- What do you think about this commercial, and what message do you think they are trying to get across to their viewers?
March 04, 2008
Hungry Man TV Commercials
I was recently watching TV when I came upon an interesting commercial. To view the commercial go to hungry-man.com and click on view our TV spot. Basically the commercial is about three men that work a blue collar job at a factory. They are on lunch break and the three men are drinking smoothies and sitting together. One guy asks the others if they will go to the bathroom with him; so they all get up to go to the bathroom together. Another man eating a hungry man dinner calls them out and says, "where are you ladies going." The three men get really offended and they throw their smoothies and they decide that they want to eat hungry man dinners instead because "it is the manly thing to do." Obviously this commercial is marketing their product towards men, but I thought it was an interesting way to market their product. They are essentially putting down women by emphasizing the stereotype that going to the bathroom together and drinking smoothies for lunch is a women thing to do, and "manly men" aren't suppose to be doing that. They also try to give men the picture that if they don't eat hungry man dinners then they aren't masculine.
8 comments:
I agree UNL Student, I think commercials use advertising methods such as this because the subject is understandable to everyone. We all have an understanding of gender roles/norms. However, that doesn't negate the fact that commercials such as these further widen the gap between appropriate men's behaviors and appropriate women's behaviors.
I think the hungry-man company is trying to attract male viewers in this cliched way because to be honest it is a behavior that men often poke fun at women for doing (going to the bathroom in groups). Thus, if males are their target marketing group, then why not stress that by poking fun at women. Women centered commercials do this as well by showing men as unkempt or unable to function without some product that helps a woman. Again, I think this only further reinforces gender stereotypes, and it would be nice if for a change, advertisers thought about shying away from these stereotypes in their marketing strategies.
I think it is very interesting how mass media in general has defined and ultimately controlled the gender roles of our culture. If everyone watched men being openly comfortable with each other on TV all the time I would venture to guess that men would be more apt to behaving in a similar fashion in real life. I think of all the ridiculous clothing fads over the years. People only wore parachute pants and black lace gloves in the '80's because that's what the celebrities were wearing. Whether they want to or not, I think men are definitely taught and reinforced to act in the male gendered role of being tough, insensitive, and apparently hearty eaters.
Another really great example of this is the song called "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind" by Kellie Pickler. The entire song is one gendered stereotype after another. Here are a few of my favorites (again these are things men would never think): "I wonder how these jeans make me look from behind", "Let's turn off the tv, now can't we just talk?", "Boy, she looks like the marrying kind", "That movie was good except for the violent parts". And on and on. Commercials, music and television shows might make these topics amusing but I think it's important to realize the social implications of how the media shapes men and women's social norms and force behaviors.
I believe that media is not always a direct reflection of society. As we progress as a society certain things change, and certain things stay the same, and some things you can just make fun of to try and sell a meal. The media is publishing this commercial to try and paint the perfect image and masculinity, however that they fail to recognize what the perfect image of masculinity is. More and more men are doing the laundry, cooking dinner, taking leave or cutting back hours for children, and drinking smoothies! The point of the commercial (Take back your masculinity by eating Hungry Man), wanted to grab a man's attention why he was making chicken alfredo for his wife when she gets off of work, not to change his characteristics that make him masculine or feminine. Anyway, the goal of this commercial was to sell a meal and grab your attention and it worked. The only question left to answer is, are you going to buy their product?
The commercial certainly is a satire of the way that women and men are portrayed. We all know the exaggeration of women going to the bathroom together, this commercial is not the first time it (women in groups) has been poked fun of on tv. Yet for many in the target audience, they may not see it as satire, but as merely reinforcing the narrow views that they have of the gender roles that we play and adhere to.
Yes it would be nice if advertisers would stay away from stereotypes, and putting men and women into pigeon holes as such, yet, they usually know what attracts their target and their role is to sell their product. If it works, I don't see them changing their strategies anytime soon.
I feel like most advertising promotes what society wants to see. The media has influenced our culture in so many ways. Our stereotypes, gender roles, and behaviors are adjusted to our culture's norm. Making light of certain situations is humorous to us and grabs our attention. Commercials are marketing their company to increase sells and by relating to society is the best way to do it. I do understand that stereotyping is only being reinforced but our society is a competition and everyone wants to the most and best. The Hungry Man commercials, along with many others, adapt in a way to connect with society. Even though mass media is always trying to relate to us they have influenced are roles and behaviors. We are the ones adapting and relating to what they put out there, so their advertising has worked and to stay successful I don't see a turn around anytime soon.
This company is pushing the stereotypes of men. First they are pushing the fact that men cannot have smoothies and that going to the bathroom together is only something that women do. A more subtle item stereotype that they seem to be pushing is that men cannot cook for themselves. That they are only capable of making food that simply requires heating. I know of a lot of guys that can cook great meals from scratch. They also tend to push the idea that men eat a lot and women just eat a little bit.
These types of commercials do tend to mirror our society but at times they do go a little overboard. But isn't that the point of commercials to get our attention and get you to recognize their products. They may not always portray men or women in the greatest light, but they do tend to grab attention.
I think this commerical does not help the stereotype or types for women. However, this commerical is a pretty accurate portrayl. Women do drink smoothies and they most certaintly go the bathroom in groups. It is meant to poke fun, but I don't think it is too negatively portraying women. I have seen far worse commercials and advertisements.
This commercial definitely reinforces both male and female stereotypes. I think to a person not enrolled in Comm380 the commercial is simply trying to make a joke about male and female behaviors. However, our classmates see the masking of a subtle underlying message which is lurking in the jokes. This commercial is warning men that they must consume the right meals so that their masculinity is not questioned. Hungry Man markets meals made up of red meat and mashed potatoes. This is man food. There are no prissy, health-conscious foods included. Real men eat what they want in large portions because men are big, strong figures. Leave the timid behaviors and fruits to the less intimidating population, which in this case would be the females. Lame.
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