So yesterday, in the course of my mindless web surfing, I stumbled upon this short Slate piece by Alison Griswold about Taco Bell's attempts to make an impact in the fast-food breakfast wars. I'm no fan of McDonalds, and Taco Bell ranks even worse in my mind. And, frankly, anyone who steps into either establishment seeking a nourishing breakfast is just plain stupid.
But what got me about Griswold's article, which critiques Taco Bell's recent commercials, is this last paragraph:
Plus, for all that Taco Bell is trying to paint McDonald's as boring and old-school, the commercial's final shot—of the middle-aged male character munching a fast-food wrap all alone outside his cluttered garage—seems more like an advertisement for poor life choices.
Um, what exactly is it that makes Griswold think a man, alone in the morning, is "an advertisement for poor life choices"?
I mean, gee whiz, if Griswold's preferred breakfast is an Egg McMuffin, how much calorically worse can Taco Bell's offerings possibly be? Nor can his "cluttered garage" really be held against him. I mean, really, who's garage isn't the teensiest bit cluttered?
Please tell me I'm not alone in detecting a sexist undertone to Griswold's criticism, but what seems to drive Griswold's animus is that, well, there's this middle class-ish and seemingly capable forty-something year-old male who is "alone" (i.e., unmarried and un-coupled).
Which, ipso facto in her mind, must mean he's made "poor life choices." Otherwise he'd have a wife and family bristling with little children. He'd be a dad, a husband, a life partner, a provider. Implicit also in Griswold's judgement is the thought that, well, this otherwise decent-looking man must have really done something wrong-- "poor life choices"-- to cause him to be separated from whatever previous people were in his life.
So, is a man's marital status reason to condemn him? Have we now chugged into so moralistically strident times that a single male deserves condemnation?
Okay. If you think I'm over-reacting (as I've sometimes been known to do), imagine the genders being flipped. Imagine an ad featuring a woman alone eating her breakfast sandwich outside a cluttered garage. Would anyone use that image to accuse her of "poor life choices"?
But what got me about Griswold's article, which critiques Taco Bell's recent commercials, is this last paragraph:
Plus, for all that Taco Bell is trying to paint McDonald's as boring and old-school, the commercial's final shot—of the middle-aged male character munching a fast-food wrap all alone outside his cluttered garage—seems more like an advertisement for poor life choices.
Um, what exactly is it that makes Griswold think a man, alone in the morning, is "an advertisement for poor life choices"?
I mean, gee whiz, if Griswold's preferred breakfast is an Egg McMuffin, how much calorically worse can Taco Bell's offerings possibly be? Nor can his "cluttered garage" really be held against him. I mean, really, who's garage isn't the teensiest bit cluttered?
Please tell me I'm not alone in detecting a sexist undertone to Griswold's criticism, but what seems to drive Griswold's animus is that, well, there's this middle class-ish and seemingly capable forty-something year-old male who is "alone" (i.e., unmarried and un-coupled).
Which, ipso facto in her mind, must mean he's made "poor life choices." Otherwise he'd have a wife and family bristling with little children. He'd be a dad, a husband, a life partner, a provider. Implicit also in Griswold's judgement is the thought that, well, this otherwise decent-looking man must have really done something wrong-- "poor life choices"-- to cause him to be separated from whatever previous people were in his life.
So, is a man's marital status reason to condemn him? Have we now chugged into so moralistically strident times that a single male deserves condemnation?
Okay. If you think I'm over-reacting (as I've sometimes been known to do), imagine the genders being flipped. Imagine an ad featuring a woman alone eating her breakfast sandwich outside a cluttered garage. Would anyone use that image to accuse her of "poor life choices"?
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