consumerism

Canine femininity on Etsy: the “Sassy Wench Corseted Dog Dress”

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When you’ve had enough of dressing your newborn in leopard-print high-heeled shoes for shits and giggles, what’s next?

Well, why not start on your dog? If it’s a boy dog, of course, you’ve already got your Neuticles Ultra Plus (now with Epididymis!). But if it’s a girl dog, the Etsy Pampered Pooch Boutique has just the thing for those moments when you’re mortified by blundersome passersby asking “Is it a boy dog or a girl dog?” Avoid those gender-neutral faux-pas and announce your pooch’s vulva-possession to the whole world. Just because she’s spayed doesn’t mean she can’t be feminine.

Jim Beam demonstrates just how much men want to hate us

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A note to Jim Beam: If you are so embarrassed about these ads that you don’t want anyone to see them, to the point that you’re chasing fair use political commenters from video hosting site to video hosting site with your DMCA heavies, how about issuing a formal, sincere apology instead? A company that doesn’t want anyone actually seeing their ads. Interesting.

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As tigtog said, people are up in arms about the “The Neighbours” commercial from purveyors of bad bourbon and toxic masculinity, Jim Beam.

Shonks and sensationalists

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Andrew Funnell on today’s Radio National’s Media Report [transcript] examines the reaction to ABC-TV’s Gruen Transfer from the public and from within the industry. GT was a ratings hit, is being attributed as the source of new interest in advertising as a career from bright young things, and is also accused of doing more harm than good to the industry through the panel-members playing up to an existing image of advertisers as quipping show-ponies with a cynical streak.

The range of opinions about the show is interesting, and the controversy obviously plays into why the show has been renewed. To me the criticisms of the show as lightweight ring a very loud bell, as I was disappointed by the lack of substantive discussion regarding the manipulations of advertising – they keep on circling the issue and backing off.

Anyway, one line in the program caught my attention as especially well expressed:

“There’s nothing so sad and ridiculous as a shiny-nosed girl trying to be a charmer”

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So says the advertisement below for skin creams. While the cosmetics industry is still full of nasty beauty myth tropes, at least it’s no longer quite as condescending as this.


Image Credit: Ponds-HowToBecomeSomeMansDreamGirl originally uploaded by Wishbook

This phrase just makes me want to hurl: “wistful dreams of being some big strong man’s little dream girl”. Infantilising much?