With no time before the game left, let me ask this. How funny and enjoyable is a commercial that has the following: a young white male gets up and beats on a old black man, an asian woman of roughly middle age gets up and starts to gyrate on a pole as if she were a stripper, and a haggard middle eastern kids blasts music (country) on a boom-box all for the whims of a old white woman. Feeling good? Hmmm... what if we change it a bit. How about (this is the actual television commercial now) a young Black African American jumps up and beats on an elderly white male, a haggard White male with a boom-box blasts rock music, a middle aged Black African American woman is gyrating on the pole and after we get to see all this happening on a bus, the driver suddenly stops and throws all the passengers around. This all was done (in the second iteration) at the behest of a White 20ish grunge-ish male because he has amp’d.
Amp’d has a mobile phone something or other and they seem to revel in advertising that insults and repulses large groups of potential clients for no reason. Another of their fun television commercials showed various individuals dying and each being berated because they will expire prior to the launch of the new product line. One I recall was a white politician, with a scantily clad woman on a bed, having a heart attack. Another was a Hispanic male on the floor having a drug overdose. How dare they die, and how ironically stereotypical.
I understand the ridiculous idea that television commercials and ads that offend the sensibilities of some viewers will attract attention of a larger audience and provide name recognition. One of the best set of ads to do that was Calvin Klien jeans (I think they were the first). Those ads were universally remembered as stupid and the success can be seen in how many still own/buy those3 jeans. I find that ads of this nature are just offensive and remind me that when I see the product to stay far away. I look forward to announcements that the company with these ads has gone bankrupt, so I will never have to see their ads again.
Bankruptcy cannot happen to soon for amp’d, or whatever their exact name is. I wish they can get sued. Both of their commercials are offensive to each group they portray. There is no benefit seen from their product and the message they send is just short of bias, to almost every one.
I do not like the portrayal of a White male as a god-like figure because of a cheap product. I do not condone violence against the elderly (or mature older adults if you wish). Women of every color are more than just objects that prance at the whim of any male around them. Do the advertising team that creates these ads or the executive team from the company that approves them even consider what they are doing? Has money so blinded them that they don’t care. I have difficulty believing most anyone is that soulless.
What do you think a child of 5, or 10 or 15 thinks of this commercial and others like it. (I saw it on at 3:30pm on a Sunday watching the movie The Shadow) What vindication does it give to those who objectify or hate women, Black African Americans, Hispanics. Or perhaps to other mixed up people like the kid who, allegedly, attacked and killed those men in New England. And what are people from other parts of the world who don’t understand our culture or language supposed to think. Imagine that commercial without sound. Commercials are more than just a product, they are a message about the people who use the product. Thankfully I will never use this one.
This is what I think, what do you think?
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