Sexist Super Bowl Commercials

Sunday night I got ready to cheer on the Saints. There was bean dip, hamburgers, family and friends. Something I didn't share with the rest of my fellow Superbowl audience but weighed heavily on my mind was that I was also getting ready to subject myself (a female) to a barrage of advertising made for the sole purpose of stroking the male ego.  Companies like Dodge, Bridgestone, and Godaddy.com, proved that my hesitations were justified.

According to Quantcast.com, an audience demographics polling site, the Superbowl XLIV audience was made up of 43% women. With this percentage staying strong year-to-year, advertisers would be smart to try and balance out their commercials to appeal to their nearly balanced audience. Instead it seems as if the Superbowl is a chance for these advertisers to take a jab at women for a cheap laugh.

Bridgestone reminded us all that tires should be worth more to men than their wives. Godaddy.com showed us that the only time women should talk to each other is if they're fighting and/or taking off their shirts.  Dodge let us know that men sacrifice so much for women in their average lives that they deserve a 30,000 dollar car for their efforts.

What do they accomplish by resorting to these outdated stereotypes? Do they really end up tugging at the heartstrings of men and persuade them to buy their products? The majority of men I've talked to about the commercials weren't even that impressed. Obviously the cheap, sexist jokes weren't worth the 3 million dollars the advertisers paid, since it seems like Tim the Dorito Samurai and the E*trade babies were the subjects of more early Monday-morning class discussions than "too hot for tv" faux-porn and portrayals of women as nagging thorns in men's sides. I myself won't let these commercials become a thorn in my side,  since I'm too busy getting ready to cheer on athletes of all genders, races and talents in the 2010 Winter Olympics