Doing something I almost never do--read a parenting magazine, Child in this case--and I barely get past the table of contents before I regretted it.
There's a cutey cute cartoon advertisement for All laundry detergent where a guy is pulling a tiny little shirt out of the wash. My first thought was, "Hey, that's the same feeling I get when I do laundry: 'What the hell, My laundry used to be just socks, underwear, and jeans, and now can you believe it, I'm washing these teeny tiny clothes?'"
Then I read the caption: "Now your husband can get your clothes spring fresh while he shrinks them."
The campaign is new; All's parent company Unilever is burning $15-20 million to target who the industry calls, "the laundry involved," people who, "care about laundry, but don't see it as the be-all or end-all of life."
To which I say, "Nice manners, babe! Spring fresh laundry is a priority in my life."
Unilever tries low-key approach to the battle of the laundry room [NYTimes]
Previously: Dad Ads are really for the ladies
[update from the 1/28 NYT: Men Are Becoming the Ad Target of the Gender Sneer]
What is wrong with people?
Do they not realize that this crap offends women, too? I mean, if I didn't like men, I wouldn't have married one.
Yeah, but would you hire one do to your laundry?
Not a straight one. ;-)
Seriously, I find these sort of ads offputting for the same reason I hate the Berenstein Bears -- the big dorky daddy stereotype really bugs me. And guys buy into it thoughtlessly, too -- when my mom was sick, my father (with an MBA and high tech skills) said, "I had to learn to use the washing machine!" like it was some sort of big deal. I'm not a dutiful daughter, though -- I congratulated him instead of commiserating.
excellent use of John Hughes to punctuate your point, dude. :) "I'm not really a farmer..."
I think a man might be doing my laundry *as we speak*. Gotta love that 2 minutes for drop-off, 2 minutes for pick-up thing at the laundromat. I think they dabble in the black arts, though--how else could they fold everything into those tiny little laundry bundles, completely defying the laws of physics?
Oh, and my husband and I are equally competent at the drop-off and pick-up.