Don't get me wrong, I love the CBC, particularly Newsworld, but God do they have some of the most atrocious advertising!
Apart from those terrible Grey Power ads and that creepy-funny tax man commercial, there is this nauseating woman, name of Kim Woodburn, advertising the Home Made Simple Squad. You can see this sickening ad here by clicking on "see the squad on TV".
Look at the ad, and tell me, especially if you are a woman, if you are not completely offended by it. I can't believe this load of cow tripe is allowed on the air (oh, but this is the CBC, right? They apparently need all the money they can get).
It's patronizing. It reinforces, first of all, that the woman is in charge of keeping the house nice and clean-smelling. Oh, that pesky living room! Such a high-traffic area! With the matronly Madame Woodburn looking on approvingly (clucking with a British accent), the women share and validate each other's frustrations with keeping the house clean.
But lo! Procter and Gamble has invented some fluff-friendly cleaning products for you to make homemaking all the more pleasant! Swiffers! Febreeze! Mr. Clean!
Where's the husband in all this? Oh, he's at work. I'll be shining his shoes and serving his dinner on our best Mikasa when he gets home, after I wipe his ass that is. No need to bother him with trifling things like dust! That's MY job!
Which leads me to the most insulting thing about this commercial: it's a poorly disguised plug for P&G and it uses women to pimp products that, though touted to make life easier for the overburdened housewives we all are, are really things we've used all along (dish detergent, laundry detergent, paper towels). Except now we can't use old rags or a mop and a bucket to clean our floors; instead, Swiffers are God's gift to that "problem." And heaven forbid that your Pomeranian and your baby make your sofa stinky - but don't worry, just spray it with a chemical instead! Hide those odors, don't clean up the cause!
P&G, I was not born yesterday. I am used to large companies trying to create these grass roots-like scenarios to deflect attention away from corporations and make it seem like a disinterested third party is altruistically endorsing a great product. But it's disingenuous, dishonest, and it insults our intelligence. This isn't the 1950s, where the most expected of a woman is that she be brilliant homemaker. While the ad and the web site try to characterize the squad as busy women who need shortcuts to maintain that perfect house, it treats them no better that society did back when their grandmothers were moms trying to get another damn stain out of the the carpet and a meal on the table in time for the breadwinner's arrival home after a tiring day at a "real" job.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Let Me Show You Where to Shove Your Swiffer, Mr. Clean
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13 backtalkers:
Thank you so much WC! I have so been wanting to write this exact same blog post but just haven't had the time. Like you I watch a lot of Newsworld and I often just can't get over how bad some of the ads are. And the home made stupid squad is so wretched. I could see the concept working way better than this execution, which comes off as so totally offensive. And you're absolutely right, that it should have been mixed gender as many men do the cleaning. Though with that said I've been taking my cues from those ads that anything they advertise is something I really ought not to use. :)
Excellent post! I just love how they describe the women on the website..."home entertainer"...? I too love the CBC/Newsworld but would probably watch more if I didn't have to put up with all the crap which interrupts their programming.
And why didn't they try to promote some of their companies "green" products? Oh...wait...right...
I get careless with my grammar too at times - but then I'm not writing ads! I always get the biggest chuckle out of ad bloopers - I love those lists of grammar mistakes that completely change the meaning of what was intended.
PS - I agree with squirting cover up chemicals over smell or soil - that's' adding injury to insult.
Wonder how come those ads don't show men? Well, for one reason the one that lives here would absolutely not be caught dead scrubbing a floor - on hands or knees or with Swifter. Or taking his shoes off when coming inside so I would not have to do it!
How many of those guys are out there? Are they ad writers? Surely no woman in her right mind would create some of these ads.
Home entertainer? Oh dear it's 7:48, where's my G-string and pasties - the first crowd will be arriving. I will hump the Swifter as I do not have a pole installed yet. Let's see - is my floor clean - the chairs arranged properly for the lap dance?
All this and day 3 of my negativity fast - oooooops.
Well said WC. I have tried one of those swiffers and you have to change pads half way through the kitchen or else it doesnt work right. I got rid of it and went back to my mop and bucket very soon afterwards.
I clickedon the link to see the housecleaning chicks and they turned my stomach even before I watched part of that hideous video with that British cow. Ick. A pox on all of them.
Wow, thanks for your feedback, everyone!
I just need to set the record straight: I do use a Swiffer knock-off (they're cheaper) as we have hardwood floors throughout the house, as well as a couple other P&G products, which I will be phasing out now (boycotting ConAgra foods already; P&G is next).
I too,agree WC and for other reasons as well. Beyond the fact that the products are toxic- Mr Clean eraser contains formaldehyde-and entirely unnecessary, it's shot with all non-union talent, aka, "real people" so it looks like hell- and I can't get pastthe factthat everyone is trying so hard to be "natural" and spontaneous when it's obviously (poorly) scripted and teribly delivered, not to mention shot on video with crap lighting and framing. As if I'm supposed to relate to these women who obviously have all had their hair straightened and makeup done by some poor makeup artist with no imagination so they all look eerily similar....I digress.That, coupled with the bizarre campaign, which yes, is a total 1950's throwback- just makes my teeth grind and skin crawl. Perhaps if they had done it with tongues in cheek, a la Pleasantville in period costume and old black and white it might be absurdly more palatable but then again, that would go against the point, now wouldn't it?
Thanks for the post.
I was thinking Pleasantville, too, Red Jane.
I, too, use a Swiffer. Have to say I love it. Keeps the floors clean in a hurry when I don't feel like mopping the old way. PLUS my kids and husband will use them but balk at grabbing the mop. We can clean all our floors with one pad, but we have a small house.
I know I know, it's a throwaway product and I'm lazy. I'll work on it.
You made me laugh with this, WC, especially the wiping his ass comment. That's what made me think of Pleasantville.
This post - and that show made me appreciate all over again how much better I have it than my mom and her generation did/do. My kids and husband join me in keeping the house clean and the yard maintained. We all use them - we can all take care of them.
Good post, WC.
ugh, i've seen these commercials too, i've grown accusmed to either changing the channel or tuning them out all together when they are on.
very frustrating that this still exists today, we've come such a long way and yet when you see things like this it feels like we haven't accomplished anything..
wonderful insightful post WC, and from the feed back looks like you've stuck a nerve, perhaps someone (you never know) will take notice out there and place a man in one of these ads
i will also ad that i too purchased a swifer (due to the hype) and haven't used it sense, doesn't cut the cleaning job for my home as i have 2 large dogs and i hated having to tear off a 'cleaning pad" every 5 minutes, such a waste of the envrionment if you ask me, i'll stick to my mop & bucket
Totally and passionately on side with you, WC!!!
I hate the 'high toned' Brit accents used to hawk products, and really really detest the idea that cleaning is a woman's job (it's bad enough that both my brothers think this way).
But then, CBC's 'mindset' may be showing...it's government funded after all, and THAT crowd proves over and over again that it's roaring into the 18th century full speed....
When you do see a man in a cleaning commercial it's to point out how easy it is to use the product as in "it's so easy even a man can use it." Afterall we are all supposed to remember that cleaning house is a woman's domain. The other examples I've seen is where the man is seen as perfectly hopeless and in the way or there was the one ad where he was yelling like a coach in a locker room at the poor performing team (i.e. mop and bucket).
Great post. I always feel this way whenever I see these ads that seem to be more prevalent than ever.
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