Creepy Commercial

Where is the Outrage???

Published on March 7, 2005 By philomedy In Misc

I'm watching TV. I'm seeing a commercial for a weight loss pill. I'm seeing a woman on there very proud that she lost 50 odd pounds. She's happier, she's active, she has the energy to play with her kids. All normal, right? Wait.

Here comes the end of the commercial. They've given me all the medi-crap about how the pill works, what's in it, what it'll do to me if I take it, why I shouldn't take it, and why I need to talk to a doctor first. All they have to do is go back to the happy woman we saw in the beginning, and all she has to do is say one simple uplifting line that tells us just how much better her life is now that she took this weight loss pill. Easy, right? Wait.

Here comes the line:

"The kids think that mommy's sexy."

End commercial.

Come again??? The kids think that mommy's sexy??? Isn't this kind of, sort of, disturbing?

My question is this: Where the hell is the Parents-Advocacy-Spongebob-is-Gay-For-the-Family-Bombard-the-FCC-with-calls-Council about this one? A cartoon sponge is gay but children lusting after mommy is ok? Cialis commercials (which feature consenting adults of legal age discussing erectile dysfunction in a setting which clearly suggests a monogamous, heterosexual, and matrimonial relationship) have to be censored because of one comment about 4 hour erections, but the kids can think mommy looks hot in a thong? Somethings wrong.

Comments (Page 2)

dynamaso

on Mar 08, 2005

Australians would also see the use of the word as a general term to indicate a desirable person, as pointed out by Psyringe. I remember as a young lad calling my Mum sexy without being aware I was making any sexual connotations. Our vernacular is somewhat different, though.

philomedy

on Mar 08, 2005

Regarding the different possible meanings of "sexy", I think a found a good way to illustrate the difference. On meaning is, of course, to express desire. The other is merely expressing that someone looks "desirable", without implying desire of the speaker. A good example is two women (being good friends) shopping for clothes. One puts something on and asks the other "What do you think, how do I look", and the other woman responds "very sexy". For me, this does not sound strange and does not imply any explicit desire. (To make it even more clear, the answer could be extended to: "You look very sexy, your husband will be totally enthused")

That is indeed a good example, and I agree with your analysis. I think perhaps the odd quality of the commercial comes from the fact that the sentiment is being expressed by a child who has no way of knowing the meaning of the word sexy. The mother has lost weight in order to be able to play with her children, so it is safe to assume that the child in question is still of a rather dependent age. Therefore, I think it rather absurd and somewhat odd that this child is referring to his/her mother in this way.

And it still doesn't bother me. I remember hearing one of the puppet pals on Dexter's Lab saying "You look mighty sexy in those jeans" or something on a commercial for Puppet Pal Jeans and I doubt any parent or child who watched the show interpreted that to mean any disgusting thing.

I don't particularly read anything into this, and I am not really disturbed by the commercial, certainly not to the point of calling someone and complaining and demanding that the commercial be discontinued. However, I point it out as odd in the hopes of contrasting it with other things that don't even fit these categories, but which are still being attacked as immoral.

Although this is not my personal experience, I can see how someone would recognize a parent as sexy once a certain age is reached. As I mentioned earlier, though, I did not get the feeling from the commercial that the child in question would have had any idea what the meaning of the word was. This is not to say that it's wrong for the child to think this way, as he/she obviously can't be faulted for using a word that he/she has heard and most likely does not understand. I think that if the child describes a parent in this way, it is the responsibility of the parent to explain what the word means (if the child is old enough to grasp the explanation), and to correct the child if they do not want to be referred to in that way by their offspring. At the same time, probably because of the way I was brought up, or because I would not refer to my mother in this way, it seems somewhat odd to me.

Lurkerer

on Mar 09, 2005

LoL That's disturbing.
I just personally like those commercials where they say all the good stuff that it does, so proudly, so loud, so slow to understand everything, and at the end, they say really fast "this may cause, blah, and blah side-effects, and it's not for people who take this, and this, and that."

Lurkerer

on Mar 09, 2005

It's just the word 'sexy' that's wrong here. They could say the kids enjoy spending time with their mother more, but not sexy. It sounds wicked. Now, if the kids said that the father thought mommy was sexy, that'd be a little different, even coming from the kids, but when the kids start thinking that, they've already mastered the thought that beauty and being skinny means sexy or viceversa.

Lurkerer

on Mar 09, 2005

As an open-minded liberal, I see nothing wrong with using the word "sexy" to describe a mother. After all, mothers are people too, and they too want to be attractive. Therefore, it should be a hate crime to deny them that right.

But not by their kids. Sure you can describe a person as sexy, but if I go and say that my father is sexy, I'd beat myself over the head with a thick log. That'd disturb ME, but IF someone else heard me say that. My daddy might be interogated... ya know. It sounds mighty peculiar.

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