# Are Women Ever Portrayed as Really Moronic in Commercials? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209 "2009-12-31T18:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/21 "2009-12-31T20:55:45Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > A minority being portrayed as comically stupid: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXXALgMSJVM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXXALgMSJVM) Ah, but this follows the rules perfectly. The husbaffoon is stupid, while the woman and little girl are obviously smarter. That trumps minority. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/22 "2009-12-31T20:58:45Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Ah, but this follows the rules perfectly. The husbaffoon is stupid, while the woman and little girl are obviously smarter. That trumps minority. And, of course, the guy behind the counter is equally stupid. That IKEA commercial is a pretty good example, although I think it is interesting that they have her husband also actinig (much less so) moronicly. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/23 "2009-12-31T21:01:48Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > Pretty much the same concept as the Taco Bell commercial, but female: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C7oqXewyCE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C7oqXewyCE) > > A minority being portrayed as comically stupid: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXXALgMSJVM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXXALgMSJVM) I don’t see that as comically stupid as I do “Illustrating the point”. It’s making the massive number of Verizon users a concept that’s easier to grasp. If anything, the dolt is the one behind the counter. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/24 "2009-12-31T21:12:09Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > I don’t see that as comically stupid as I do “Illustrating the point”. It’s making the massive number of Verizon users a concept that’s easier to grasp. If anything, the dolt is the one behind the counter. Look at the wife’s expression, though. “Kill me now, God.” ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/25 "2009-12-31T21:43:04Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > And if I remember correctly, it’s the same woman who bought a dress with their points that was sufficiently expensive that now they couldn’t use them for a vacation. :rolleyes: It is. I like this couple. I like that he didn’t pitch a fit when she bought the dress, and that twinkle he got in his eye was quite sexy. They’re not quite at the same level as Giles (from Buffy) and the sexy neighbor in those old instant coffee commercials (Taster’s Choice?), but I’d like to see more of them. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/26 "2009-12-31T21:59:11Z")
How are we supposed to know if they’re dumb or not in ads for cars, beer, etc. if they don’t get to open their mouths? Sarah Haskins’ [Target Women](http://current.com/sarah-haskins/) series has some interesting examples of moronic women. She also makes the good point that the idiot men are usually husbands, as if getting married saps them of the studly genius and svelte bodies of car and cologne ads. I linked to this in another thread, but as far as print ads go, while the shoe does seem to be on the other foot (when ads are aimed at women), few campaigns to have reached the nastiness of [old ads like this](http://www.oddee.com/item_96674.aspx) (with many aimed at women). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/27 "2009-12-31T22:30:50Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The Axe line of products (body wash) show the girls attracted to the guy as if he put on some kind of super phermone. > > I think this shows them as moronic only because its premise is that the female higher brain functions turning off due to a scent. I was going to mention these. [And **Vihaga** made a quality post about a recent diamond commercial where the woman is so scared by lightning that she jumps into her guy’s arms.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11850774#post11850774) Not that long ago, there was a Burger King ad where a man buys some small burgers and is soon surrounded by a group of coeds who coo over the burgers like they’re newborn puppies. It’s sort of a parody but the women do come off stupid. [There’s also this commercial for Jim Beam](http://videolicious.tv/2009/10/rent-a-puppy-jim-beam-commercial/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Videolicious+%28Videolicious.tv+-+The+Daily+Video+Blog%29). Short version: men rent puppies to win sympathy from hot, gullible women, and it works like a charm. Tag line: “Guys never change. Neither do we.” Does it make the women look moronic? Maybe. The guys are definitely outsmarting them. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/28 "2009-12-31T23:04:24Z")
[This Heineken commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ZZreXEqSY) takes a poke at women’s obsession with closet space. You have to think about the target audience. If women are the likely purchaser of the product, men are more apt to come off looking idiotic in the commercials. If men are the target consumers, there’s a better chance women come off poorly. (Beer commercials are a good example.) The AT&T commercial with the mom obsessed over rollover minutes doesn’t portray her as a moron, but she’s not exactly portrayed in a flattering light, either. Hubby takes a shot at her in [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgFw7o5hQtc&feature=PlayList&p=08164B0202B6C820&index=7). ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/29 "2009-12-31T23:12:58Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > [This Heineken commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ZZreXEqSY) takes a poke at women’s obsession with closet space. Close, but I’m going to say the men come off sufficiently more moronic, in contrast. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/30 "2009-12-31T23:23:23Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Ah, but this follows the rules perfectly. The husbaffoon is stupid, while the woman and little girl are obviously smarter. That trumps minority. Right you are. There are more examples of this, like the “Shipping vs Shopping” USPS commercial. The (black, but pointless for this discussion) husbuffoon chooses to go to the mall to do the shopping, while the intelligent wife gets to do the dreaded shipping - which she already has done and handed off to the impressed postman before husbufoon even gets to the car. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/31 "2009-12-31T23:33:22Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > This is a little off topic, but when advertisers what to portray a product as easy to use, they will often have a woman narrate the commercial. One example is the commercial for Mozy online backup. One thing I’ve always noticed on Spanish language television in the United States: commercials are always narrated by men with baritone voices, unless it’s for a product catering to women (cleaning products, tampons, etc), or a PSA for some social service agency, in which case it could be either a man or woman narrating. I may have missed an example or five, but I’ve never seen a “dumb husband” commercial on Spanish language television. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/32 "2009-12-31T23:41:53Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Ah, but this follows the rules perfectly. The husbaffoon is stupid, while the woman and little girl are obviously smarter. That trumps minority. Missed edit widow, previous post. Another example is the Asian guy that has to speak like Shatner to convince his intelligent wife to take a Priceline vacation. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/33 "2010-01-01T01:20:32Z")
I think a lot of the Twix “need a minute” commercials qualify. In one guy and his friend are looking at a book on “How to Pick up Hot Women” when girlfriend arrives. After the moment he yells at his friend for reading such a horrible book, and she goes all simpery and my hero on him. Ditto for the one where the guy suddenly invites the hot girl to his room, and covers by telling her he meant that they would blog about her ideals. That’s slightly less plausible than etchings. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/34 "2010-01-01T01:45:15Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I think a lot of the Twix “need a minute” commercials qualify. In one guy and his friend are looking at a book on “How to Pick up Hot Women” when girlfriend arrives. After the moment he yells at his friend for reading such a horrible book, and she goes all simpery and my hero on him. Ditto for the one where the guy suddenly invites the hot girl to his room, and covers by telling her he meant that they would blog about her ideals. That’s slightly less plausible than etchings. The latter girl is a moron, but I’m not sure I could come up with a better cover. And, really, all those excuses both sexes use to get an attractive person into their house are laughably transparent–so transparent that I think that’s the point. For some reason, just flat out asking is rude, but implying is fine. I could see this commercial as satirizing this fact. Okay, I’m probably giving the writers too much credit. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/35 "2010-01-01T02:28:39Z")
There’s this incredibly lame Progresso Soup commercial where the woman calls a male Progresso chef, saying that some unseen coworker is going to propose marriage to her because he gave her some Italian wedding soup. Admittedly, it doesn’t exactly fit the elusive smart husband-dumb wife theme. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAuKCouONBc) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/36 "2010-01-01T02:44:32Z")
There are a whole raft of life insurance commercials (Colonial Penn is one that comes to mind) that feature helpless, moronic women grappling with the very concept of life insurance. Hell, I’m not even sure some of those women are able to sign the form by themselves. I saw one today that featured a wife who didn’t think her husband was smart enough to buy life insurance, only to be outwitted by her all-wise spouse who had everything all worked out. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/37 "2010-01-01T02:54:37Z")
Does anyone other than me remember the smartbeep commercial where the woman is going on a date with a man, gets in the car, and lets out a huge fart only to find out that they are going on a double date and the other couple is in the back seat? I think that would qualify. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/38 "2010-01-01T03:24:16Z")
I’m scratching my head trying to think of an American commercial where they’re depicted as bumbling but devious, bitchy, awful, materialistic, obsessed with counting calories and shallow? That’s kind of the whole point of Sarah Haskins “Target Women” series. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/39 "2010-01-01T03:27:22Z")
There was an ad here in the last couple of years for frozen battered fish, in which a 20something guy is on the couch in his flat and loud thumping and banging can be heard from the kitchen, and then his ditzy blonde girlfriend appears in the doorway with a cricket bat that has a fish fillet stuck onto it, and she says “I’ve finished battering the fish!” It’s always stuck in my mind as being one of the few ads I can recall in which the woman is shown to be, well, dumb. There’s plenty of blatantly sexist ads on TV here in which scantily clad women throw themselves at guys driving V8 utes and wearing Lynx deodorant and so on, but they don’t usually show the women as actually being thick. As someone mentioned upthread, women tend to be the ones doing household shopping so the ads aren’t going to deliberately insult them- but to be fair, they don’t tend to show men as being clueless man-children either- except for cold & flu ads, in which any man with a cold is practically bedridden and hooked up to expensive hospital machines that go “ping” while his long-suffering wife feeds him teaspoonfuls of Cold-Be-Gone™. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209/40 "2010-01-01T03:31:39Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > Look at the wife’s expression, though. “Kill me now, God.” It’s brief, but I can buy that. I didn’t notice her expression before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-women-ever-portrayed-as-really-moronic-in-commercials/523209.md?page=3)