Red Light Politics: Old Spice is old and oh so tiring
[snipped]
There’s not much out there in the media that isn’t a corporate marketing ploy. Cartoons for little kids are mainly a way to sell toys. Interviews are given to sell books and movies. Donations are made to convince the public that the company really cares. “Green” is used as a label to make the us feel less bad about our rampant consumerism and the effect it’s having on the environment. So I don’t really understand what’s so contradictory about “self-identified feminists” loving these commercials. The only people who might potentially be hypocritical are those who are vehemently anti-consumerism, and even then, it would only be contradictory if they said, “I hate consumerism. But these Old Spice commercials, damn, they’re clever. I have been convinced to buy Old Spice. Lots and lots of it, even though I don’t need it.” It’s possible to enjoy a good marketing campaign without actually buying into it. It’s like loving Digimon when you’re little, but not buying any of the toys.
My original post was snipped, particularly the point I made about Procter & Gamble running an ad campaign for their laxative selling it as an aid for eating disorders. That’s what makes the endorsement of the Old Spice commercials baffling.
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