When was the last time you have seen a car ad like the one above? Car ads are infamous for selling to men only, because apparently women don't drive (or make the big decisions in the household)...Even the classic mini van that is notorious to soccer moms are now sold by men in this new Toyota Sienna commerical.
Jackson Katz has analyzed ads aimed toward men and how they always contain at least a hint of violence because it stands for masculinity in our culture. In this Toyota Sienna ad, although the lead male comes off as a family-oriented person, he starts competition with the other father because he is driving the same car. Toyota is trying to advertise this mini van cool to men (taking responsibility and caring for your family is masculine!) but they do it by having two men treat this car as something that is worth arguing over. There is also one short segment where he angrily throws the stroller and the tricycle in the trunk to display his anger. This is a demonstration of his masculinity and tells the audience that a man is able to maintain the "fire" (aka masculinity) within himself even while driving this mini van.
In another recent ad on television, there is a feminine product targeted towards men but yet it contains no violence. Applebees has a new Under 550 Calories menu and instead of using females in their commercials they used a group of guys.
Although there is no violence or aggression in the commercial, the commercial is not well received by its intended audience. Many of the comments under the video claim the video is dumb and not logical. They constantly point to the big cups of beer on the table, which I don't think is a coincidence. It seems as if men only pay attention to details that concern how they are portrayed or things they like. I'm extremely interested in how the Sienna ad is received by men but I'll guess we'll have to wait to find out since the Sienna commercial is pretty new.
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