# Why is it forbidden to portray women as stupid in TV advertisements? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714 "2009-01-17T05:43:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/1 "2009-01-17T05:43:30Z")
In my life experience general dumbassednes does not discriminate between genders and is pretty evenly distributed between men and women, and yet in television ads for almost any product or service you almost never see a woman being condescend to, or being portrayed as clueless or incompetent. On the flip side men are regularly portrayed as clueless doofuses. Why no stupid women in ads when there are plenty in real life? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/2 "2009-01-17T06:11:24Z")
1. Women shop. 2. Ads don’t have time to develop a character. You can’t make a nuanced “stupid but lovable” female character. She’ll just be “stupid”. People already view men as “stupid and lovable” and thus you can use that stereotype without having to explain the character. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/3 "2009-01-17T06:11:44Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Why no stupid women in ads when there are plenty in real life? Eh, I see lots of twit women in ads. There’s the stupid non-secret-keeping cow in the Kraft cheese comercial, the idiot-my-friends-won’t-notice-my-air-freshner twat, not to mention the I’m-going-to-obsess-about-eating-a-chip biotch. There are female friggin’ morons all over the airways - you probably just don’t watch programs targeted at women. ---
**Author:** ![Group\_Sechs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac8455/32.png) [@Group\_Sechs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Group_Sechs)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/4 "2009-01-17T06:15:35Z")
Because if women saw that kind of ad in the middle of a mood swing they’d get all emotional and not buy the product. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/5 "2009-01-17T06:17:14Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Eh, I see lots of twit women in ads. There’s the stupid non-secret-keeping cow in the Kraft cheese comercial, the idiot-my-friends-won’t-notice-my-air-freshner twat, not to mention the I’m-going-to-obsess-about-eating-a-chip biotch. > > There are female friggin’ morons all over the airways - you probably just don’t watch programs targeted at women. These come across as twits to you due to the banality and conceit of the premise of the ad, but the ads you cite do not inherently seek to portray them as clowns. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/6 "2009-01-17T07:12:54Z")
Ads featuring stupid men are thought (shown?) to be effective at manipulating women into buying the product in question. Ads featuring stupid women are supposedly less effective. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/7 "2009-01-17T07:21:39Z")
I’ve seen ads with dumb women, but there’s typically a smart woman in there to save the day by using the product in question. _Rarely_ one sees a dopey woman with a man. The only example I can thnk off offhand is some car commercial where the woman is blathering on about home decor when the car reaches a winding mountain road or something. She at least has the good sense to stop flapping her gums while the male driver smiles to himself and blasts the car around the curves, showing off its power, handling, etc. Once they get through the area, though, the woman resumes blathering. He never says a word or even looks in her direction. ---
**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 17, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/8 "2009-01-17T07:30:12Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > _Rarely_ one sees a dopey woman with a man. The only example I can thnk off offhand is some car commercial where the woman is blathering on about home decor when the car reaches a winding mountain road or something. She at least has the good sense to stop flapping her gums while the male driver smiles to himself and blasts the car around the curves, showing off its power, handling, etc. Once they get through the area, though, the woman resumes blathering. He never says a word or even looks in her direction. There used to be one here in which a twentysomething guy is sitting on the couch in his flat whilst the sounds of banging and thumping ensue from the kitchen. Then his ditzy blonde girlfriend appears, holding a cricket bat with a bit of fish fillet still sticking to it, and announces “I’ve battered the fish for you!” with an airheaded smile. Then the ad cuts to “Next time, save your kitchen and your sports gear and just buy (Brand) battered fish”. It’s quite clever and stood out for me as one of the few ads with a dumb, ditzy blonde woman in it, and in which the guy isn’t equally as much of a noob. There’s also an ad for _Top Gear Australia_ magazine which has parodies the NSW “speeders have small dicks” ads, in which some young woman makes the “little dick” sign (waggling pinky finger) to a young guy in a V8 muscle car at the traffic lights, and he responds by showing _his_ pinky finger, which is enormous. (The subtext being, “Actually, lady I’ve got a _huge_ dick _and_ an awesome car. So get fucked, you stuck-up bitch.”) Not quite what the OP was getting at, I know, but again, an example of an ad where woman isn’t always right. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/9 "2009-01-17T08:03:36Z")
you mean like this? [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2vIIAkwzIU) [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdkEUYUg0M) the one that annoys me is the guy staring at the fish in the supermarket ‘Carls jr, without us some guys would starve.’ yeah, fuck off. What I’d like to see is some woman staring at the idiot lights on her car while smoke poors out. ‘Jiffy Lube, without us some women would walk.’ that would never fly, but it _would_ be parity ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/10 "2009-01-17T10:37:53Z")
> [@astro](#): > > In my life experience general dumbassednes does not discriminate between genders and is pretty evenly distributed between men and women, and yet in television ads for almost any product or service you almost never see a woman being condescend to, or being portrayed as clueless or incompetent. On the flip side men are regularly portrayed as clueless doofuses. > > Why no stupid women in ads when there are plenty in real life? Why can’t a man ever take care of a child without screwing it up? How many shows have we had where a man can raise a kid without the help of a housekeeper, a nanny, a uncle, a “Mr French.” Stupid man = funny, Stupid woman = insulting. The same way a white guy says something about Obama it’s racist, but a black man says the same thing it’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/11 "2009-01-17T16:25:38Z")
All ads aimed at men have stupid women in them, at least stupid in the sense that they are strictly Barbie doll sex objects with no personality who fall in lust with the guy as soon as he drinks the right kind of beer or puts on the right body spray. Don’t try to play the demeaning game and defend men. Overall you’ll lose every time. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/12 "2009-01-17T16:54:49Z")
> [@astro](#): > > These come across as twits to you due to the banality and conceit of the premise of the ad, but the ads you cite do not inherently seek to portray them as clowns. I’m not sure we’re thinking about the same ads. Particularly the cheddar cheese ad - in fact, the one actress in that ad regularly plays a total moron. Sadly, I can’t find it online - basically the set up is that woman a is making macaroni. Woman b asks her why it’s so good. Woman a says she uses Kraft three cheese mix, but keep it a secret. Woman b says she will and then yells out to unseen woman c “Susan, it’s Kraft three cheese blend!” obviously not keeping it a secret, and obviously because she’s dumb as a bag of hair. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/13 "2009-01-17T16:57:58Z")
> [@astro](#): > > These come across as twits to you due to the banality and conceit of the premise of the ad, but the ads you cite do not inherently seek to portray them as clowns. Even “can’t drain a pot of pasta” woman? How about “can’t handle making pancackes” woman? Or “disappoints her family with her inability to find a lid for the Tupperware” woman? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/14 "2009-01-17T17:09:49Z")
DiGiorno’s Pizza (frozen supermarket pizza) used to have ads with a ditzy young woman trying to pronounce their name, failing, and then just smiling and saying “it’s French!” Then there’s the Bacardi and Cola commercials that featured a young woman greeting a man who did not remember her name. It was obvious that he couldn’t remember her name but she didn’t notice. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38cuaOggIdc) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0FNgfv7uD9A/hqdefault.jpg "bacardi and cola") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FNgfv7uD9A) Here’s one from Braniff Airlines back in the day. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKiVCkE0dDw) Men may look like idiots in a lot of commercials but women often come off as being vapid whores who aren’t interested in anything other than material possessions. See most diamond commercials for evidence. Odesio ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/15 "2009-01-17T17:34:29Z")
Beer and liquor ads + women = vapid whores in bikinis. Standing there at frat parties. Insulting enough, but women don’t generally agonize over what kind of beer to buy and are unlikely to notice the commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/16 "2009-01-17T17:40:22Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Men may look like idiots in a lot of commercials but women often come off as being vapid whores who aren’t interested in anything other than material possessions. See most diamond commercials for evidence. Commercials are trying to get us to buy things. The people lusting after material possessions are the heroes. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/17 "2009-01-17T18:14:41Z")
The worst commercial I have ever seen, in this regard, is one where the man is \*literally acting like a dog \* > **[Paramount Network](https://www.paramountnetwork.com/)** > > Television's destination for premium entertainment and storytelling, with original scripted and non-scripted series. If they tried showing a commercial showing a woman acting like a dog, the amount of mail and phone calls the company would receive would go through the roof and the company would be forced to issue an apology. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/18 "2009-01-17T18:30:27Z")
There aren’t a lot of commercials featuring stupid women, but there are plenty show that bitchy women. Like the commercial about roll-over minutes and the mother who freaks out over all the “wasted” minutes in the garbage can. I hate that commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/19 "2009-01-17T18:31:22Z")
> [@astro](#): > > These come across as twits to you due to the banality and conceit of the premise of the ad, but the ads you cite do not inherently seek to portray them as clowns. I disagree, particularly in regards to the comely liar in the Glade acts. Her friends mock and laugh at her foolishness, and we’re clearly meant to think she’s a moron. Moreover, the current crop of H & R Block commercials feature some stupid women. There’s the woman about to break into her office to get her W2, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714/20 "2009-01-17T18:32:44Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > There aren’t a lot of commercials featuring stupid women, but there are plenty show that bitchy women. Like the commercial about roll-over minutes and the mother who freaks out over all the “wasted” minutes in the garbage can. I hate that commercial. I LOVE that commercial. I know some kids who’d act exactly that way if cell phone minutes were given out as physical tokens. The blonde mother isn’t being a bitch; she’s being a smart persone exasperated by stupidity. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-forbidden-to-portray-women-as-stupid-in-tv-advertisements/481714.md?page=2)