Heh Heh Heh Culture

Strangely, these two very annoying print advertisements were at the same bus stop.

The first ad was for some kind of liqueur.  The scene was a party with all of the leggy, pouty young women wearing white outfits except for one woman – a famous for being famous person whom I won’t dignity by naming here.  She was melted into a green dress.  “Dress” might be an exaggeration as the outfit left nothing to the imagination.  Most of the other women had bland expressions that bordered on catatonia.   A couple looked at the ad’s protagonist with a “Who does she think she is?” sneer, as if it were a still from the Maury Povich show.   The main, perhaps only, male in the ad wore  a white suit but appraised Ms. Green Dress with lusty approval. 

The beverage being promoted is colored green, thus the color of the woman’s dress.  I believe the caption was something like “Stand Out.”  Anyone’s Cockatoo’s Baptist upbringing  sadly disallows us from being able to comment on the quality of said product.  Still, we must confess that the idea of consuming a mass-produced green liquid does not appeal.

But, cat fights? Dressing full-on bimbo to “catch” a guy and make all of the other women hate you?  In this day and age?   One wonders how they could not have noticed the gender of the last few Secretaries of State.  It’s an ad that could have come from the mind of a right-wing radio aficionado, someone who believes with all of his aggrieved mind that women have a quiver full of tricks to gain power. 

Heh, heh, heh.  You know how them dames are.

The second billboard has only been up for a couple of weeks; it just feels like it’s been longer.  The image is of a quite lovely, solitary tree.  Beautiful branches all thick with leaves.  Harmless, right?  Except for the word “bano” in large letters above it.  “Bano” means bathroom in Spanish.   Lower down, “Es facil ser hombre” – It’s easy to be a guy.  The product being sold here is for a brand down-market beer; our Baptist upbringing is becoming more precious to us by the day. 

“It’s just a joke.  Nobody would actually go against a tree just because of this ad.  No one would take it seriously.” 

Heh, heh, heh.

Maybe if I consumed a few cans of the product I’d find the ad to be a knee-slapper.  Sober, though, and longing for a summer break outside of the city, it my reaction is just disgust.  Yes, there are people starving in the world, and abandoned animals are being put to sleep.  How can I waste outrage on behalf of a tree? 

I can’t move past the implcations of the ad, the assumptions.  Domination.  Assault against nature.  Indifference to the next person along the trail, to the creatures big and little situated nearby.  The mentality of “What I want is what I shall have.”  It aims for Kerouac-ian freedom but just lays in its own puddle, greedy and reeking.

Which is just how the corporations want us to be.