- But what purpose does it serve?
My wife recently made the observation men are being portrayed as idiots on television, a phenomenon that seems to be occurring more and more. I hadn't considered it before, but I believe she is right. I think both television and movies are depicting men as fools and Neanderthals.
You see this in several television ads, particularly in the insurance field, such as the wife in the "Jake from State Farm" ad who falsely accuses the husband of having a relationship with another woman.
In other State Farm ads, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has to deal with an obnoxious cheesehead fan obsessed with "Discount Double Check." He also consoles an NFL referee who had made some unfortunate comments while his mic was left on during a game.
State Farm is not alone. Liberty Mutual features a couple where the wife corrects the husband. Also, Flo from Progressive Insurance often corrects incompetent men.
I know this is all meant to be humorous, but you'll notice women are never characterized in this manner. No, it's men, be it black or white. This is happening so frequently, you cannot help but believe it is premeditated, that someone has an agenda to emasculate men. Maybe it's spearheaded by angry feminists who want to be in charge of the world.
Back when I was in college and studying Radio-TV, we learned nothing appears in an ad by accident, everything is done for a specific purpose, either to attract more viewers or send a subliminal message. To illustrate, there was the old Ajax ad featuring a white knight on horseback shooting his lance at people with the jingle "stronger than dirt." The ad series was finally pulled from the air when people discovered the lance was a phallic symbol. There was also the "Honeycomb Kid" who was allegedly driving "6 white horses"; in reality, there were only four horses which the kids were quick to point out to their parents (and increase sales). So, everything has a purpose in advertising, there are no accidents, and quite often, its more than just selling a product or service.
Humor is one thing, devising a subliminal message is quite another. Thanks to Hollywood, what we are witnessing today is the dumbing down of men in America. Gee, this couldn't possibly be related to Hillary Clinton's campaign for president, could it? Hmm...
Also published with News Talk Florida.
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Copyright © 2016 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
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