More Than Just a Piece of Meat

The other day, I was eating lunch in our employee dining area when I heard a familiar song playing on the television. I don’t really care for what passes as television today so I never really watch much of it. However, people at my work watch it intently to get away from stress, though truth be told, they look like zombies with their mouths ajar.  I looked up to see what program was playing a song that I actually enjoy on the tube. To my horror and disgust, this is what was shown on the illuminated screen:

Charming.

The song (“The Moneymaker”) is by a band called Rilo Kiley and is from their fifth album entitled Under the Blacklight. For a split second, I was angry that the band, which I love, gave the greenlight for Carl’s Jr to use this song. Then I thought about what essentially this song and album are about. Under the Blacklight tells multiple stories of different characters who would do anything for fame. This song, in particular, speaks about people who get paid for sex, whether in the form of prostitution, exotic dancing, or pornography. Unfortunately, I don’t think Carl’s Jr. knew that; however, ironically, chose the best song to fully describe Audrina “Top-Rated Bikini Body” Patridge and their continuous chauvinistic commercials.

Damn Right

Recently, I was looking through an old issue of a men’s magazine and I saw the following advertisement for Canadian Club Whiskey:

The pictures and text are obvious throwbacks to the 1960’s when a man was a man and evidently, people of color didn’t roam the streets. This type of advertising is really insulting as it attempts to entice an audience via lackluster tactics. It seems that no matter what decade, whether it’s the 1960’s or the 2000’s, women are and always will be sex objects. The text of the ad only reinforces the sexual behavior of men by letting us know that since our fathers were promiscuous, we should be too.

“Your mom wasn’t your dad’s first. He went out. He got two numbers in the same night. He drank cocktails.”

Personally, my father used to drink a lot and be verbally abusive to my mother, so does that mean I should get inebriated with delicious Canadian Club Whiskey and disrespect women? No. And as a man who believes in individuality, why the hell would I have any desire to be like my father? He’s a good man now but has different perspectives and goals. Parents hope to give their children better opportunities than they had, so for the kids to end up just like them seems as depressing as this advertisement’s aim.