I should imagine that 99% of posters here find homophobia here and almost all are from non UK countries, where faggot is necessarily a homophobic thing to say.
So how do you find the following adverts at a GUT level. Read no more before watching them please.
Advert - where the laughter is not because of the F word btw.
Finished watching? Good.
So now you can read this. Intellectually, of course, you understand that all this talk about faggots is not remotely homophobic. But I am interested in how you felt watching the thing, at your gut level especially. But other contributions welcome.
I read a shit-ton of British lit, and am very familiar and used to fags and faggots not referring to gay people.
So - None of those bother me, they don’t affect my gut, don’t squick me out, nor do I find them particularly funny/ironic/unsettling - it’s just a use of a particular word that is translated very differently on different sides of the pond.
Perhaps if I were less familiar with the Britishism?
I’m not offended by words and I didn’t see any use of ‘faggot’ to refer to a person’s sexual orientation, nor did I pick up anything indicating they were made out of ‘brains’ either. And I don’t understand what your poll choices mean. Is the word ‘faggot’ supposed to make us uneasy because some people use it as slur? Or should we be offended by the sight of that awful stuff being presented as food?
I had to read that sentence five times before I got that the second “here” refers not to the SDMB, but rather to the linked commercials; and that “find homophobia” means “deem to be an example of homophobia”.
I was more annoyed by the videos and the way they talked than anything having to do with the word. Couldn’t bare to watch more than two of the videos… boring, drawn out, advertising a disgusting blob of ambiguous meat product? No thanks.
That they call it a “faggot” is slightly amusing, as is “Mr. Brain” – I thought this was an Austin Powers spoof or something – but then again anything coming out of the UK is usually slightly amusing. Wasn’t offensive.
I couldn’t understand a damn word said in videos 1, 2 and 4. Videos 3 and 5 probably would have elicited a chuckle from my stoned 16 yr-old self but other than that, ehh. Fairly obviously just a different term in a different culture.
I’ve seen ads for this product before (not British but a fan of a lot of British TV). I’m queer, I laughed… they’re not gut-bustingly funny, but they’re cute enough. I think it’s the acting. Who gets that excited about pre-packaged meatballs?
I used to eat faggots now and then when I lived in England. I think I may have been surprised first time I found out what they were called. And I don’t think I’ve ever in real life heard anyone use the word faggot in the gay sense. So other than, “they are some good looking faggots,” no reaction at all.
I immediately concluded there must be an alternative definition of faggot that I am not familiar with. I was mostly confused watching the adverts. By the end I was thinking they looked pretty tasty.
The most offensive part of the ad to me was the stupid Asian accent on the panda bear. The last ad was a little uncomfortable because it does link the product with the homophobic slur.
