Disclaimer: I am an unashamed and unrelenting meat eater. I have parts of four different animals in my fridge right now.
I'll give PETA a few points for identifying their audience fairly well, although I'm not sure that's very difficult considering the event. There will probably be several commercials with scantily clad women during the Super Bowl.
But is this commercial even effective? Will a couple naked girls licking pumpkins and broccoli convince people to put down their chicken wings and chili dogs and abstain from meat?
No.
These guys sum up some questions I had when I first saw the commercial: did they intend to create a commercial that would be rejected to stir up more controversy and attention? Is this really original?
PETA appeals to the sex drive first by showing sexual acts and finally by claiming that vegetarians have better sex. What would have been effective is if they revealed which studies surmised this.
They probably didn't because it's not true.
A Slate article examines the claim more thoroughly with, you know, some actual facts.
Vegetarian diets tend to correlate with higher rates of zinc deficiency, which is closely associated with lower testosterone levels and depressed sex drives. Vegetarian women are also more likely to develop amenorrhea (loss of periods), a condition that's usually accompanied by low testosterone, vaginal dryness, and poor libido. Finally, the notion that overweight people are less sexually active isn't entirely accurate (for women, at least): A recent analysis published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology shows that overweight women might, in fact, be slightly more active.
Bottom line: PETA's advertising tactics have always revolved around shock value. This is really nothing new. Maybe PETA should take a tip from Jamie Oliver.
Excitement = The Ann Arbor Chronicle featuring my blog (back in July... I just found out) for the following reasons:
Best imagined description of Ann Arbor in recent weeks, from the Meet Me At The Mirror blog: “Ann Arbor rang similar to a cute older woman who used to be a hippy and now spends her days sleeping outdoors and making wacky crafts inspired by her younger, LSD-induced life.” Plus a great narrative about finding a man in the bushes outside her room.
Gross =Liquor Store, the bar we visited Friday night. When I was told there'd be a mechanical bull, I (apparently naively) envisioned beer, cowboy hats, wood and a chill atmosphere. Instead, and this might be offensive to hos and perverts, I was greeted by three stripper poles, old men with cameras and red lighting, akin to whore houses in Europe.
We (Erin and I) feared that come midnight, the venue would transform into one mass orgy. Thankfully this did not happen. What DID happen however was Jess riding the bull. If you listen closely you can hear Noelle screaming, "yeeeeeea girl. Yeeeeea."
Fantastic =Jake Ivory's, the bar we visited Saturday night. Located on Landsdowne Street right outside Fenway, the line was daunting but I knew the second we made it inside and heard two pianos playing an Outkast song that it was worth the wait. This duelling piano bar has made it to the top of my Boston Bars list.
Noelle, Tara, Erin and I met four of Erin's hilarious friends from Northeastern. This even number lended well to songs such as I Will Survive, during which the girls song-battled the guys, literally in two lines facing each other. Noelle and I engaged in a beautiful duet to the pianists' rendition of Proud Mary. Many dance-offs ensued. It was a beautiful night. We will definitely be returning to Jake Ivory's. Next time much earlier and with song requests prepared.
For some reason, a commercial from Switzerland popped into my head the other day. There were two music channels on TV when we lived there. One was MTV Germany and it had a best commercials. My favorite was this guy in a Doner Kebab shop dancing and singing to Britney Spears. I can't find it. Grr.
Here's another favorite. It's for ringtones. It always cracks me up.
Posts
