I'm sure you're familiar with Oscar Meyer's It's Yes Food commercial campaign. If not, take a look at the following thirty-second spots:
“Were you just…?”
This ad campaign is good for a laugh, but only at the expense of Modern Men. Displaying today’s men as inept and powerless is an advertising trend that’s becoming more and more prevalent — at least when it comes to middle-aged men (also consider sitcom characters like Modern Family’s Phil Dunphy).
These characters are portrayed as being on the same level of their young sons — as evidenced by this follow-up ad:
In each of these spots the husband is portrayed as a juvenile idiot whose only excitement in life comes from a package of lunch meat — or a hot dog for dinner. His bemused and emotionless wife — obviously burdened with mothering her immature husband — definitely has no interest in having sex with him. He gets lucky once in the family mini-van, but unfortunately that moment comes with an “Ewwww” and is accompanied by embarrassed denial by his wife.
Even when this modern man tries to teach his son “manly” lessons — like building a tree house or how to use a chain saw — the answer is still the same: NO!
This simpleton's wife has trained her daughter to follow her dominant lead. The teen has no problem aligning with her mother in vetoing her father’s vacation idea (he even has to raise his son's arm for him) and she assumes her mother's role when she brow-beats her father about whether or not "Mom said we could eat all that."
Ironically, the daughter is attracted to her father’s polar opposite. Although her father is obviously not happy with her choice of a bad-boy, her mother turns out to be the one laying down the law when the daughter tries to sneak out.
These commercials will continue to be a sad commentary on the state of modern manhood, but only until men stop handing over the reins of responsibility in their relationships.
For an example of how men ought to be portrayed, watch this commercial instead.
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