Gay/Straight Ad Watch: Straight Guys Ruin Everything



Gay Guy,

"Kids, teens, pets, husbands... Ever wonder how you can keep your house clean?"

Children, animals, and straight guys. Run for the hills! This carpet's done for.

Sorry about the quality of the embedded video (lucky to find it all), but I saw this Stanley Steemer commercial recently and had to share. It's another example of using straight guys ("husbands") as a safe stereotype for advertisers. Who's bringing your home values down with those stained floors and carpets? Yeah. It's us and our crazy milkshake nonsense, and that's just for starters. Deal with it. But please call in the professionals while we're away, because someone's got to expunge all this dad-related filth, and it ain't gonna be us.

I guess they know their demographics on this, and frustrated moms and wives are probably their number one customers. I won't argue with that. But don't carpets sometimes just get dirty over time? Does there have to be a villain in this scenario?

How bad is it for straight guys? Well, Stanley often runs these short spots back to back... check out the company we share:




So, ladies, take your pick. Would you rather share carpets with your husband, or Skoots, the dog with tapeworms? Either way, you are doomed.

Gay Guy, you're in the clear. Please feel free to enjoy your shiraz and gazpacho anywhere you like.

Oh well. Milkshake time! Who's with me? Skoots?

--Straight Guy

4 comments:

Straight in Upstate said...

SG - We're told we need to be more sensitive, until it comes to SG-bashing in "parent" (mom) magazines, sitcoms, Stanley Steemer commercials - then "oh, you're being too sensitive! It's just a commercial!"

kathryn said...

...but it's such a BAD commercial! All I think when I see these ads is that they're trying too hard...the desperation is practically reeking all over my armoire. (Yes, my teevee's in an armoire...I'm one of THOSE ppl that doesn't want to see it when it's not on.) Bottom line is this: Who does most of the cleaning? And does it pay for the advertisers to insult that group of consumers?
Damn...now I've got that song stuck in my head...

Gay Guy said...

Can dogs really do that?

Straight Shooter said...

Sometimes their butts just itch THAT bad...

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