage, but for the woman.  She doesn't assume he's hitting on her and either flip out or get snotty; she maintains the same natural tone and works her husband into the conversation just in case he is hitting on her.  Well played.

[Rick Kitchen]

I've seen both ads on broadcast television.

[Portia]

I remember seeing that Kindle ad quite a few times, but that was a while ago; I hadn't thought about its absence from the airwaves, but I wonder if it was yanked due to complaints.  I always liked it, not just for the casual inclusion of a gay marriage, but for the woman.  She doesn't assume he's hitting on her and either flip out or get snotty; she maintains the same natural tone and works her husband into the conversation just in case he is hitting on her.  Well played.

Exactly. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I saw it on TV twice, two days in a row, then never again.

[bilgistic]

The comments on the YouTube channel for that ad are disgusting.

Comments on any YouTube channel are disgusting.

[Lola16]

Exactly. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I saw it on TV twice, two days in a row, then never again.

I saw the Kindle ad a lot on HGTV.   It may no longer be airing due to talent renewal implications rather than controversy.

[TheGongOfDoom]

Comments on any YouTube channel are disgusting.

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!!!

[Rick Kitchen]

Honey Maid's response to the haters:

 

[bilgistic]

I just saw that ad in a post on Consumerist.com and it made me cry. What a beautiful response to such ugly hatred.

[riley702]

I like the Swiffer ad that not only features an interracial family, but the husband is an amputee.

Edited April 4, 2014 by riley702

[janie jones]

I just saw that Honey Maid response video, and I thought it was cute, but all I could think about was the wasted paper.

[bilgistic]

You know, riley702, I saw that Swiffer ad on TV or online and it didn't even register with me that the couple was interracial, because, basically, who cares (well, besides One Million Moms). I was just, like, oh cool, he can clean better now, or whatever, even though I kind of hate Swiffer and the waste those products create (but I'm a hippie and clean with vinegar, so don't mind me).

[random chance]

I like these new Swiffer ads so much more than the old ones where their products made a mop cry in the corner. 

[bilgistic]

Or a bowling ball and a mop were going to have sexy times, we were to infer, based upon the bow-chicka-wow-wow music. Which, what? Why? I guess I can figure out how.

Edited April 9, 2014 by bilgistic

[LazyToaster]

I loved the Kindle ad! The two husbands part at the end cracked me up. I saw it on cable tv but only a few times.

[Portia]

I made key lime pie for Easter, and when I bought the graham crackers for the crust, I grabbed Honey Maid instead of the store brand (which I previously would have purchased). Even more than the original ad, I love the classy and positive way they addressed their critics with that second ad.

[topanga]

Old commercial: I still don't get what the big deal was about the white guy doing a Jamaican accent on the Volkswagon Super Bowl Commercial. He wasn't smoking a joint and he wasn't making any negative generalizations about Jamaican people. All he was saying was that the car made him chill out like he was in Jamaica. To me, a black woman, it wasn't racist at all.

 

How was that different from doing a bad British accent or Australian accent on a commercial?

[candall]

Honey Maid's response to the haters:

 

Thank you, Rick Kitchen, for posting this.  I somehow missed the whole Honey Maid controversy so the posts bounced me from "Oh, cool" to "Oh, crap!" to tears streaming down my face.

 

Off to buy a Honey Maid product now.

[candall]

Followup:

 

I googled Honey Maid to see what they make besides graham crackers (s'mores?) and they've just released a whole a new set of divorced/blended families ads.

 

Question:  are there really one million moms who agree these commercials represent "normalizing sin"?  That's incredibly depressing.

[Bastet]

Question:  are there really one million moms who agree these commercials represent "normalizing sin"?

 

There is no evidence there have ever been anything close to one million people behind any of the hate campaigns that group has launched.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Bastet

[zillabreeze]

Yeah! Thanks RickK! I hadn't seen that one either. It's awesome.

What I really want to know is, what happened with the beautiful little biracial Cheerios girl and her new sibling? And puppy!

It blew my mind that anyone could hate on that adorable girl! And I don't care for kids at all.

[RealityGal]

OMG, yes!  That has blown up on my Facebook newsfeed amongst my ultra conservative friends.  They claim it's anti white and anti straight.  Where's Anita Bryant when you need her?

anti-white and anti straight?  It just kinda grinds my gears when people who have, historically had every advantage of being in the majority complain about something as small as an ad, that was only designed to support people in other groups.  I guess a commercial is anti white and anti straight if it doesn't specifically congratulate straight, white people for being so awesome.

 

When a commercial features a straight white couple does everyone come out of the woodwork whining that its anti-gay and anti-any other ethnicity?

 

I just don't get the entitlement that if not every commercial specifically features someone who believes the exact same thing you do, lives their life in the exact same way you do, or god forbid has a little more melatonin in their skin than you do, they shouldn't even be recognized in commercials, and if they are, the commercial is automatically anti-you.  Maybe you are not the focus, maybe its not anti-you, maybe it is just pro-them.

Edited September 12, 2014 by RealityGal

[RealityGal]

I like these new Swiffer ads so much more than the old ones where their products made a mop cry in the corner. 

 

 

Or a bowling ball and a mop were going to have sexy times, we were to infer, based upon the bow-chicka-wow-wow music. Which, what? Why? I guess I can figure out how.

 

I actually loved those commercials.  I don't know why, I think I must sometimes have the humor of a 12 year old boy, because the idea of the mop and the broom being caught on a date just tickles me!

[Cobalt Stargazer]

anti-white and anti straight?  It just kinda grinds my gears when people who have, historically had every advantage of being in the majority complain about something as small as an ad, that was only designed to support people in other groups.  I guess a commercial is anti white and anti straight if it doesn't specifically congratulate straight, white people for being so awesome.

 

When a commercial features a straight white couple does everyone come out of the woodwork whining that its pro straight white people??

RealityGal, what Bastet said a couple of posts ago bears repeating, that there is no proof that as many people are behind One Million Moms as the website claims there are. I'm both white and straight, and the Honey Maid ad delights me because it represents what more television should try to represent, a supportive marriage and family. The Yogurt Bitch does not live here, and I'm glad she doesn't.

[RealityGal]

RealityGal, what Bastet said a couple of posts ago bears repeating, that there is no proof that as many people are behind One Million Moms as the website claims there are. I'm both white and straight, and the Honey Maid ad delights me because it represents what more television should try to represent, a supportive marriage and family. The Yogurt Bitch does not live here, and I'm glad she doesn't.

oh I didn't mean to imply that I thought every straight white person felt the same, or even a majority.  But for those people who do, it completely confuses me, and then it irritates me for that reason.  Although, now I have a visual of Yogurt Bitch taking a break from policing the refrigerator to sitting at a computer writing an angry facebook message while eating her tasteless low calorie yogurt.

 

But seriously, I'm sorry if I gave offense in that way, I didn't mean that I thought it was every straight white person, or even the majority of them.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

oh I didn't mean to imply that I thought every straight white person felt the same, or even a majority.  But for those people who do, it completely confuses me, and then it irritates me for that reason.  Although, now I have a visual of Yogurt Bitch taking a break from policing the refrigerator to sitting at a computer writing an angry facebook message while eating her tasteless low calorie yogurt.

 

But seriously, I'm sorry if I gave offense in that way, I didn't mean that I thought it was every straight white person, or even the majority of them.

Oh, you didn't offend me, and your irritation over the irritation mirrors my own because I would like to think that people have less innocuous things to be aggravated about. Mostly I'm just baffled that people have so much time on their hands that they can launch a campaign against something so harmless. God knows I spend enough time bitching about commercials and the stupidity therein, but if I wanted to talk about something that actually offends me, I'd find something more serious. So no worries. Maybe I just need more coffee. :-)

[Aquarius]

Maybe you are not the focus, maybe its not anti-you, maybe it is just pro-them.

 

And for people like the Million Moms, that is exactly the problem.  Because just the act of celebrating, or even just acknowledging, those that are different than them, is an affront to their very way of being.  I've never understood it either, but it's become very clear to me that this is how they see the world.  It's a very "us vs. them" viewpoint.  If "they" exist, "we" are threatened.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Aquarius

[merylinkid]

Of course the Yogurt Bitch is offended by a happy loving family.   She has to spend all her time policing the fridge from her moronic husband while these families didn't.   Maybe if she ate a real meal instead of yogurt she'd be less bitchy.

[Rick Kitchen]

Cheerios has a new ad that will make conservative heads explode, but I got a little teary-eyed.

 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/10/03/cheerios_commercial_with_a_gay_couple_and_their_adopted_daughter_is_adorable.html?wpsrc=fol_fb

[RealityGal]

Cheerios has a new ad that will make conservative heads explode, but I got a little teary-eyed.

 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/10/03/cheerios_commercial_with_a_gay_couple_and_their_adopted_daughter_is_adorable.html?wpsrc=fol_fb

 

Canadians have long commercials!  But seriously, when the one cheerio started to move towards the other two cheerios......well just damn you General Mills for breaking into my cold, dark, stone of a heart

[St. Claire]

OMG, when Rafaelle gave that little kissy face toward the camera,and the third Cheerio met the other two...gah, it's like someone is chopping all the onions in here.

[RealityGal]

OMG, when Rafaelle gave that little kissy face toward the camera,and the third Cheerio met the other two...gah, it's like someone is chopping all the onions in here.

Thats what I'm blaming....onions, I don't have a heart, its the onions damn it!

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Canadians have long commercials!  But seriously, when the one cheerio started to move towards the other two cheerios......well just damn you General Mills for breaking into my cold, dark, stone of a heart

 

"I said to Raphaelle, 'Daddy is here'."

 

It's dusty in here.

[Actionmage]

It's dusty in here.

 

Gotta find a Swiffer, myself.

[methodwriter85]

People claimed this was too depressing to air during the Super Bowl:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUy-tfrIHY

[Bastet]

I don't find it depressing, just stupid.  The message was supposed to be "Nationwide can help you prevent accidental deaths," but because they didn't bother to include ANY information on HOW they'd do that, instead just putting up some ridiculous website or hashtag, hordes of people came way complaining it instead intimated, "If your kid dies, we'll pay out." 

[Rick Kitchen]

but that ad was aired during the Super Bowl.