Nokia strikes out: a close look at a Wired ad
I've been knee deep in magazines lately. Ever since the production of Andy's birthday gift, I've been hording anything with glossy images: junk mail fliers, catalogs and magazines. I am enthralled with them. They are my newest creative medium. I flip through them with a pair of scissors, but inevitably I linger over much more than imagery to clip out for a collaging project. Like this ad from Wired...
I admit, I initially saw this through a feminist lens and felt it depicted women negatively. We pretty much only see her smile, her boobs (complete with cleavage), and her outstretched arm, leaning in, begging her date's attention. He, however, thinks the baseball game is more exciting than his human companion. He also thinks he's sneaky enough to pull this one over on her. And of course, the woman will not be interested in the boys club of professional sports.
These were the thoughts going through my mind when I pointed it out to Andy. After all, this ad targets him: he subscribes to Wired, he makes enough money to buy such a gadget, hell, he even played baseball in high school. Andy agreed the ad is sexist, but he saw it in a completely different way than I had. He felt insulted by the implications Nokia was making about his demographic. Actually, he said, "I'm pissed that they are saying guys are tools." Interested in our initial points of view, I cut it out and passed it around one night when Liz and Andrew were over and we all talked about it.
Andrew agreed with Andy. He doesn't identify with the guy in this shot. The Andrews, and now I, feel this ad makes men look like sports-addicted creeps. This man is forgoing communication in favor of dishonesty. And in the bigger sense, it's suggesting that it's normal that a man's interests will differ so much from his date's that their conversation at a restaurant is less interesting to him than the game. God forbid she enjoy watching the game with him; Nokia does not want to confuse gender differentiation by leveling any playing fields.
It could be more insulting, I suppose; he could be looking at porn.
4 comments:
I saw that ad for the first time this past week.
My first reaction was, "What a dick."
After that I read the tag-line of a "A connection can happen anywhere." This struck me as odd because it seems as the most important connection in the shot is being ignored.
This ad succeeds in one way only: it's getting people talking about it.
This ad is clearly catering to closeted homosexuals. You didn't notice at all that the baseball player on the Nokia is bent over as the man lustily stares at the warm machine held conspicuously close to his genitals. This is code for 'You can watch gay porn while you publicly parade your trophy wife at a restaurant'. Also, check out the eyelashes on that guy, slathered in Mascara. The only utensil shown at the table? The spoon, also a great way for gay men to have sex.
I can't believe that there are ads out there that are championing having technology at your fingertips over tangible real-world interaction.
Mary, I agree with you--this ad IS sexist in its portrayal of women as sex objects who have no interest in sports (or anything else for that matter). I also agree that it makes guys out to be slimeballs who don't give a crap about women when they can watch a game instead.
I can't believe that the marketing exec at Nokia would give this the green light.
How cool that you brought this ad up for discussion with your husband and friends. It's fascinating to gain different perspectives on hot issues such as stereotypes.
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