About the author: the faithful feminist Read more from this authorI love winter break. It gives me time to spend time with family, speed through some books on my endless “to read” list and flip on the television to see some of the latest and greatest sexist advertisements.
Just now, I saw the first of the three ads promoting Reebok’s new butt-firming EasyTone shoes.
Check out the other ads in the trio here and here.
There are so many things that infuriate me about these commercials, but I’ll list just a few of my frustrations.
1) Apparently “no” doesn’t really mean “no.” Initially, the woman rebukes the cameraman for objectifying her. However, after the camera ignores her rebuke and zooms in on the butt a second time, the woman playfully laughs off the refusal to honor her request.
2) The woman invites objectification. She clearly emphasizes the word “butt” and both times when she stops moving, she stands to intentionally model her firm ass. There’s already enough blame put on women “inviting” harassment or rape based on the clothes they wear. We don’t need companies to suggest this as well.
3) I’m confused – this ad seems to be catering to men…but it is a woman’s product? My dad told me that the ads were playing pretty frequently during football games. Is Reebok hoping that men will buy these shoes for their girlfriends or wives? Or are they hoping that the ads will play on women’s insecurities and desire to improve their “imperfections”?
4) The shoe is pink. EasyTones come in a variety of colors; however, they choose pink for this flirty ad.
In case you want to check out some other offensive ads, take a look-see at these oldies but goodies.
