Radiation by Fiona Rae

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Radiation: Desperate Heroes

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  • linger,

    Ah. So it's kinda "Burgers; better fresher. Just like women, really"? Or finding offensive but not particularly inventive ways of using the words "whoppers" or "buns"? Pity. I was hoping it was something a little more subversive (e.g. in the mode of the "watching Sky" ad).

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Run-of-the-mill "hot" girls in bikinis.

    And yet... I can't put my finger on why I find the Burger King ads so tasteless and tacky, but I LOVE the Tui girls.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Bob Munro,

    And yet... I can't put my finger on why I find the Burger King ads so tasteless and tacky, but I LOVE the Tui girls.

    I think the Tui girls are nominally connected to making the beer in a male fantasy way. Bikini clad girls bouncing along on exercise balls have no connection with burgers.

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report Reply

  • Bob Munro,

    Ah. So it's kinda "Burgers; better fresher. Just like women, really"?

    Not even that. There's just these bikini clad models bouncing around on exercise balls - end of story.
    Pretty girls = Burger King.
    Sex = Sales.
    Not a high point in the subtle art of advertising.

    But the hypocrisy is that they have pulled their ads from the programme ‘Californication’ which a minor lobby group has objected too because of it’s sexual content.

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    In the Tui ads, the men are oblivious to the women, and totally focussed on beer - talk about your truth in advertising. Whereas in the BK ads, it's just "TITS!"

    This does bring up something I've been wondering about for a while though, which is: did we just fall into a timewarp back to the 70s? These are the kinds of sexist ads that my mother was hounding advertisers for when I was a boy, and I seem to remember them gradually disappearing under feminist pressure throughout the 80s. It seems as though there's been an absolute blossoming of crude sexist ads in the last couple of years, sometimes wrapped in protective "irony" but these days not even.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Bob Munro,

    Yes I've noticed that too. It's like feminism in the 70's 80's style is out of fashion. What is going on here?
    In Canta, the Canterbury University magazine, a woman professor was berating the magazine for some terrible misogyny it printed but there didn't seem to be much of a reaction from the students at all.

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report Reply

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    I'm too cheap to buy a good car stero and so can listen to Radio NZ, the Cops, or The Edge.

    Listening to The Edge there was this Florist ad that used the term "I Treat 'er Mean & Keep 'er Keen" but make up with flowers and it's alright.

    Didn't pick which out fit it was for if it was a generic florists ad or if it was a bad joke.

    Anyone heard this?

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    It seems as though there's been an absolute blossoming of crude sexist ads in the last couple of years, sometimes wrapped in protective "irony" but these days not even.

    Though it does seem that the sexist ads are for products that are marketed towards young men.

    We're not seeing anything like the vile Hertz ad in the '80s, that turned the car rental counter staff into obedient serving girls in seductive soft focus.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • daleaway,

    I think there's a generation of young women who think that because a few top jobs are currently in female hands, life is going to offer them a smooth and rosy path. They've never known it otherwise.

    Light is not going to dawn for a while.

    Since Jul 2007 • 198 posts Report Reply

  • Bob Munro,

    I'm a boomer generation male so it's hard for me to get a handle on this. But it does seem wider than just television advertising. Maybe it's actually a confidence thing? Young women are confident in the freedoms and opportunities they have these days so a bit of sexism doesn't bother them?

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report Reply

  • Joanna,

    Bikini clad girls bouncing along on exercise balls have no connection with burgers.

    Or even Primo chocolate milk, which is what the bouncing ads are for. The BK girls rode horses in bikinis, and stood around in a laboratory, wearing white coats with their bikinis.

    Young women are confident in the freedoms and opportunities they have these days so a bit of sexism doesn't bother them?

    Ugggh.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 746 posts Report Reply

  • Bob Munro,

    Bikini clad girls bouncing along on exercise balls have no connection with burgers.

    Or even Primo chocolate milk, which is what the bouncing ads are for. The BK girls rode horses in bikinis, and stood around in a laboratory, wearing white coats with their bikinis.

    Young women are confident in the freedoms and opportunities they have these days so a bit of sexism doesn't bother them?

    Ugggh.

    Your'e quite right Joanna. I'll shut up here.

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Young women are confident in the freedoms and opportunities they have these days so a bit of sexism doesn't bother them?

    Well, I don't see an ad as sexist solely on the basis of what the women are wearing. The last one that really got up my nose was an Aussie Nutra-grain one where the Mum needed her son to get the suitcase down for her because she was too little and weak to do it herself and too stupid to stand on a chair. She was fully dressed the entire time.

    Seeing women portrayed as stupid and weak and needing men to help them bugs me way, WAY more than seeing a woman portrayed working in a brewery, or running a brewery, in a short skirt. The closest I can get to an answer to that problem I mentioned before is that the BK girls look thick and useless, and the Tui girls look strong and confident. And the Tui ads aren't 'wrapped' in irony, you could mining for irony in them.

    And if you're worried about exploitation shouldn't you also be worried about five-storey high billboards of men in their underwear?

    I think there's a generation of young women who think that because a few top jobs are currently in female hands, life is going to offer them a smooth and rosy path. They've never known it otherwise.

    Light is not going to dawn for a while.

    Um, right. What stupid young women. Too dumb to realise what life is really like, and did we not already have this discussion?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    What stupid young women

    Stupid young men too. Today's young people don't really care about much more than going out, getting trashed, getting laid, and having enough minutes left on their cellphone to stay in touch with allllll their friends.

    Life is a party and you should just chill y'know? I mean global warming is bad okay, but sexism? That's bad too y'know but its not really a problem. If some guy makes a dumbass remark I just tell him he's a fucken loser, y'know?

    Okay I'll stop talking like that cos I'm not really a young person ... my point is that the majority of young people today don't really give a shit about anything because they've never had to. They are a generation living with low unemployment and easy credit. So they can't afford a house, so what? They're 23 and earning 30-40+k a year. That's enough to go out with their mates 3 times a week and have a good time. An excellent time.

    So girls in bikini's on horseback eating burgers don't mean nothing ... it's just a girl in a bikini on a horse. Eating a burger.

    Need I remind you all about Boobs On Bikes?? Plenty of women watching (but still the minority) and they thought it was fine. A bit of a laugh.

    FWIW I wish more young people cared more about issues that will affect them in the longterm. But they're young, dumb, and full of... fun. They don't get it yet. And for some, that light bulb moment will never come. Hopefully my daughter will be enlightened, and to be honest I'm not too worried. When my 5y.o. daughter grows up she'll be running shit. Just like her mum.

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • linger,

    Today's young people don't really care about much more than going out, getting trashed, getting laid

    ... which, of course, pretty much sums up young people of any generation, in a society sufficiently free that such behaviour is possible without serious repercussions. Sure, they'll take this freedom for granted if it's already available. But I don't think I'd want to live in a less free society just so that some of "today's youth" are forced to get serious about social issues earlier, eh.

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    which, of course, pretty much sums up young people of any generation

    Heh heh. Yes, I knew I was going to get that (cos it's true!) even as I wrote it. But I think what I wrote is true too, and your response has raised an interesting point. Are we now living in a world where we are 'doped up' to keep happy? We get just enough of 'the good shit' to be content and not cause problems?

    We might be living in a free society but half of the world isn't and life for them is still a struggle. But we don't care because we've got our mobile phones, our Plasma TV's, and ... girls on horseback eating burgers.

    Meanwhile the MegaRich (I was going to call them capitalists, but I consider myself one so the word can't describe us both, and what they do is waaayyy beyond capitalism) are buying up the planet.

    Check out this story:
    The merged company would be one of the five largest in the world by market value
    If you think 'so what?' then I've made my point. (Or not)

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Emma:

    And if you're worried about exploitation shouldn't you also be worried about five-storey high billboards of men in their underwear?

    Aww... shut up woman! It's the barest sliver of recompense for six thousand years of patriarchal heterosexism! Well that's my excuse for drooling over the ripped but retarded men in ads for Jockey shorts, Tim-Tams and Diet Coke? And I'm sticking to it.

    If you really want to bring a feminist analysis to the table, I wonder what kind of 'assertion' or 'strength' is on display when its in a frame where every man is a fricking moron?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    my point is that the majority of young people today don't really give a shit about anything because they've never had to.

    Well, except the young people in any generation who are among the most fervent activists for whatever their chosen cause is. The ones with idealism. I'm already seeing that still firmly in place among the twelve year olds in my son's peer group.

    Aww... shut up woman! It's the barest sliver of recompense for six thousand years of patriarchal heterosexism!

    On that basis, is it okay if I continue to objectify the Tui girls?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    On that basis, is it okay if I continue to objectify the Tui girls?

    Feel free - is it just me, or are those ads getting more and more surreal?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Andrew,

    Family First said Cadbury, Ferrit, Burger King, CRC and Finish had asked that their ads not be shown during the programme...

    And now the circle completes:
    Burger King are selling Golden Compass toys in their kids packs.

    Hamiltron - City of the F… • Since Nov 2006 • 900 posts Report Reply

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