Tuesday 15 May 2012

A teensy tiny little bit of progress on the Tui ads. Maybe.

You may have noticed that the Tui beer ads have changed.  No longer are they as awfully sexist as they once were.  Now they are only very sexist instead.  Auckland Feminist Action, who raised the issue in the first place are on to it again, with the following statement from earlier this month:
Tui needs to try harder

Auckland Feminist Action gives the latest Tui ad an E for Effort, and invites DB to have a beer with them and discuss how to make an ad without dissing women.

Feminist Action is delighted that its campaign contributed to the sexist Tui brewery ad being taken off television and the Tui website, says spokeswoman Leonie Morris.

“We gave that ad an F for Fail,” she says, “but the new Tui ad, ‘Halftime distraction’, gets only an E for Effort. Tui needs to try harder.”

While the halftime ad doesn’t put women in the sexualised poses of the earlier brewery ads, the
women are portrayed as just as stupid and helpless. They can’t get a kitten off a tree branch barely above their heads, navigate city streets or paint a sign without falling off the ladder.

What ties these ads together is that the only people equal to the lead male characters are their
mates. Women are persistently excluded from equality in Tui ads. In “Halftime Distraction” a series of beautiful women can’t tempt the hero away from his mission - getting the beer for his mates during halftime in a rugby telecast.

Women are treated as distractions from the real thing: a men-only, testosterone-laden, beer-drinking sport session.

DB says camaraderie and irreverence are crucial aspects of the Tui brand. But the camaraderie is a superficial mateship, and the irreverence is expressed by treating women always as objects, rather than equals. “It’s no accident that women like these ads less than men, since women are always the target of the joke,” says Leonie.

“Tui refuses to understand why this is sexist. We invite them to have a drink with Feminist Action and discuss how to make women equal in their ads,” she says. “Tui needs to stop laughing at women and start laughing with them.”

Here's hoping DB takes Feminist Action up on that drink and, more importantly, on that conversation.

9 comments:

Puzzled said...

Remind me just which Tui ads dissed Women again....all the ons I saw made Men out to be beer loving boyish dicks while the Women were strong,healthy and in control.

Julie said...

Oh dear, basic reading comprehension fail. Click on the words "awfully sexist" in the first paragraph, which are even highlighted green for your convenience.

As to the women being in control - the whole ad campaign was based around the male gaze, and didn't you notice how the men always managed to outsmart the women to get some beers?

The issue is not just about the TV adverts however, the Yeah Right billboards have often been used to push misogynist, homophobic and transphobic messages.

Puzzled said...

Whatever.....silly crybaby antics over trivial and humorous aspects of society do you no credit. I thought this was a site for female aspiration...I see its all about feeling sorry for ones self...

oh well.

Puzzled said...

Read that link in green....Just because you may find something offensive is neither here nor there darling.... offence is subjective.we are all different in what sets us off. Life is offensive at various times....one just shows some fortitude and moves on...

Moz said...

Puzzled, one major part of feminism is that rather than moving on and getting over it, we stop and say "this is wrong". Loudly, and in public.

That way we can join the dots and find out whether lots of peoiple find something offensive or whether it's just one person. Then the group can take action. Not doing that leads to problems, like every woman thinking she's the only one who doesn't enjoy sex with her husband, or gets groped at work. Once we've found that a problem is systematic it's much easier to address it as a group.

So, a beer company posting an offensive ad. No big deal. Really, it's not. And the response is muted - a couple of blog posts, some gossip, the occasional letter of complaint. Not even a billboard reclamation campaign, let alone a complaint to the HRC.

A Nonny Moose said...

"Life is offensive at various times"

One has to ask: why are you ok with that, and why do you want it to continue?

If your answer is "I'm not, and I don't", don't stand in the way of people who are trying to fix things. Mewling about it makes YOU look like a sexist dickhead who only wants to retain the status quo because it makes things easier for you, and you don't have to think too hard.

Puzzled said...

A Nonny Mous....Life is offensive at times...but that's because we as people value and judge different things in our subjective ways...you can no more abolish "offensiveness" than you can the sun rising in the morning...it will always be.By all means fight true injustice...but don't blur the target wth petty and pitiful frail's at throw away and humorous nothings...its a waste of energy and makes you look silly.

And as a 45 year old Woman I find it a scream to be called a sexist....I guess your own sexist inclination was to assume I was a Man because I don't wish to partake in a pity party of insecure feminine victim wallowing mmm?

A Nonny Moose said...

1. http://www.derailingfordummies.com/complete.html#moreimportantly

2. Women can be sexist too. Comes from living in a patriachal world in an effort to not be seen as against the people with "power".

Hell, just go acquaint yourself with derailingfordummies.com It'll save my breath.

A Nonny Moose said...

Oh, and as "offense" is as "subjective", as you like to put in "scare quotes", the thing "I'd" like to "do away with" is actually harm.

And perpetuating stereotypes and treating women as nothing but sexual toys to be ridiculed is harmful. I have far more respect for women than that. Hell, that even means you, because I'd like to make this world less harmful FOR EVERYBODY.

Funny that. Not about that effing annoying battle of the sexes...