Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Mother's Day Gifts WTF?

I understand that certain societal tropes still hold. I understand that sometimes sexism still exists. I understand that most stores only run an ad if they have data to indicate that the ad will work. But still. WTF?

We haven't gotten past this? We're still selling vacuum cleaners to moms? Don't mothers want something, I dunno', fun on what is ostensibly their day? What would the male equivalent of this even be?

Here, dad! We bought you a premium Monster.com membership so you can earn more money! Because that's all you do!


I ripped this bad boy from Amazon's website, and again, I understand that if there is a company out there that backs their ads with good data, it's Amazon. As such, I'm sure that there are in fact a significant number of mothers out there that would like a new vacuum cleaner. Hell. I'd like a new vacuum cleaner (Dyson, please).

But that doesn't eliminate the inherent ridiculousness and sexism in this ad. I can almost guarantee that most mothers would rather have new clothes, a new television, computer, iPhone, shoes, or perhaps the Nikon listed above the vacuum cleaners. But no. The images for Amazons Mother's day section is nothing but cleaning supplies. Because that's all women do.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree that there is still a lot of sexism surrounding mothers day (fathers day has its problems too.) I think a robotic vacuum could actually be a great gift, especially since it does all the work and helps lighten the load on mom. Giving her one that she has to push is almost like saying “get to work.” This year I am playing it safe and getting something Mom said she wanted. Recently she told me that she would like to watch her Food Network shows in the kitchen so she can work along with the TV chefs but there isn’t any room for a TV in the kitchen. A coworker at Dish suggested the Dish Remote Access app and a Sling Adapter. That will give her the ability to watch her live TV shows and DVR recordings anywhere she goes. I would use it on boring errands like trips to the DMV, but if she wants to use it to learn new recipes then I will gladly be her taste tester.