Ray9
Diamond Member
- Jul 19, 2016
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The controversy or pseudo controversy over the Peloton stationary bike ad is not just absurd, it’s dangerous. Yes, it’s a TV commercial and TV commercials are specifically formatted by Madison avenue to target viewers with crossed eyes and ears that allow insects to fly straight through their heads. This was pointed out as far back as 1961 by FCC head Newton Minnow, in his revealing critique of television calling it a “vast wasteland”.
Technology has no axe to grind on its own; but profit motive always holds sway on how it’s applied. One can reasonably conclude that half the population has an IQ below 100 and those with higher cerebral capacity are less prone to the influence of advertising. So, all the easy money is in the pockets of the lowest common denominator which is why television is still loaded with vacuous game shows, violent crime dramas, dimwitted situation comedies and air-headed reality series. Minnow would probably swallow his face if he saw what television has become.
There is something far more dangerous afoot in today’s techno sphere-the emergence of social media sites. America’s voyage to the bottom of the Bell Curve has found a home on the internet. Self-loathing conformity is running wild on sites like Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, Reddit etc. that exploit gossip and schadenfreude for all they’re worth.
It’s unlikely that Peloton Advertisers set out to offend females that interpret a gift of an expensive stationary bike as a sexist insult. The ad is as superficial as it is dumb-but it is not sexist. Oddly, there is another national ad that is. The GMC Denali truck ad is as sexist as you can get. In the ad a wife or significant other gets her mate cheap sunglasses. He then trumps her gift with expensive trucks for both suggesting that her financial resources pale compared to his.
He got the blue one for himself but she wants it so she blocks it with her body indicating that access could be denied if he doesn’t relent and let her have her way. This is double-edged body-language sexism. She is a sex object messaging the sex will be withheld if the mate doesn’t play ball.
How did that ad escape the wrath of the rampant sexism apparently running roughshod in the country? The answer is that the more information people share, the dumber they get. Where’s Newton Minnow when you need him?
GMC TV Commercial, 'Holidays: One for You, One for Me' [T2]
Technology has no axe to grind on its own; but profit motive always holds sway on how it’s applied. One can reasonably conclude that half the population has an IQ below 100 and those with higher cerebral capacity are less prone to the influence of advertising. So, all the easy money is in the pockets of the lowest common denominator which is why television is still loaded with vacuous game shows, violent crime dramas, dimwitted situation comedies and air-headed reality series. Minnow would probably swallow his face if he saw what television has become.
There is something far more dangerous afoot in today’s techno sphere-the emergence of social media sites. America’s voyage to the bottom of the Bell Curve has found a home on the internet. Self-loathing conformity is running wild on sites like Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, Reddit etc. that exploit gossip and schadenfreude for all they’re worth.
It’s unlikely that Peloton Advertisers set out to offend females that interpret a gift of an expensive stationary bike as a sexist insult. The ad is as superficial as it is dumb-but it is not sexist. Oddly, there is another national ad that is. The GMC Denali truck ad is as sexist as you can get. In the ad a wife or significant other gets her mate cheap sunglasses. He then trumps her gift with expensive trucks for both suggesting that her financial resources pale compared to his.
He got the blue one for himself but she wants it so she blocks it with her body indicating that access could be denied if he doesn’t relent and let her have her way. This is double-edged body-language sexism. She is a sex object messaging the sex will be withheld if the mate doesn’t play ball.
How did that ad escape the wrath of the rampant sexism apparently running roughshod in the country? The answer is that the more information people share, the dumber they get. Where’s Newton Minnow when you need him?
GMC TV Commercial, 'Holidays: One for You, One for Me' [T2]
