In which stereotypes are addressed.
Effin Guy asked my opinion of the Pepsi Max commercial below and I find myself torn. The spot is pretty funny; slapstick and physical humor always warrants a tee-hee from me but my gosh! This spot also highlights the epitome of the Angry Black Woman.
My take on the commercial is a man is trying to cheat on his diet. His woman (Pepsi couldn’t even give them the dignity to be married) bullies and abuses him into making better choices. She kicks him while at dinner, smiling sweetly as she dissuades him from ordering fries, smashes his face into a pie as he attempts to indulge in a slice and even forces soap into his mouth while he is hiding in the tub about to eat a burger. The conclusion has the two of them relaxing with and enjoying a Pepsi Max which meets her approval. The peace is short lived; the man makes eyes at a blonde White Woman and the ABW throws her can of Pepsi at him only to hit Blondie and the two of them are on the run.
Let me say again, the commercial IS funny but why is the woman in this commercial so…(as my kid would say) extra? Her man is not too fat, not too out of shape yet at every turn she denies him the food that he attempts to enjoy. If this were a man keeping food away from a woman there would be all types of folks hollering about women and weight! Also, what the ham fat type of relationship is this? Some type of abusive one for sure! The man in this commercial is bullied so much that towards the end he cowers in fear as he attempts to enjoy a cola. Plus the ABW insecurity towards his greeting to Blondie is a bit much. He IS quite enthusiastic but it’s most likely relief at not getting his ass kicked for drinking the Pepsi. Shucks, I would probably smile in relief at the nearest person if I escaped an ass whupping.
OK. Perhaps I am making too big a deal about this commercial but let’s play what if…(and by what if I mean I am WAY over thinking this!)
What if everyone in the commerical were all the same race? Would this be any different?
I say yes. Due to the couple being Black and the jogger being White it makes it look as if all Black Women are scared of losing their man to a White Woman. Also why is she so quick to be violent throughout the spot? You get more flies with honey I was always told. Perhaps this spot implies that Black Men ONLY respond to violence?
What if the woman weren’t a darker sister? Would the commerical be different?
Yes. I am not a darker sister and I would be lying if I said I could speak for them. But my relatives who are of a darker hue have been treated with a noted difference than those of a lighter hue.
What if the woman wasn’t such an ugly person?
Let’s face it, all she needed was green skin and a torn shirt and to utter the phrase “You won’t like me when I’m angry” to complete her scary appearance! She was not at her best and I think this adds to the stereotypical ABW behavior.
Maybe I am making too much out of this commercial but it also puts me in mind of the State Farm Commercial. Here a loud mouth chick harasses her dude about his parking skills. They subsequently wish for new beaus and the commercial ends with them arguing.
Is this how the world sees Black Women or for the sake of advertising this just a snapshot in time?
What say you folks?
Counting to ten and NOT drinking Pepsi,
-r
I think you have a point. Since I am not of a “darker hue” in fact I am not even a dark tan. But I have to say that while I initially laughed at the commercial based on the premise, I looked at it from several angles. 1) (I’m being a psych nerd here) She isn’t just bullying him, she is abusive and abuse no matter which direction it comes from is wrong. 2) The man (black or white) is once again made to look wimpy and stupid 3) the stereotypes that were portrayed were, in my opinion, over the top. I might not have felt so strongly about it if the jogger had been a “darker hued” woman. 4) After hitting the woman in the head they RAN! How wrong is that? Again I think it played into a stereotype.
So no I don’t think you’re over-thinking this. Clearly Effin Guy felt something was wrong to ask your opinion.
There’s my two cents worth.
♥
Personally I thought this commercial was hilarious. I think the point was to be so controversial which is why it aired when it aired – to reach the max audience and get people talking about it – meaning Pepsi. It feeds in to all the hype about angry black women and black men wanting white women. And the people at Pepsi knew exactly what they were doing…is it right…who knows but if you have a good sense humor it was hilarious!
Rachee, you’ve pegged it right on the handle, imho. I saw this commercial last night but missed its implication at the onset. However, I believe you have a very valid point. But then again, this is the price we pay when we want to be mainstream: behaviors and attitudes that don’t apply to our norms, become, our norms.
For example, if the couple were white, we more than likely would not have thought anything of the interaction between the man and woman – this kind of interaction between men and women is depicted in mainstream media all the time. I do think, however, that it’s highly telling that the woman he smiles at (quite innocuously imho) is a white, blonde-haired woman.
Overall, this commercial hits on a lot of bowl-sheet in terms of stereotypes of us as ABW, and of our men as these emasculated buffoons. Personally, I don’t know of ANY black man that would tolerate such behavior from ANY woman.
Vanessa.
Okay, to use your own joke from last week…white girl with the black history month birthday weighing in. I think harpie wives, white or black, are a common trope in sports commercials, I think. I didn’t see this as ABW so much as the standard harpie wife. Even the e*trade baby has a harpy girlfriend (brunette…who accuses him of hanging out with a “milkaholic” blonde).
As for the husband’s weight…how many times in a diet soda commercial, or any commercial, for that matter (with the exception of Weight Watchers and those types or Ally), feature people who are actually overweight? Really. Think about all of those awful Special K ads…the one where the perfectly normal sized woman is horrified because she got her hiney stuck in a kindergarten-sized chair. Lean Cuisine? Yogurt as diet food? Not one of those women is actually overweight.
Which leads to the blonde…it’s always a blonde. Men never do a double take at brunettes, and rarely at redheads. Or if they do, it’s because they’re in the company of a blonde. And it’s always a blonde with long hair. The only exceptions to this rule seem to be Danica Patrick and Megan Fox, and Megan, at least, must give the illusion of being naked.
All in all, I think very few advertisers think about what they’re putting out there. Mostly, they’re just trying to “balance” the color of their ads, with no thought to what it might mean outside of their boardroom.
I haven’t seen this commercial. I don’t live in a box, I just don’t see many commercials and I don’t care about the superbowl. But, I can see what you are saying and the comments above are interesting. I find the whole girlfriend/wife nag role so annoying for sure.
No, you’re not making too much of this. For years Hollywood has been telling people how to view themselves. We’re to view women as smarter and stronger than men and children as smarter than adults. I for one could not be attracted to men that I viewed as inferior to me. I don’t need to feel good about myself by putting down the other gender. I also don’t like the message it gives my son. Glad you spoke out on your blog. Good for you!
Okay, to use your own joke from last week…white girl with the black history month birthday weighing in. I think harpie wives, white or black, are a common trope in sports commercials, I think. I didn’t see this as ABW so much as the standard harpie wife. Even the e*trade baby has a harpy girlfriend (brunette…who accuses him of hanging out with a “milkaholic” blonde).
As for the husband’s weight…how many times in a diet soda commercial, or any commercial, for that matter (with the exception of Weight Watchers and those types or Ally), feature people who are actually overweight? Really. Think about all of those awful Special K ads…the one where the perfectly normal sized woman is horrified because she got her hiney stuck in a kindergarten-sized chair. Lean Cuisine? Yogurt as diet food? Not one of those women is actually overweight.
Which leads to the blonde…it’s always a blonde. Men never do a double take at brunettes, and rarely at redheads. Or if they do, it’s because they’re in the company of a blonde. And it’s always a blonde with long hair. The only exceptions to this rule seem to be Danica Patrick and Megan Fox, and Megan, at least, must give the illusion of being naked.
All in all, I think very few advertisers think about what they’re putting out there. Mostly, they’re just trying to “balance” the color of their ads, with no thought to what it might mean outside of their boardroom.
I haven’t seen this commercial. I don’t live in a box, I just don’t see many commercials and I don’t care about the superbowl. But, I can see what you are saying and the comments above are interesting. I find the whole girlfriend/wife nag role so annoying for sure.
I haven’t seen this commercial. I don’t live in a box, I just don’t see many commercials and I don’t care about the superbowl. But, I can see what you are saying and the comments above are interesting. I find the whole girlfriend/wife nag role so annoying for sure.
Okay, to use your own joke from last week…white girl with the black history month birthday weighing in. I think harpie wives, white or black, are a common trope in sports commercials, I think. I didn’t see this as ABW so much as the standard harpie wife. Even the e*trade baby has a harpy girlfriend (brunette…who accuses him of hanging out with a “milkaholic” blonde).
As for the husband’s weight…how many times in a diet soda commercial, or any commercial, for that matter (with the exception of Weight Watchers and those types or Ally), feature people who are actually overweight? Really. Think about all of those awful Special K ads…the one where the perfectly normal sized woman is horrified because she got her hiney stuck in a kindergarten-sized chair. Lean Cuisine? Yogurt as diet food? Not one of those women is actually overweight.
Which leads to the blonde…it’s always a blonde. Men never do a double take at brunettes, and rarely at redheads. Or if they do, it’s because they’re in the company of a blonde. And it’s always a blonde with long hair. The only exceptions to this rule seem to be Danica Patrick and Megan Fox, and Megan, at least, must give the illusion of being naked.
All in all, I think very few advertisers think about what they’re putting out there. Mostly, they’re just trying to “balance” the color of their ads, with no thought to what it might mean outside of their boardroom.
I haven’t seen this commercial. I don’t live in a box, I just don’t see many commercials and I don’t care about the superbowl. But, I can see what you are saying and the comments above are interesting. I find the whole girlfriend/wife nag role so annoying for sure.