Semi-offensive ad
My running store sent around a flyer, with the usual deals on shoes, fuel belts, and so forth. It also had this on the front:
There is some additional stuff, telling what will be at the event, but that's not the important part. If this were a general, random, mass-mailed advertisement, I'd chuck it, and maybe sigh and shake my head. It's not - these are sent out to all the customers. I can understand the condescension when you are making a broad market appeal - women, as a group, are generally more aware of the importance of exercise and nutrition. But, when you have a group of people who patronize a running store, then you can pretty much assume that everyone in there understands the value of exercise.
(I'll ignore, for this post, the belittlement of men's relationships. Men's friendships are generally different than women's friendships - yet one is considered worthwhile, and the other borderline dysfunctional, or non-existent. Anyway. . . )
Let's be honest here - there is no way that the store would ever do a Men's Night, where they excluded women, and had an ad copy with something like "We guys are more concerned with competition and performance, and the value of pushing our limits. We just are." It would be decried (and rightly so) as being sexist and bigoted. Yet here we are, with an event that tells me that I am not aware of the value of health, exercise or friendships.
So, I'm off to eat three gallons of double-chocolate fudge ice cream and run as fast as possible. I might get sick, I might pull a muscle, but hey, I'm just a guy, and I don't know squat about such things. I'd invite some friends to come by a pig out as well, but I don't have any of those either, apparently.
[Store name's] Women's Night
. . . you're invited! (If you're a girl, that is.) . . .
We invite you to join us for a fun evening just for girls at [Store name]. No offense to the guys, but - hey - us (sic) girls are typically more aweare of the value of health, exercise and the importance of great relationships. We just are.
There is some additional stuff, telling what will be at the event, but that's not the important part. If this were a general, random, mass-mailed advertisement, I'd chuck it, and maybe sigh and shake my head. It's not - these are sent out to all the customers. I can understand the condescension when you are making a broad market appeal - women, as a group, are generally more aware of the importance of exercise and nutrition. But, when you have a group of people who patronize a running store, then you can pretty much assume that everyone in there understands the value of exercise.
(I'll ignore, for this post, the belittlement of men's relationships. Men's friendships are generally different than women's friendships - yet one is considered worthwhile, and the other borderline dysfunctional, or non-existent. Anyway. . . )
Let's be honest here - there is no way that the store would ever do a Men's Night, where they excluded women, and had an ad copy with something like "We guys are more concerned with competition and performance, and the value of pushing our limits. We just are." It would be decried (and rightly so) as being sexist and bigoted. Yet here we are, with an event that tells me that I am not aware of the value of health, exercise or friendships.
So, I'm off to eat three gallons of double-chocolate fudge ice cream and run as fast as possible. I might get sick, I might pull a muscle, but hey, I'm just a guy, and I don't know squat about such things. I'd invite some friends to come by a pig out as well, but I don't have any of those either, apparently.
posted by Garou at 4:31 PM
1 Comments:
That is so terrible! How rude!
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