Comments on Womanist Musings: Snickers Get Some Nuts

I think the fact you avoided my entire argument by...

2008-08-21T21:17:00.000-04:00

I think the fact you avoided my entire argument by focussing on the racism proves a point.

>> BTW I think that I am an informed WOC quite the opposite of you..cheerio and all the other good stuff.

If you honestly think that Brits say "cheerio" to each other (isn't that an American breakfast cereal, anyway?) it just shows how backwards and out-of-date you are with the world...

If you can't see the racism in that photo then you...

2008-08-11T13:50:00.000-04:00

If you can't see the racism in that photo then you have issues...try owning a little racial privilege. It smacks of racism and neo-imperialism the same as the snickers ad. Colonizing bodies of colour for profit is the expression of racism in the media. You have seen two examples from your own country and you assert no racism. Just because they found blacks to participate does not make either ad non racist...it is called internalized racism for a reason.
BTW I think that I am an informed WOC quite the opposite of you..cheerio and all the other good stuff.

@Renee: Once again you're the one making assumptio...

2008-08-11T13:31:00.000-04:00

@Renee: Once again you're the one making assumptions and acting disgusted. I can't see the racism in that photo.

Are you honestly so arrogant you believe that homosexuals and non-whites in the UK need conservatives such as yourself to protect them?

Do you not for one moment think that the models in that photo are intelligent and capable of making their own decision about whether or not participating in that photo shoot is racist. Obviously if those black people thought it was racist they wouldn't have partaken.

The sheer arrogance astounds me. Who do you think you are?

@laser unless you a black person who do you know t...

2008-08-11T11:19:00.000-04:00

@laser unless you a black person who do you know that racism against blacks is non existent in the UK....this smacks of a privilege assumption. Further if it so non existent please explain this.

Hi there,First a little background info - I'm Engl...

2008-08-11T09:10:00.000-04:00

Hi there,

First a little background info - I'm English, from the same culture that created and is the target audience of the advert in question. As you may know, Britain is a country with a centrist culture, as opposed to the far-right near-facism state and conservative culture that is prevalent with the United States where the condemnation came from. I'm disappointed to see someone such as you who claims to be liberal falling into the conservative mindset.

First of all, it's important to see this in context, not only within the British culture, where speedwalking is not seen as a homosexual activity, but also within the advertising campaign itself, here's another ad from the same series: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kn8YdVGZhs. The same or similar terminology is used there, however I would find it very difficult to believe that someone could justify someone faking an injury playing football (soccer) as "homosexual", therefore it is obvious that the intention of Mr T's wording within the removed ad is not towards homosexual connotations, and that's something that you yourself have added.

It is also disappointing that you seem to be making racist accusations. Within the UK, racism against black people is virtually non-existent (it does exist against asians though, unfortunately), so it is very unlikely that a Brit would see the skin colour of the two main characters in the plot as significant.

I believe that with the addition of this context, the ad becomes completely justifiable. For example, the advertising standards body in the UK, ASA, received only 2 complaints against the ad, investigated it and found it to be non-offensive, and it was only due to criticism from people not living in the UK (where the ad was made and broadcast) that caused Mars to pull the ad.

Regards

That commercial was fucking hilarious! I'm going ...

2008-07-30T22:12:00.000-04:00

That commercial was fucking hilarious! I'm going to buy a whole carton of snickers bars now.

renee i think its better late than never,here is a...

2008-07-24T21:23:00.000-04:00

renee i think its better late than never,
here is adage on the pull http://adage.com/article?article_id=129892

According to CNN Snickers (M&M) has announced that...

2008-07-24T18:56:00.000-04:00

According to CNN Snickers (M&M) has announced that after protests from many gay rights groups that they are pulling the advertisement globally. The problem is that damage is already done.

Was there no one at Snickers who thought that this...

2008-07-24T18:49:00.000-04:00

Was there no one at Snickers who thought that this commercial would be a bad idea? As much as I'm suprised at the amount of sexist/racist vitriol present in advertising, I'm even more flabbergasted by the number of people or departments that must have approved of it in order for commercials like that to be made. If it can go through 40 people at Snickers without someone saying, "Hey... This is homophobic, and we've tried this before and the shit hits the fan when we do. Let's not," maybe they need new advertising executives.

@Sarah I think that we are meant to view the speed...

2008-07-24T11:29:00.000-04:00

@Sarah I think that we are meant to view the speed walker as homosexual

I agree that to many people the white male in this...

2008-07-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

I agree that to many people the white male in this commercial may be seen as homosexual, but I think the commercial is overtly sexist or anti "feminine" as opposed to homophobic. Not sure if those are quite the right words, but I feel like it has more to do with gender expression than sexual orientation. It is equating femininity in a male with something bad. As you acknowledge, "Sexuality has nothing to do with gender identification" [or expression]. So I think the commercial is at it's core sexist, while it could also be read as homophobic. Sexism and homophobia are very intertwined. Much homophobia is directed towards people who break gender norms, whether or not they are in fact homosexual.

I agree with your analysis, but I wanted to add th...

2008-07-24T10:04:00.000-04:00

I agree with your analysis, but I wanted to add that it's not only the presumption that the man being assaulted is coded as gay but that his gender expression is not appropriate. Gay, straight, or bisexual...he is not acting as "real men" do and is being punished for it.

I'm so glad you talked about men's fashions from past centuries. I always find it amusing when people comment on how "real men don't wear make-up!" when in 17th-18th century Europe men were at the height of fashion with powedered wigs, make-up, beauty marks and all the trappings that would be described as "female" in this day and age. It's like the long hair on men thing=girly. Once again, I want to point out the Western and Eastern cultures where long hair on men is a sign of honor or of religious significance or was considered beautiful (Heian era Japan anyone?)

As always, spot on analysis Renee. I really enjoy this blog.

@100 First let me say thanks for reading my blog.T...

2008-07-24T02:35:00.000-04:00

@100 First let me say thanks for reading my blog.

To address your issues:
Mr. T says,"Speed walking I pity you fool you a disgrace to the man race.It's time to run like a real man. Take that speed walker. Do it again and there's gonna be trouble...Snickers get some nuts."

you assume that Mr. T is indeed a heterosexual male, and secondly aesthetically you fail to highlight his deviance from western social norms.
I specifically addressed the fact that he was chosen because he was a black male. Black males represent hyper masculinity in western society. They are associated with aggression, and violence two characteristics that socially we view as specifically male. Further by choosing a black male to discipline a white male it is to add an extra layer of shame to the equation.

Considering the language and the visual that this commercial uses it very successfully deploys the cultural imagination in terms of sexual identity and masculine identity.

How can we hastily tether power-walking to homosexuality?
The language that is used in the video confers homosexuality on the speed walker. Let's be honest though we know that you cannot tell that someone is indeed homosexual just by observing their behavior, the media has constructed the effeminate male as a homosexual to assume that they would take this one instant to run from a model that they have used ever since they started presenting homosexual males is an enormous leap.

i read your blog daily and i usually agree with yo...

2008-07-24T02:09:00.000-04:00

i read your blog daily and i usually agree with your stance however in this particular instance your jingoist attitude suckers you into making one too many assumptions. First you assume that Mr. T is indeed a heterosexual male, and secondly aesthetically you fail to highlight his deviance from western social norms. How can we hastily tether power-walking to homosexuality? This commercial seeks to capitalize on many masculine notions but does it succeed? i thoroughly appreciate your contributions but are we overlooking somethings?