My first thought when watching the ad wouldn't have been that it was racist, though it is clearly stereotyping immigrants. I would say that the point of the ad is for the viewer to relate to the family who are having to rent out their room, as they are attempting to sell phone plans. I do agree that there is stereotyping of immigrants, though it is never explicitly stated what immigrants we're talking about. I don't see an attempt to make people want to be like the family shown, and not the immigrants, but that they want you to prevent from becoming them by having this phone plan and saving money.
I would have to argue that most companies probably support making profits over customer satisfaction. This ad is not unlike any other for advertising internet service. It could easily be related to HughesNet ads, which focus that they can provide internet service anywhere. In a place like West Virginia, which is mostly rural, this approach is appealing. Having had this internet service, I could also argue that customer satisfaction is not their top priority despite what their ads might say. Therefore, I would imagine that the claim made in this deconstruction is accurate, because internet service won't be able to reach everyone.
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When I saw this ad, it made me laugh, which I believe is the technique being used here. Afterwards, though, I realized what's being said here: that the father has to label his children to know who is who. This is the stereotype we see often, that dads aren't as good as mothers when it comes to their kids. This is completely inaccurate, as mothers could just as easily have difficulty telling the difference between their children.
Your response to the Alltel ad reminds me of the current controversy between #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter. It also made me think of the Pyramid of Hate, which I use as a follow up for texts which expose stereotypes and racism. Although it might not seem like blatant racism, jokes based on stereotypes is part of the base.
ReplyDeleteYou can view the Pyramid of Hate in my post Promises, Promises, or at https://www.pinterest.com/pin/181058847491754590/
I agree with your stereotype of fathers not knowing their children as well as mothers. My husband is a wonderful father and might take offense at this ad. I recall watching a TV show where a mother put small ink dots on her tripletts' feet to tell them apart. She had a breakdown when she found out her husband had given them a bath while she was out shopping.Now she didn't know who was who. But the husband did and he helped her figure it out.
ReplyDeleteI laughed when I first saw this ad too. Fathers have that stereotype that they don't know their kids by looking at them and they can't tell them apart. My question is, how far does this stereotype go back or why is it even a stereotype? There are mothers that can't tell their kids apart too. Mothers and fathers should be considers equal when they are looking at parenting. We are all human and I know that I would have a hard time telling identical siblings apart too.
ReplyDeleteI chuckled at this add as well. Like you said, it does seem that people label fathers as not as good as mothers. That's a shame because that's not always the case. But that makes me think of maternity leave. It seems ( I could be wrong) to me that only mother's get extended time off work when a child is born. Is this practice also helping that stereotype about 'not as good' dads?? I know it's a little off topic, but when I first saw this add, it's where my mind went.
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