Men Are Idiots!!

Men are idiots.  Clearly that’s what many advertisers and companies must think.  If not, why would they think that simply using a sexy, scantily clad woman, could sell a man a burger.  Of course the barrage of “sex sells” is nothing new, it’s been going on, in one way or another, since advertising began.  It’s the latest ad by Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr that’s got me all in a huff.  (here's a link to the ad, viewer discretion is advised)  To be honest, it’s not even the blatant objectifying of a beautiful, intelligent woman, Padma Lakshmi (the host of one of my fave shows, Top Chef), that is most annoying.  What bothers me the most is that for some reason, corporate America has this idea that men are a bunch of buffoons who need nothing more than a sexed up model dripping barbecue sauce everywhere to entice them to buy the latest burger.  Quite frankly, it’s disgusting!  And I’m not talking about the dripped barbecue sauce Padma eats after swiping it off her leg.  It’s also frustrating because of the message this sends to our young men (and women) about what gets attention and what should make them “take notice”.

So what now?  I know some people may stop eating at Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr in response to this ad, and that’s cool.  My fear though, is that most will simply shrug their shoulders and move on.  I mean, they’ve probably seen worse, right?  Ugh!   My hope and my prayer is that parents and youth workers will take this opportunity to talk to their teens about media influence.  This commercial can start a great dialogue about values and what we learn from the media vs. what we learn from God.  Talk about who this commercial is directed at (and why) and also what it says about the roles of men and women in our society.  Then contrast this with what our Church teaches.  I’d also love it if the men, dads and others, simply changed the channel and didn’t allow themselves and those they care about to be disrespected.

I am convinced that many of our teens (and sometimes we adults) mindlessly consume what culture throws at them, it’s our responsibility (and privilege) to show them a better way.  We must help them learn to discern what is good, right and true, and give them the tools to disregard that which distracts them from glorifying God and growing in holiness.

**If you’d like resources to help teens, parents and youth workers learn to go beyond mindless media consumption, check out www.cpyu.org

They have a resource available to help teens learn to take the good and leave the bad in media, this is a link to the leader’s guide

Their Spring issue of the Journal of Youth Culture is available for free here

The REAP Team also subscribes to CPYU’s parent page and would be happy to pass it on, just send us an email and put parent page in the subject line.