Speechless
I just heard an ad on the telly. I was looking away, making dinner while watching Greys Anatomy, so didn’t see if it was animated or real actors.
The ad was for (I think) Calvita cheese, which is processed cheese sold in slices, and is marketed at 2-10 year olds.
The ad had a small boy and a small girl talking about what they wanted to be when they grow up, and finished with the message that they could be anything they wanted to be if they ate Calvita cheese.
OK, fair enough. Dubious, but ok. What did they want to be though?
Small boy: “When I grow up I want to be a footballer.”
Small girl: “When I grow up I want to be a WAG*.
Seriously?
Seriously?
This is what we’re encouraging little girls to aim for as they grow up?
I’m speechless. And annoyed.
~~
*If you’re not familiar with the term, WAG stands for Wives and Girlfriends, the d-list celebrity partners of overpaid footballers, whose main activities include shopping, drinking, and trying to turn themselves into anorexic oompa loompas. Victoria Beckham is their leader.
I would be too. Oh, wait, I am annoyed just at the thought of it! In the US they may as well have advertised that she wanted to be just like Britney, Lindsey, or Paris!
15 Aug 2007 at 11:20 pm
It’s just overtly stating the same message that’s played out in media everywhere. I don’t see the problem, really. I mean, sex is used to sell everything on the planet, why not use it to market sliced cheese to 10-year-old children?
Bah.
(I particularly liked the vision of an anorexic oompa loompa - especially because, to me, the oompa loompa which springs to mind is orange & generally found singing some moralistic song about “the mother and the fa-a-ther.” :) )
15 Aug 2007 at 11:23 pm
that is what this world needs, more WAGs to primp and crimp their hair and make up…
15 Aug 2007 at 11:45 pm
Death to the advertisers.
Seriously, first against the wall. Advertisers.
Second: whoever makes Bratz.
16 Aug 2007 at 12:10 am
i have to agree with davimack. this is what girlskids are fed by the media. which makes it very challenging in raising a teen-age daughter. parents have to employ constant diligence. good role models are always helpful but hard to come by.
16 Aug 2007 at 2:32 am
Yes I heard the same ad also, and wondered was I hearing things!! (from the other room). Then this morning I was actualy thinking about it and wondering if I dreamt it. Phew, at least my mind is slightly still intact, even if there are baby oompa loompas wandering around boots looking for the fake tan to go with their spreadable cheese and sunglasses…
16 Aug 2007 at 4:38 pm
Okay, I’m late with my annoyance, but annoyed I am. A WAG!? Seriously!? In this day and age!? I’d find the address of their company and write their PR department quite a snippy little note. Especially since this is a cheese which is the first cheese little one’s eat, and the commercial is targeted toward them… YUCK.
17 Aug 2007 at 3:33 am
What, and take all the fun out of it? Oh, come on, it’s all innocence, isn’t it? I mean, you’d have little girls not want to play make-up? Next thing you’ll be saying they should VOTE or something. … Oh? When? OH! … Well, erm … wait! If they can vote, they who elected … oh, right. Yes - girls SHOULD be WAG’s! Yep - and stay home and raise the kiddies!
Bah, again. We’re doomed.
18 Aug 2007 at 2:49 am