Comments on Aravosis vs. Snickers

I still think the commercials were a slam on homophobes, but hey, whatever twists your nipples.

i think the bigger issue john had was with the ad's website and the reactions of football players in regards to the kiss that the website provided. that was blatantly homophobic, and if that is the extra material you get for loving the ad, then it's fair to assume the whole thing was primarily aimed at homophobes.

When I first saw the ad, part of me was amused, and part of me was mildly offended. It was homophobic, but in a way that seemed to poke fun at the homophobes. I was willing to shrug it off.

But what was REALLY offensive was what was going on at the Snickers website (don't bother looking; it's all been taken down). They showed alternate endings. Rather than ripping out their chest hair to prove their heterosexuality (?), ending #2 shows a third older effeminate mechanic showing up, trying to make it a threesome; ending #3 shows the guys drinking oil and antifreeze (better to die by poison than be thought of as gay); and ending #4 shows one guy beating the other with a huge wrench, while the second slams the hood of a car down on his head. Vote for your favorite, which they will air at the Daytona 500.

Okay, ripping out the chest hair, kind of amusing. Sissy effeminate stereotypes, poison, and assault? Not so funny. Now they've crossed way over the line.

But it gets worse. They also show clips of 5 NFL players (from both the Superbowl teams) having various negative reactions to the ad (ranging from cringing faces to overtly homophobic remarks). WTF? These are major sports figures, held up as examples to children. The NFL is now teaching children that it is a-okay for football players to trash gays.

Now they've gone way, way over the line. This is seriously fucked up. Who the hell green-lighted this project? What the fuck is with the NFL lending their name (and players) to this atrocity?

Mars (owner of Snickers) has now pulled the website and promised not to air the ad anymore (any version). But still, this is fucked up. No apology. Not a peep from the NFL. Pulling the ads was a start. But both Mars and the NFL owe some serious apologies to the gay community. Otherwise, this is not going away.

i agree, SDA. i didn't have a problem with the one they showed. the website stuff was terrible though.

Someday, Dan, you're going to have to learn the fine art of the PERMALINK.

I guess I don't have good enough homophobe-dar. I thought they were making fun of homophobes, and when they say "do something manly" they immediately launch into stupid, Johnny Knoxville-style antics. Not exactly complimentary about what "manly" is.

I agree with Will, already that post is farther down on the website and soon it will be off the screen, making this post useless as an archive.

Mark up another win for the gay mafia. I didn't find the commercial offensive (although, I was worried where they were going when the second guy started eating the other end). However, the ads that weren't shown and the players reaction on the website seemed to be in very poor form. I didn't actually watch them, as I don't care to see some football players acting homophobic, but I believe I got an accurate picture from the descriptions.

Snickers, if I actually ate any of your products, I would've stopped.

the homophobe cringes when the men "kiss".

everyone else laughs at the sexist display of what it means to be "manly".

i'm a bit torn on this one.

the homophobe cringes when the men "kiss".

everyone else laughs at the sexist display of what it means to be "manly".

(the NFL players made clear which group they fell into.)

the joke is making fun of different stereotypes, and each one could be offensive of humorous depending on many factors. intent, the social environment, and the mood of the viewer could all come into play (as well as many other factors).

if the ad creators were gay, one might let the whole thing go. it would seem the intent was to make fun of homophobes (and making fun of men -- since they are not a minority group that is presently discriminated against -- is okay).

but making fun of men isn't socially connected with other evils. homosexuals are still assaulted and discriminated against, which could make the joke contextually insensitive at best, or perhaps harmful at worst.

if a gay man and a gay woman re-enacted this commercial, each doing something stereotypically homosexual afterwards, it might still be funny. it might be funny to someone one could see the humor in accidentally kissing someone you are not attracted to.

then again, it is very likely whatever was deemed as homosexual behavior would be the offensive part.

so i think i agree with julie. but i also happen to be trying to cut down my sugar intake anways...

If anyone wants, you can complain to Snickers here:
http://www.snickers.com/contact.asp

I let them know that because of the add (particularly the wrench bit) that I will no longer purchase Mars products, which they link to on the site.

A distraction from more important things this was... but, in chronological order:

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/02/snickers-superbowl-web-site-promotes.html
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/02/mars-family-owner-of-anti-gay-snickers.html

slog won't allow more than two url's in a comment, so just paste these into the url where they belong:

/2007/02/largest-gay-rights-group-slams-mars.html
/2007/02/snickers-pulls-anti-gay-superbowl-ad.html
/2007/02/i-just-got-call-from-snickers-parent.html
/2007/02/snickers-statement-on-their-homophobic.html

Not to put too fine a point on it - I think these ads are only worth a Snicker or two. I think this ad more than anything else ridicules homophobic rednecks, and I'm pretty sure homophobic rednecks don't have any sort of anti-redneck-defamation league defending their congenital inbreeding and diminished educational opportunities.

Who, after all, eats a candy bar from one end, sucking it in without biting a piece off? What if - say - the two mechanics were two priests (or two nuns) with predictable results (write your own script)? Would we care? SNL does shit like this all of the time - just to a vastly diminished audience. We got uglier fish to fry. This ain't one of 'em.

ps: if you're going to switch candies go for the pronoun-challenged, gender-ambivalent Her/She bar.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17012175/

Don't we have more important things to bitch about that a stupid commercial?

I think we are all getting a little to sensitive these days...

waaah pull the ad quick someone was offended... grow up. I cant believe people would make this "big news" when theres so much more important things going on in the world right now... People are dying left and right and all you p.c. f**ks care about is some guy kissed another guy then acted homophobic about it. ON A TV AD FFS! If it was the other way around and they kissed then celebrated there would still be outrage about it.. And the gays would be defending Mars. I think they had a lot of guts to show such a controversial ad that they KNEW people would talk about and took the risk and aired it anyway. pull the "stick" out of your ass and learn to laugh a little America. what the hell is happening to my country...its becoming pussified. cant offend anyone or else.. its ok if youre black and say nigger or hispanic and say wetback but if youre not a member of the group youre making fun of you better watch out or you get shut down and have to appologize to the entire nation.. but why?... get over it.. the ad couldve been A LOT worse. So let me get this correct.. you can stand having a penis in your anus yet the ad was a bit to painful?