[QUOTE=Voyager]
And from the description in the OP, she doesn’t say how cool the compartments are when the husband asks, she doesn’t admit to buying anything and takes it out later. (I haven’t seen the ad - another reason I’m glad I don’t watch much TV.)
[/quote]
After the long buildup showing how much she could fit in the cubbies, there isn’t time for any other dialog. And from an advertising perspective, having her say how cool the cubbies are, or having some sort of meaningful discussion with her husband would be wasted time.
Han: Stop prodding me with that light saber!
Luke: Er, that’s not a light saber. Sorry.
[QUOTE=jsgoddess]
Maybe she was trying to hide it and lie (though why would she tell him she was going shopping?) Maybe she thought his reaction would be funny. Maybe she was able to tuck the bags out of sight of people who might break into her car for the goodies and didn’t realize that he would be baffled. Maybe she’s an unholy bitch who is spending them into the poorhouse. Maybe he’s an irrational pinchpenny who won’t let her buy underwear. Maybe she doesn’t show him her purchases because he always wants to try on the clothes before she wears them. Maybe she doesn’t show him the purchases because he doesn’t give a damn. Maybe she goes in with all those bags and laughs and says, “They were in the car the whole time!”
Everyone seems to want to believe that there is a ton of malice and nastyness in that commercial. It might even be what they meant, but it isn’t what you have to see.
[/QUOTE]
In all your scenarios except one, the guy is either insensitive, a jerk, or a fool.
[QUOTE=jsgoddess]
Only if you believe that a man looks like a “fool” if he doesn’t instantly know what his wife bought while shopping.
[/QUOTE]
No, but I believe a man looks like a fool, albeit a minor one, when someone lies to him and gets away with it.
[QUOTE=BiblioCat]
It’s for Century 21 or some other real estate company. **Lemur’s/b] description was spot-on. It’s insanely annoying. One thing the wife mentions are the good schools, r.
[/QUOTE]
Interestingly, according to Freakonomics, “good schools” have no measurable effect on how well a child learns.
[QUOTE=BiblioCat]
What’s really annoying is that the couple are having the supposedly-intimate fight, and then suddenly the real estate agent says something on speaker-phone. It’s very jarring to realize they’ve been saying these things about their finances to each other in front of her.
[/QUOTE]
I dispise this comercial for just this reason. It makes me gag.
However, when I saw the van comercial it reminded me of my mom. She always hid stuff she’d bought from my dad. Then she’d whine to me about “I bet you’re going to tell him, AREN’T you?!?!?” like we were competing for his attention and I was going to rat her out to get on his good side. :rolleyes:
Obviously my mother has issues - shit she was making about $60K a year at the time - if she wanted to buy a pair of shoes I don’t think there’s much dad could have said about it.
However, she still does all the cooking, and they cancelled a recent trip because dad’s shoulder was bothering him and he couldn’t lift the bikes off the back of the RV. It never occured to either of them that mom could have lifted them off.
Anyhow - dumb, but accurate for at least a segment of the population. I wouldn’t buy the van tho…
[QUOTE=catsix]
Damn, a post implying that it’s all the man’s fault in record time!
This is yet another in a long line of misandrist commercials. We need more commercials where the women look like bumbling idiots who can’t do anything right, or are scolded by their husbands and children.
Either that or less commercials where the men are.
[/QUOTE]
I’ll settle for the latter. Maybe if we stop pretending everyone’s an idiot then people will stop acting like idiots?
Whoa! Since when did wives have to start itemizing their purchases to their husbands or become branded a lying thief? It’s none of my husband’s business what I spend my own personal money on, just as it isn’t any of mine what he does with his.
Now I wonder what kind of married life Doper’s lead to make them so suspicious of a commercial wife who doesn’t immediately surrender to an inspection upon return from a shopping trip.
[QUOTE=jsgoddess]
Only if you believe that a man looks like a “fool” if he doesn’t instantly know what his wife bought while shopping.
(By the way, is there any proof in the commercial that the man is even her husband, or is that another assumption we’re making?)
[/QUOTE]
Wow. Anymore contortions on your part in an effort to defend this commercial, and you’d be a balloon animal.
Yes, you got me. There’s no proof he’s her husband. Maybe he’s just some guy that lives in her house and comes out to greet her in the driveway when she comes home with purchases she’s hidden in the van because she wants to keep them out of sight for security reasons and the conversation with this person about how useful these cubby holes was off-screen due to time constraints and anyway she was only doing it to get a funny reaction out of him and any other assumptions I could possibly make is because I’m bringing them with me.
[QUOTE=Biggirl]
Now I wonder what kind of married life Doper’s lead to make them so suspicious of a commercial wife who doesn’t immediately surrender to an inspection upon return from a shopping trip.
[/QUOTE]
Well, I’m not married. However, my mom hiding shit from my dad was pathalogical, and she’s a nutter. It has nothing to do with stuff being inspected, it has to do with why would you hide something unless you thought you had to? Or you were being dishonest? Or…
you were being passive agressive? That’s certainly why my mom did it. Obviously I saw the comercial and thought that’s why Mrs. Stunned Tits was doing it too.
[QUOTE=Biggirl]
Whoa! Since when did wives have to start itemizing their purchases to their husbands or become branded a lying thief? It’s none of my husband’s business what I spend my own personal money on, just as it isn’t any of mine what he does with his.
Now I wonder what kind of married life Doper’s lead to make them so suspicious of a commercial wife who doesn’t immediately surrender to an inspection upon return from a shopping trip.
[/QUOTE]
Did you see the commercial? Or did you form that great and biting reply from the posts in the thread?
If so I doubt a single husband here would expect an itemized list from their wife. My wife can obviously buy whatever she likes. I also doubt any wife in this thread would hide their purchases. The commercial is annoying and plays on a theme as old and dated as Lucy, the Flintstones or the Honeymooners.
[QUOTE=Dooku]
Wow. Anymore contortions on your part in an effort to defend this commercial, and you’d be a balloon animal.
[/QUOTE]
I’m not the one judging fictional people for their fictional buying habits and being offended by it.
Those offended by the commercial assume that
She’s hiding her purchases
He’d be upset by her purchases
It’s his money she has spent, and
She’s irresponsible with money.
You tell me where you’re getting all of that, and I’ll show you the balloon octopus.
These advertisers can get you to jump like a little monkey just by showing you the image of a woman shopping. You fill in all the blanks. They get a dozen commercials for the price of one, plus threads like this.
Next time I tuck an item I just purchased under my seat I’m going to announce to my husband, “HONEY, I HAVE JUST PUT AN ITEM UNDER THE SEAT. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO FEEL THAT I MIGHT BE HIDING IT FROM YOU. WARNING. IF YOU DO NO SEE ALL ITEMS IT DOES NOT MEAN I HAVE NOT PURCHASED THE ITEMS. BWOOP! BWOOP! BWOOP!” I will have to buy a megaphone, but it’ll be worth it to ensure the sanctity of our marriage vows.
Good thing I don’t have a trunk, or it could lead to divorce!
[QUOTE=alice_in_wonderland]
It has nothing to do with stuff being inspected, it has to do with why would you hide something unless you thought you had to? Or you were being dishonest? Or…
[/QUOTE]
If the stuff had been in the trunk, would you say this woman (not your mother, obviously) was “hiding” things?
As I said up thread, I’d use the cubbies for shopping because my purchases would be out of the sight of people who might break into my car. I would use the cubbies like I would use a trunk. Vans don’t have trunks.
Does that mean I would “need” to use the cubby? As I asked above: Define “need.”
I would want to use the cubby. It’s there to be used, and I think putting shopping in it is a very reasonable use. If you go shopping and don’t have a trunk, do you leave your purchases visible? Perhaps I’m just weird, but I never do.
[QUOTE=Biggirl]
Whoa! Since when did wives have to start itemizing their purchases to their husbands or become branded a lying thief? It’s none of my husband’s business what I spend my own personal money on, just as it isn’t any of mine what he does with his.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with this. As long as your share of the shared expenses are paid, whatever you do with your personal money that you make on your own if your business…
Women are more into clothes/fashion/shopping than men. You know, the whole stereotype that men have to be dragged into a mall to go shopping, or that they’ll wear underwear until it’s in shreds instead of going shopping… So men will often roll their eyes at women’s clothing purchases. He doesn’t think you need another pair of shoes, or another handbag, or those cute earrings, because he’s a guy and he doesn’t “get it.” He doesn’t get that women’s fashions change and you’ll look silly wearing last year’s styles. Just like women will roll their eyes when men spend money on car stuff, or tools or electronics, etc. Yes I know those are generalizations, but they pretty much hold true.
So a lot of times, women will downplay their purchases to avoid the rolleyes or the judgemental aire of their man. It’s not that she’s not allowed to buy the stuff, it’s just that she’d rather not get shit for it.
It’s the same concept in my house, with certain things: like my boyfriend cajoles me for buying toilet paper or tissues, because he can just take toilet paper from work (which feels more like sandpaper). Or for buying a set of new towels so we have something to dry ourselves off with while the other towels are in the wash. Or when I buy him some new socks and underwear because his old ones are disintegrating and nasty and he’ll never buy new ones himself.
[QUOTE=jsgoddess]
I’m not the one judging fictional people for their fictional buying habits and being offended by it.
Those offended by the commercial assume that
She’s hiding her purchases
He’d be upset by her purchases
It’s his money she has spent, and
She’s irresponsible with money.
You tell me where you’re getting all of that, and I’ll show you the balloon octopus.
[/QUOTE]
Uh…are you serious? OK, well, #1 - that’s a fact. That’s exactly the assumption they want us to make. That’s the whole point of the commercial. If you think that’s an erroneous assumption for us to make, you’re a fucking idiot.
#2-4, I’m not making those assumptions. You are. Read my OP again. It’s all about #1 that I have a problem with. You know, the fact that she’s HIDING her packages from him.
But let’s review your assumptions based on previous posts in this thread:
[ol]
[li]She only hid her purchases for security reasons[/li][li]There was an off-screen discussion between them about the usefulness of these storage spaces[/li][li]She hid her packages to deliberately get a funny reaction out of him[/li][li]There’s no evidence that this man is her husband[/li][/ol]
I await your balloon octopus.
You do realize that there was more to it than tucking an item under the seat? That she spent a fair amount of time opening, unfolding, tilting back / forward and otherwise rearranging the back seats of her van in order to place her packages underneath the rear seats and then adjusting the seats back in place in order to HIDE the packages underneath? That the whole fucking point of the commercial was her subterfuge? Oh wait - that’s that #1 assumption I’m making. My bad. That’s why they went out of their way to present the storage spaces as a security precaution, and I accidentally read other things into it, based on my own preconceived monkey-jumping.
[QUOTE=jsgoddess]
If the stuff had been in the trunk, would you say this woman (not your mother, obviously) was “hiding” things?
[/QUOTE]
If someone asked her “I thought you went shopping” and she said nothing when she’s sitting on a trunk full of loot, then yes, she’s hiding something. You seem to keep glossing over that part.
[QUOTE=Brain Wreck]
If someone asked her “I thought you went shopping” and she said nothing when she’s sitting on a trunk full of loot, then yes, she’s hiding something. You seem to keep glossing over that part.
[/QUOTE]
He said something like that, and she said, I believe, “We-elll.” What does that mean? I don’t think the commercial is clear. I don’t see any reason to take offense at something that can be (and was, by me) interpreted a completely different way.
[QUOTE=Dooku]
You do realize that there was more to it than tucking an item under the seat? That she spent a fair amount of time opening, unfolding, tilting back / forward and otherwise rearranging the back seats of her van in order to place her packages underneath the rear seats and then adjusting the seats back in place in order to HIDE the packages underneath?
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, they showed in great detail how the under floor storage works. Because that’s what they are selling. So, they showed her doing x, y, and z in order to PUT the packages underneath. Perhaps for the purpose of hiding the package for security reasons. Perhaps for the purpose of hiding the package from her husband. Perhaps because she just wanted to see if they’d fit in the cubbies. I don’t know her life story. She doesn’t actually have a life. She’s a character in a TV commercial, solely invented for the purpose of showing you the neat cubbies in a minivan.
Can anyone tell me what van they were advertising? Under floor storage seems to be a big thing now.
Did you see the commercial? Or did you form that great and biting reply from the posts in the thread?