http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNjO33zQJPg
Through the use of a funny ad this text argues that the viewer should put precedence on watching football above all else on Monday nights. The deeper argument in this ad is that men should abide by the hegemonic idea of masculinity such as watch football and having a manly job (like killing animals). The ad presents an image of a man as a signifier, through our arbitrary conventions the ad is able to use this man signify all our ideas of “manhood” thus having him leave work to watch football, all be it a bit hyperbolic, can still be believable, thus a good sales pitch. This ad is built around an ideological belief that men are a certain way and all share certain interests and characteristics. Although many men do really enjoy sports and watch Monday Night Football every week (my self included) this is built around a social construct enforced by ESPN and other media outlets because this is their thought process and they have the ability to have it expressed. Although the ad uses many hegemonic ideologies to make its point it also defies the idea of the American work ethic. By having the man leave the job unfinished he is not working very hard which goes against a traditional American belief. However by doing this the ad is able to identify with the viewer because many times people would rather “play” than “work”. By choosing what ideas to support and what ones to defy ESPN is able to craft an ad that suggests what it is to be a man in our society and what our priorities should be.
I found this ad to be hilarious! So much display of "manhood" is found in recent commercial. Another point is that the man came to the rescue of a "helpless" woman. It was also interesting to read a comment on youtube complaining about the inferred cruelty to animals.
ReplyDeleteThe ad suggests that to be interesting you must also be non conformist as is conveyed by the phrase "he never says it tastes like chicken even if it is chicken". The ad also portrays that the "interesting man" is a well traveled individual as evident by the many environments he is shown in during the ad. The ad seems to even equate interesting with being well liked/admired. The man in the ad is shown as a person who has "been there done that" and therefore he has experienced it all adding to the validity of his opinion of what good beer actually is.
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