As we begin Pride Month...
Hey Smartwater™: your recent “stunt double” ad is seriously f*cked -up.
Dramatis Personae:
Actor, sitting next to
Stunt Double: Clothes and hair like actor's, but actor is plain and short; stunt double is tall and handsome.
Doctor
Set:
Medical Clinic, Waiting Room
Actor: I'm smart. I let my stunt double do the dangerous stuff.
(Actor and stunt double take simultaneous swigs of Smartwater.)
Doctor: (Approaches from behind.) Mr. ___?
(Doctor flourishes clamp of the type used to castrate male animals. Close-up of clamp.)
(Stunt double looks dubious, but gets up and follows doctor.)
Actor: (Calls out to doctor, not looking) Do we get a lollipop after?
Well, ha-dee ha ha.
I'll leave aside the numerous examples of stereotyping going on in this ad.
(The castrating doctor is a woman. She's also Asian. The good-looking guy is dumb....I could go on.)
Surely we can all agree that sexual violence against women is intolerable, not to mention unsuitable for an ad meant to sell a product. How, then, is sexual violence against men any different?
On top of which, we're supposed to find sexual violence against a man's body funny? He's cute and dumb; therefore, he deserves it?
As we all know, men never experience sexual violence. Therefore, it's OK to laugh about, right?
The sheer absurdity of the scenario is no excuse. Sexual violence against anyone is simply not acceptable, ever.
It's not something to use to market a product. It's certainly not something to laugh at.
Consider the crassness at the heart of this ad. What does that tell you about the brand?
Shame, Smartwater.
Shame.