Two men 'kiss' in Super Bowl commercial

[operafan]

Yeah, it was stupid. And I think it basically sends the wrong message, but I'm like others - just how will this sell more candy bars?

 

[Soilwork]

I do have to agree with Sam that the underlying message is that gay people need to be punished for being gay, and the "love boat" one suggests that gay people will have sex with anyone, anywhere at any time.

I think I'm gonna stay away from Snickers myself now.

 

[Christopher123]

I was actually pretty pissed off with this commercial. Let's reinforce that Maculinity and Homosexuality are opposites, it will be funny and sell our product! Except that kissing another man doesn't mean you aren't masculine, it means you kissed another man, you don't have to do something "manly" to make up for it. "I think we just accidentally ate some watermelon" "Quick, do something White!" That would never fly.

I'm sure nothing will come of it, but I'd love to see rage and boycott. Or at least a rebuttal. "I think we just kissed." "Yeah, I kinda liked it." "Oh well" (back to working under the hood.)

Excellent post and good points.

Yeah, okay, so it was a commercial. But it's still going to send the message that it's totally not okay for men to kiss each other.

Oh well, I'm not surprised. I guess they're trying to appeal to the straight/homophobic audience. What other motive would they have?

 

[Christopher123]

Here's a review I read on the Fox news site about the Super Bowl commercials and what one person had to say about "The Kiss."

Dave: Ahh yes, homophobia, the last surviving prejudice that's apparently OK to exploit in American pop culture. Two mechanics start eating the same candy bar, then accidentally kiss, then do manly things to pretend they didn't just kiss. Har, har, what a side-splitter.

 

[metta]

I did not look at it that way. I saw it as making fun of men that homophobic. I have no problem with that. Make them look like idiots. That is fine with me. I did not see it as making fun of gay people.

 

[Christopher123]

I did not look at it that way. I saw it as making fun of men that homophobic.

That's definitely another way to look at it.

 

[metta]

Ok...I did not know...

No more Mars products for me.

ollowing are web sites for brands sold by this company:

Category Brand Web site
Drinks FLAVIA www.myflavia.com
Main meals MASTERFOODSERVICES www.masterfoodservices.com
Main meals UNCLE BEN'S www.unclebens.com
Petcare CESAR www.cesar.com
Petcare PEDIGREE www.pedigree.com
Petcare SHEBA www.sheba.com
Petcare WALTHAM www.waltham.com
Petcare WHISKAS www.whiskas.com
Petcare BUCKEYE www.buckeyenutrition.com
Snackfoods 3 MUSKETEERS www.3musketeers.com
Snackfoods CELEBRATIONS www.celebrations365.com
Snackfoods COMBOS www.combos.com
Snackfoods COOKIES& www.cookiesand.com
Snackfoods DOVE www.dovechocolate.com
Snackfoods ETHEL-M www.ethelm.com
Snackfoods KUDOS www.kudosbar.com
Snackfoods M&M'S www.colorworks.com
Snackfoods M&M'S www.marsbrightideas.com
Snackfoods M&M'S www.mms.com
Snackfoods MILKY WAY www.milkywaybar.com
Snackfoods SKITTLES www.skittles.com
Snackfoods SNICKERS www.snickers.com
Snackfoods STARBURST www.starburst.com
Snackfoods TWIX www.twix.com

I would rather go to better companies anyways....

There are pleanty of organic chocolate companies now. And I like belgium chocloate better anyways.

I did not realize that they sold pet products....that is a strange product mix.

 

[Spensed]

The problem was more the website, which associated violent responses to the man on man kiss and which had Bears and Colt players spouting improbably homophobic reactions to the kiss.

I gather from AMERICAblog, the the website has been closed down and that Mars have pulled or are pullng even the tv ad....and that's a good thing.

 

[Soilwork]

I can see both sides of the arguement.

although the one that ran just came off with the message that "straight guys are so lame," the ones on the site could be seen as endorsing gay bashing. The one where the one guy hits the other with the wrench scares me.

Expecially since it seems to say that attacking someone who just did something gay is funny.

I do see both sides, but I think it was a bad idea.

 

[Spensed]

actually, i thought it was kind of oddly sexy.

if its homophobic, think of it this way, its the first mainstream (candy or otherwise) commercial to show before America during its largest television and sporting event where two (very manly, non-sterotypical gay) men KISS.

its, to me, inspired by the spaghetti scene in "Lady and the Tramp".

And it actually IMHO expresses the latent homosexuality which is the macho event called the Super Bowl.

I am sure there were many closeted jocks and married men who were thrilled to see the commercial.

I liked it (although essentially it was dumb)

and the one who bares his chest? woofy.

I think one or two right wing sites have objected to the tv advert for exactly the reasons you mentioned.

I thought the tv advert was funny because the guys were so backward and their chest hair pulling response was equally backwards and I didn't see it as especially anti-gay.

However, as I say, the problem was on the website, with its alternative violent endings and homophobic comments from the players.

 

[chicagobtm]

The commercials were probably intended to make the general public talk about them and, therefore, Snickers, and we're certainly giving them what they wanted...

 

[mpdan]

This is not the first time the M&M Mars Candy company has produced marketing Bloopers.....

Remember the M&M Red Dye fiasco in the early part of the 1970's?

And don't forget it was then company president Forrest Mars who nixed Mr. Spielberg's request to use M&M's in his movie "E.T.". Steven Spielberg substituted Reese's Pieces, and sales of this competitors product skyrocketed....

Then there was that "Apprentice" episode where a young woman slipped and fell on the production line floor (a big no-no in the manufacturing world of "no lost-time accidents") and then went on to sell her product on the streets of New York by using her sex appeal, hiking her skirt, and telling young business men she would "do anything" if they would buy her new Mars product. So much for the company's republican family values....

The Mars family has long been known for their quirkiness in their treatment of employees and secretiveness of their production procedures and competition. Yet they still manage to make headlines. Our Chicago area Jubbers will probably remember that the Mars Chicago production facility (where fill and enrobed candy like snickers is made) was shut down approximately six months ago due to QA and/or sanitation inspection issues.

But back to the current issue: The Mars Candy company is Headquartered in Hackettstown NJ, a state which has just approved civil unions for same sex couples. Their headquarters for Kal Kan dog food is in Vernon California, bordering LA - also a proactive state in the fight for Gay rights. In a show of good faith it would be prudent for the company to offer partner benefits - medical and financial - to all of their employees.

Too bad I missed the super bowl ads - and the links on this tread have been deleted, I would have liked to see them. However on another note remember the red M&M, along with the now-famous christmas ad ("He is real....") was voted one of the most recognizable icons in advertising.