Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, February 20, 2013
LGBTQITSLFA The Haters Are Gonna Hate The New Kindle Paperwhite Ad
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 7:53 PM
Looks like we're gonna have another boycott on our hands. I bet Amazon is scared—just look at the damage NOM's boycott has done to Starbucks. Just look. (Via my husband.)
50
@5 - It IS getting high impact air time... I saw it a couple of days ago on primetime, in Indiana. Yippie!
49
"This video has been removed as a violation of Youtube's policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content."
What?
What?
48
Awesome ad. I love how it's clever in a way that isn't self-conscious about its gay-friendly stance. It's refreshing to see a commercial -- ANY commercial -- challenging the advertising cliche of the slack-jawed idiot trying to hit on the hot chick.
46
@34 How great is that book?! Just re-read it for the second time after sending my sister in law one for her birthday. I liked it better than Blankets.
44
This is one of those strange, "why does it work so goddamn well?" ads that I'm still trying to negotiate. At first glance, the "game" of the ad is that "Surprise! It's one of the gays!" which seems to make the queer identity a bit of a punchline. And I'm sure there are some radical sorts who would take there whole thing as deeply heternormative and White (it affirms the bourgeois construction of marriage AND consumer capitalism simultaneously). And, as many commentators have noted, both the protagonists are total dorks for reading st the beach (I say that as a proud and unrepentant beach reader). Still, there's such a casual affection at the bottom of this ad, such a verisimilitude to the interaction. We've all been there where chemistry outside of our relationships needs cooling, and it's a warm surprise whenever an ambiguous encounter ends with both parties on the same page. I'd it had ended with both characters being straight, there'd be no bite. What I feel makes the ad work is the social context around it. We in Seattle, for a moment, can bask in the success of the marriage equality and LGBT rights campaign. It smacks a little of smugness, of being a part of the in-crowd. But then, when the stakes are so high, when the cause is so just, I think we can all say, once in a while, "Well then, I'll just go to Hell."
A thought: If they made this ad fifty years ago, the man would be married to a black woman instead of a white man.
A thought: If they made this ad fifty years ago, the man would be married to a black woman instead of a white man.
43
@35 agreed.
Also: I love this ad. If the man was straight, some people would criticize the ad because they'd see him as a creepy philanderer. By him being gay, they get the M/F interaction that advertisers like for a product that has non-gender-specific use, and avoid the creep vibe.
So not a win for gay acceptance as much as a win for the advertisers who developed this ad. But still, it's nice to see a same-sex marriage treated in such an easy manner.
Also: I love this ad. If the man was straight, some people would criticize the ad because they'd see him as a creepy philanderer. By him being gay, they get the M/F interaction that advertisers like for a product that has non-gender-specific use, and avoid the creep vibe.
So not a win for gay acceptance as much as a win for the advertisers who developed this ad. But still, it's nice to see a same-sex marriage treated in such an easy manner.
42
@13 they also sell floggers!!
Though I'm a little disturbed by how they knew to recommend them to me... seems Amazon knows more about me than my husband.
Though I'm a little disturbed by how they knew to recommend them to me... seems Amazon knows more about me than my husband.
41
@18, the beaches of the Maya Riviera are full of attractive Italians of both sexes. Very tiresome to listen to their techno music but very easy on the eyes. The further south you go the greater the likelihood that they will be completely naked. The POWM never get out of Cancun.
The best gay beach candy is at Puerto Vallarta, at the southern end of the Playa Los Muertos, especially in the area called "Blue Chairs" after the resort of that name.
The best gay beach candy is at Puerto Vallarta, at the southern end of the Playa Los Muertos, especially in the area called "Blue Chairs" after the resort of that name.
40
Brian, Big Gay is Gleefully the New Normal Modern Family. Has been for years. Of course NOMBIES could get together and buy their own island somewhere so you wouldn't have to look at "that".
39
"Amazon thinks that lesbians exist as a male fantasy"
Well good-looking lesbians do, but they're rarer than hen's teeth.
Well good-looking lesbians do, but they're rarer than hen's teeth.
38
@26 - Sunglasses won't remove the visual obstruction of glare off the very reflective screen on the iPad. My Paperwhite still has a slightly reflective surface, so it's not perfect in direct light, but it's much clearer.
@25 - Strapped into a Verso Prologue leather cover, my Kindle actually feels very booklike. Not exactly the same as a paperback, but close enough to make me a convert.
@25 - Strapped into a Verso Prologue leather cover, my Kindle actually feels very booklike. Not exactly the same as a paperback, but close enough to make me a convert.
35
@32 No, they couldn't do that with lesbians because if the scene went, "My wife is getting me a drink"/"So is mine," it would look like the man was going to have a hot old time with his wife and two lesbians, which would make it look like Amazon thinks that lesbians exist as a male fantasy. Using gay men instead was less problematic.
34
Huh, I've never wanted one, but now I feel compelled to support them. But I like carrying around my 1,000 pound copy of "Habibi".
32
They couldn't do the ad with lesbians because no one would want to see a fat lesbian in a bikini.
31
Putting the e-reader in a ziplock bag! What an idea. Wow, that blows my mind with how simple, cheap, and perfect it is.
Thanks!
Thanks!
30
@23: actually it is possible to buy an ipad on an e-paper kindle. There is a slow basic browser on the thing. Might take 5 minutes instead of 39 seconds but that seems a quibble.
28
@2 Best of all worlds: put the kindle in a ziplock bag and read in the surf.
It was this trick that finally sold me on e-readers. Finally, I can read safely in the surf, pool, the bath, even the shower. No more warped and soggy pages!
It was this trick that finally sold me on e-readers. Finally, I can read safely in the surf, pool, the bath, even the shower. No more warped and soggy pages!
27
@26 I live on a tropical island and own both a Kindle and an iPad. The first time I took my iPad to the beach was also the last...sunglasses actually make it worse!
26
@23 got me thinking. I was thinking that an iPad plus sunglasses seems to work just fine for most sunny situations. The gay actor's blinking and squinting routine was dumb.
25
Sweet ad. I'd still rather hold an actual, old fashioned book, but I'm an old fart that way. *Flips cassette tape over*
24
Cool, you guys! A (gay is normal and matter-of-fact) gay-friendly commercial on network television, at about 9:30 at night, on Fox no less. And it was adorbs. Is this not progress?
22
Wow, the cute boy who seems to be hitting me DOES always turn out to be gay. You UNDERSTAND me, Amazon!
(Oh right, targeted advertising).
(Oh right, targeted advertising).
18
Very sweet and low key. If there really were a tropical beach resort where the guests tended to be chipper and good looking I might go.The one I went to was People of Wal-Mart all over that beach.
17
If you like that ad, you are gonna love "Bunk" hosted by Kurt Braunohler (on Netflix as well)
http://www.ifc.com/shows/bunk/episodes/s…
Happy 21st century
http://www.ifc.com/shows/bunk/episodes/s…
Happy 21st century
16
@2, you don't READ at the beach; you prop the book in front of you and nap.
Though I did spend a very enjoyable few days in Mexico once with a copy of Kenneth Tynan's incredibly kinky diaries. 800 pages of nonstop flogging; made "50 Shades" look like Dr. Seuss. When I ran into the surf in between bouts, I played with especial vigor!
Though I did spend a very enjoyable few days in Mexico once with a copy of Kenneth Tynan's incredibly kinky diaries. 800 pages of nonstop flogging; made "50 Shades" look like Dr. Seuss. When I ran into the surf in between bouts, I played with especial vigor!
14
The end of this commercial is cute, but Amazon convinced me not to buy a kindle with those insulting "People who read books are technophobic reactionaries who hate innovation; also, women are stupid bitches" commercials. Way to target your customer base, Amazon (and make unoriginal ripoffs the Mac/PC commercials too).
11
Also this was completely ADORABLE in that the straight husband was talking with the gay husband as if it were completely normal. And the earth did NOT implode. Yay!
10
If NOM wanted to launch a boycott against Amazon, shouldn't it have already happened, considering that Amazon sells things like ... vibrators to women who aren't doing their duty and getting straight-married but daring to have orgasms on their own. ::rolls eyes::
9
I wonder how many Pennsylvania Amazon sweatshop workers it takes to ship a paperwhite and what their quota is.
8
I like reading. Reading with the surf in the background on a beautiful, sunny beach, under a straw umbrella, with a cold tropical beverage? Yeah, I spent a week in Vietnam doing much the same about a year ago. I really don't care what you think about it, *I'm* having the time of my life.
6
And now I have to buy one because that was so f***ing adorable my teeth just fell out.
Good thing I just got my tax refund.
Good thing I just got my tax refund.
5
I hope the ad gets primetime, high impact air time. When everyone starts seeing gays and lesbians as plain old normal shmoes like themselves, that's when the war is over.
@2,
It's nice to do a little of both. Play, then relax, then play some more.
@2,
It's nice to do a little of both. Play, then relax, then play some more.
4
I like it.
@2 Because reading in the beautiful sun with waves in the background sounds very relaxing to me. If I spend money to go on a tropical vacation I'm going to do whatever the Hell I want at all times, include get some reading in. If I'm going to read, I'm going to do it on the beach and not in my hotel.
@2 Because reading in the beautiful sun with waves in the background sounds very relaxing to me. If I spend money to go on a tropical vacation I'm going to do whatever the Hell I want at all times, include get some reading in. If I'm going to read, I'm going to do it on the beach and not in my hotel.
3
Good ad! Bad name for a gizmo, though. Sounds too much like "paperweight", which is what it will become when the next new product comes along. Better not to remind consumers of that!
2
I will never understand the mindset of those that visit a beautiful tropical beach and choose to spend that time reading rather than playing in the surf.
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