Don't Get Your Knickers in a Twist

Imagine creating what you think is a really nice little 30 second film, only to have it spark a debate over the role of women in society.

Saw this last night and hunted it down this morning, not realizing it's over two years old and the target of not only ire, but boycotts of Clorox by irate people decrying the depiction of women in the ad.



For me, it was just a nice set piece. The time-lapse journey through the ages is nothing new, but it's fun to watch the evolution of laundering the family clothes over time as I try to keep up with the rapidly changing scenery and people. Now my enjoyment is stomped with the realization that this little retrospective of an old company is actually setting women's rights back decades. I had no idea.

What's the worst that can happen if what the angry protesters say is true? Will a little girl see this ad and turn to her mom and say, "I want to be a housewife!"? I suppose that could happen, if the girl is really, really stupid and somehow perceives that this ad makes doing laundry look like her life's calling. Maybe a boy will see it and say, "Mom, why is the division of household labor so unfair? We should rise up against Dad!" Yes, that could happen, too.

But whenever I see lawnmower commercials, they usually depict a Dad mowing the lawn. You see, many "studies" have shown that more men buy lawnmowers than women and more women buy bleach than men. These studies were conducted by illiterate toddlers who simply observed how things work in their homes. When the girl grows up and gets a place of her own that has a yard, she will undoubtedly rise to the manly task of keeping it mowed, while the boy will discover the wonders of bleach when he's a stinky teenager doing his own laundry that Mom won't touch.

God, people. It's an ad for a bleach. But you go on and boycott it. That'll teach Clorox. Maybe, someday. They're still running the ad two years after you got your dirty panties in a wad, so it might be time to step up your efforts.

Here's another cool ad from DDB San Fran for Clorox.

Here's Bacardi's very similar "take you through the history of the product" ad.