WEBVTT 00:00:00.988 --> 00:00:05.611 And isn't it ironic, don't you think? 00:00:06.707 --> 00:00:09.877 Have you noticed this strange trend in TV commercial recently? 00:00:09.877 --> 00:00:12.946 It's been bothering me for awhile but I haven't quite been able to put a name to it. 00:00:12.946 --> 00:00:16.550 It's this kinda twisted combination of cynicism and humour 00:00:16.550 --> 00:00:21.255 with these over the top caricatures and it always ends up being racist and/or sexist. 00:00:21.255 --> 00:00:24.298 It's really the normalizations of sexism through the use of irony. 00:00:24.298 --> 00:00:28.061 It's the 'they know that I know that they know that their being sexist' 00:00:28.061 --> 00:00:32.633 Some terms people have used to describe this is ironic sexism or retro sexism. 00:00:32.633 --> 00:00:36.537 Retro Sexism is modern attitudes and behaviors that mimic or glorify sexist aspects 00:00:36.537 --> 00:00:39.840 of the past, often in an ironic way. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:41.706 Let's see an example from Carl's Jr. 00:00:48.587 --> 00:00:53.086 I know it's over the top and ridiculous to see women marching in American flags to 00:00:53.086 --> 00:00:57.491 Liberty, Cheeseburgers and the American Dream, and they know that they are 00:00:57.491 --> 00:01:01.828 over the top and ridiculous and objectifying women but because we all know 00:01:01.828 --> 00:01:03.706 doesn't mean that it's not sexist. 00:01:03.706 --> 00:01:06.663 Take for example this new marketing campaign by Mike's Hard Lemonade, 00:01:06.663 --> 00:01:09.403 where they are attempting to rebrand their product as a more 00:01:09.403 --> 00:01:11.864 "manly" drink and a less "girly" drink. 00:01:11.880 --> 00:01:14.260 "Can you believe some guys have never tried Mike's Hard Lemonade because 00:01:14.290 --> 00:01:15.943 they've seen women drink it?" 00:01:15.943 --> 00:01:18.716 "We don't have those kinds of issues" 00:01:19.240 --> 00:01:20.250 "Thank you" 00:01:20.250 --> 00:01:21.281 "No we don't" 00:01:21.281 --> 00:01:24.751 "Mike's is a refreshing change of pace to beer but you should enjoy it responsibly" 00:01:24.751 --> 00:01:28.055 "For example, do you have a designated driver? I could take you home" 00:01:28.055 --> 00:01:29.489 "Or I could" 00:01:29.489 --> 00:01:32.459 "Or I could take you both home... Lots of options" 00:01:32.459 --> 00:01:35.963 See how he's not even pretending to fool us? Like we're all in on this big joke, 00:01:35.963 --> 00:01:40.267 look how funny it is that he's incompetently and obviously trying to take advantage 00:01:40.267 --> 00:01:43.604 of these women. We're all supposed to know that he's acting like a scum bag 00:01:43.604 --> 00:01:45.672 and ha ha isn't it funny. 00:01:45.672 --> 00:01:49.776 Really, they know that I know that they know that their being sexist. 00:01:51.038 --> 00:01:55.048 Or what about the good old wandering eyed lying husband and naive wife tropes? 00:01:55.048 --> 00:01:56.917 "Do you have the extra pacifier?" "Yes" 00:01:56.917 --> 00:01:58.285 "Do we have enough formula?" "Yes" 00:01:58.285 --> 00:02:02.967 "Okay here ya go honey... honey... honey" 00:02:04.782 --> 00:02:07.427 "What are you looking at?" 00:02:07.427 --> 00:02:13.567 "Need a moment, try the chocolate caramel and fresh cookie crunch of Twix." 00:02:13.567 --> 00:02:18.130 "I'm looking at potential babysitters so we could spend more time together" 00:02:18.130 --> 00:02:19.884 "Aw that's so sweet" 00:02:19.884 --> 00:02:21.731 "When you need a moment, chew it over with Twix" 00:02:21.747 --> 00:02:25.579 See how obviously and transparently he's lying to his wife. We all recognize that this is 00:02:25.579 --> 00:02:29.316 ridiculous. This guy is clearly being a jerk and we get to laugh at that 00:02:29.316 --> 00:02:33.287 but we have the added bonus of being able to laugh at his naive wife who is clearly 00:02:33.287 --> 00:02:35.622 not seeing his transparent behaviour. 00:02:35.622 --> 00:02:39.193 Additionally, the advertisers get to use pseudo porn stars in a male fantasy 00:02:39.193 --> 00:02:42.429 sequence so the audience gets to join the man in oogling the women. 00:02:42.429 --> 00:02:45.090 And for another example of the naive girlfriend. 00:02:46.567 --> 00:02:48.836 "Who could that be?" 00:02:48.836 --> 00:02:55.309 "Oh wow, I'm there for you buddy. That was Brad. He really wants to... vent." 00:02:55.309 --> 00:02:57.244 "You should go." 00:02:58.736 --> 00:03:02.673 "Ready to vent?" "Let's vent" "Let's vent!" "Let's vent!!" 00:03:02.673 --> 00:03:05.455 "Introducing the vented widemouth can from Coor's Light. 00:03:05.455 --> 00:03:08.589 It let's in air for a smooth refreshing pour." 00:03:08.589 --> 00:03:11.558 "Is he okay?" "I think we'll be venting a little longer." 00:03:12.373 --> 00:03:15.329 So you see they know that I know that they know. 00:03:15.329 --> 00:03:19.299 Women are supposed to laugh at how stupid this girlfriend is while being secure in the 00:03:19.299 --> 00:03:22.469 knowledge that they'll never make the same mistake. This commercial is set up so that 00:03:22.469 --> 00:03:26.673 women are laughing at caricatured sexist representations of other women. 00:03:26.673 --> 00:03:30.544 Ariel Levy describes in her fantastic book "Female Chauvinist Pigs" how women are 00:03:30.544 --> 00:03:34.982 being trained to be just as raunchy and objectify women just like "one of the guys". 00:03:34.982 --> 00:03:38.118 We're coerced into doing this instead of aligning ourselves with one another. 00:03:38.118 --> 00:03:42.155 One of the reasons might be to impress men and I'm gonna guess that 00:03:42.155 --> 00:03:45.058 pointing out sexism isn't exactly popular with the guys. 00:03:45.058 --> 00:03:48.862 This next one not only manages to be sexist but also racist at the same time. 00:03:48.862 --> 00:03:50.957 Is there a CLIO award for that? 00:04:01.008 --> 00:04:06.847 “When a guy can’t get his wanine to put some hallakahiki all over his morabo 00:04:11.278 --> 00:04:13.253 then he’s gotta go some place else.” 00:04:13.253 --> 00:04:18.525 Not only is this exotifying and sexualizing Hawaiian culture but she's literally a thing. 00:04:18.525 --> 00:04:20.977 This brings a whole new meaning to objectifying. 00:04:20.977 --> 00:04:26.200 Carl's Jr. is infamous for uber ironic sexism in their commercials. Remember this one? 00:04:26.200 --> 00:04:33.207 “...in the winter when it drizzles, I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles.” 00:04:33.207 --> 00:04:37.377 Yet somehow women aren't up in arms, they aren't organizing protests 00:04:37.377 --> 00:04:39.913 and boycotts and online campaigns. 00:04:39.913 --> 00:04:43.862 Some people might try to defend these ads by saying they are "making fun of sexism" 00:04:43.862 --> 00:04:46.053 ironically... somehow... 00:04:46.053 --> 00:04:49.323 Advertisers must believe that the use of irony distances themselves from 00:04:49.323 --> 00:04:51.024 male chauvinism but that isn't the case. 00:04:51.024 --> 00:04:55.283 While we think we are in on the joke, the reality is they aren't making fun of 00:04:55.283 --> 00:04:57.931 or pointing out sexism, they're DOING it. 00:04:57.931 --> 00:05:01.313 Remember advertisers have one goal and one goal only and that's to sell you a product. 00:05:01.313 --> 00:05:06.273 Everything else, all the jokes and humour and imagery and everything else 00:05:06.273 --> 00:05:10.744 is to get you to buy it. The easiest way to do this is to use sexist representations 00:05:10.744 --> 00:05:13.647 that replicate the status quo and doesn't challenge anything. 00:05:13.647 --> 00:05:17.778 Marketers love the uber ironic sexist style of advertising because they can use all the 00:05:17.778 --> 00:05:21.188 racist, sexist, misogynist imagery they want and simultaneously distance 00:05:21.188 --> 00:05:24.224 themselves from it with a little wink and a nod. 00:05:24.224 --> 00:05:27.127 So how many examples of retro sexism have you already seen today? 00:05:28.296 --> 00:05:31.877 And isn't it ironic, don't you think?