to be offended/annoyed at this advert

[mileend2bermondsey]

perhaps offended is a bit strong but there is a new Diet Coke advert which really pisses me off.
A woman is meeting a bloke for a what is presumably a blind date. He is very short and she is quite tall and wearing heels. She puts her heels down a grate to snap the heel off so she is wearing flats and they are of a more equal height.

As a 6ft tall woman it really gets my back up that in this society that tall women should feel obliged to pander to short mens insecurities like this. I know its supposed to be lighthearted but it really pisses me off. Also how the fuck does this advertise diet coke?

[BonnieNoClyde]

yy to this bit in particular "but I think it sends a message that women shouldn't be taller than men which is bollocks. It's just a way of saying women should be smaller, weaker etc and should always look up to a man." At five foot two, I have never had a bf shorter than I am, but if I were a tall woman I wouldn't let society or a bunch of ad men tell me who i could date.

[BonnieNoClyde]

yy Bump I'm only five two so no experience of being tall but I do hate being made to feel that I am more than the acceptable deviation away from the norm. So perhaps I do understand a little bit!?!?!? I understand that feeling of being pissed of when something is presented as funny, or when something that is quite normal (ie, a large swathe of the population are either tall, or small) is presented as being freakish or embarrassing. I hate it. We're told we ought to embrace our individuality but half the time, it's a platitude when we're all nursing some recent wound from an advert/sit com.

Like bump, I hate the idea that a small man is an inferior man. I'm not married to a small man. I'm not dating one (or any man) but it is so offensive. Like a man is not actually a proper male unless he's over........ what would hte height be?

[AdeleDazeem]

Maybe the tall lady doesn't like wearing heels and did a mini fist bump in her head when she clocked the short man's height because she could now cast off the shackles of blasted heels.

[crustsaway]

So what?

I think its rather funny.

[BumpTheElephant]

YANBU. I'm only 5ft so not any experience of being a tall woman but I think it sends a message that women shouldn't be taller than men which is bollocks. It's just a way of saying women should be smaller, weaker etc and should always look up to a man.
I know it's a light hearted advert but it portrays an attitude that exists in our society. I also hate that short men are viewed as inferior, it's again due to men expected to be bigger and stronger than women.

[HagOtheNorth]

I'm trying tp remember the title of a short story by Saki.
It described a young man going to visit his intended and finding that her tinkely laugh, carefully-presented femininity, delicate china tea set and the banality of her conversation drive him mad and out of the house.
He then visits a bohemian painter, who gives him a drink in a jam jar, isn't bothered about her appearance and they talk about all sorts of things from painting to politics to philosophy and he realises that she's the love of his life and always has been.
However, as it's Saki, there is always a sting in the tail.
A year after marriage he comes home, sits down in despair to her tinkley laugh, elegant hairstyle and clothing and her banal conversation. He doesn't understand why the metamorphosis has occurred.
Whose fault?

[Sazzle41]

I,m 5ft11. In my younger days when i was quite attractive i had to beat short men off with a stick. It didnt phase them at all. In fact it bothered me not them, so i would say she is pandering to her insecurity. I have only dated men my height twice come to think of it. Short men generally love tall women from my experience. I have, with age, come to find it rather flattering that they see it as such a plus. Its other women that gave me a hard time about my height growing up and made me feel freakish.

[BonnieNoClyde]

[BonnieNoClyde]

ghostspirit that would have been a funnier ending to the ad! the ad that i still haven't seen !
although that would have been equally as dogmatic, ie, still the same script that the man must be taller. whether it's the woman taking off the heels, or the man putting them on.

[mileend2bermondsey]

Because they are nice?

[WiIdfire]

I'm 6 feet tall and quite happy to be so. I choose not to wear heels, as I am already taller than most people and don't see the point in making myself even taller (at the cost of uncomfortable shoes). I find it easier to chat to someone nearer my own height, so wouldn't hesitate to take off shoes, sit down, etc to make the conversation comfortable if appropriate. Obviously not always relevant.

No insecurities on either side!!!

My husband is shorter than me and I wore flats on my wedding day, my own choice.

Question: why do women wear heels if they dont want to be taller? I dont get it.

[NRomanoff]

The message could be, that she doesn't want to be seen with a short man. The message could be that she is insecure and since he can't grow , she should reduce her size. It could be that she thinks his height is a problem but she chooses do that, rather than actually tell him he is too short.

I don't see how it has anything to do with the woman conforming to theana insecurities because she is obliged to.

[drudgetrudy]

Yeah-I wonder who writes half the adverts sometimes-I'd be ashamed to turf them out they're so puerile.
Sometimes there is sexist humour worthy of the 70s-directed at both genders.

[Garlick]

Male creative directors should be forced to participate in gender awareness courses until they get it!

Actually, based on real-life experience of creative directors, they should all be forced to participate in normal life until they get it ... "I went on a bus! It was amazing, I felt I really connected with the people out there, you know?" being the most cringeworthy thing I've ever heard uttered by a young man who was paid millions to communicate with the public.

[drudgetrudy]

The implied message is that she is bothered by her height and the person writing the advert thinks that all women should be around 5' 5" and all men should be 5' 11"-otherwise its very funny and can be used to sell things.

[Garlick]

I can't play the video so thanks, Birds, for pasting the blurb.

inspire women to embrace their impulsive side ... to reflect a fundamental insight into women’s lives today; that the fear of embracing your impulsive side can lead to self-restraint and regret.

I see Impulsively shrinking yourself to conform to social misconceptions about taller women is unrestrained and fulfilling.

Umm, think again ...!

[mileend2bermondsey]

The advert doesn't imply the man is bothered by her height. She decides to break her shoes
So why does she break her shoes then? Whats the implied message behind that?

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

She's got beautiful long red hair too, is she going to pop into Superdrugs for some Nice'n'Easy too?

Other chemists and other hairdyes are available

[SilverBirchWithout]

She is still taller than him at end of advert, can't see what the issue is myself.

[NRomanoff]

I am 5ft 11 , dh is shorter. Neither of us have ever bothered about it, nor has anyone ever said anything.

No one has ever said anything about my height either. If you know people who think you should be with a man shorter or your partner is bothered that you are taller....it's the fault of the people you know and your partner.

The advert doesn't imply the man is bothered by her height. She decides to break her shoes. The op about men insecurities being obliged doesn't even make sense. Because that's not what happened. If insecure men have made you feel bad about your height, they are the ones with the problem...not all men are like that

[ghostspirit]

i think he should have put the heels on to make him taller

[FanFuckingTastic]

Definitely something I should have gotten out of sooner. He would get angry with me if I brought any clothes/shoes/pyjamas with buttons on, he wasn't that affected, more angry that I hadn't thought of him and accusing me of doing it on purpose because of xyz. Like revenge buttons.

I toyed with sending him a parcel full of buttons when we broke up, but it was just a daydream, because I was actually scared of him at that point. I wasn't allowed to wear a hat that I was given as a present from good friends because it "reminded him of someone he hated".

And I guess I had the opposite problem to this advert, I always had to wear heels, or he'd complain. I have achilles/ankle/calf problems, and an arthritic hip, and use a stick to walk, so it was a pretty difficult thing to wear the heels. He hated me looking "scruffy", so no flats and no joggy bottoms or loungewear.

Tosser.

[drudgetrudy]

I don't agree that height is always revered. Especially in a female over about 5' 10".
Some people are small minded and find anything that is more than one standard deviation from the norm hilarious.
This sort of humour is often used in adverts.

[HeartsTrumpDiamonds]

I had a boyfriend like that once. A shade shorter than me so I was never allowed to wear heels. Of course he also didn't let me wear makeup or even talk to other men (like male colleagues, or waiters ). EA asshole. Took me a while to dump him but I did.

[mileend2bermondsey]

I'm just sick of it being accpeted that its not ok for the female to be taller in a female/male relationship. I was watching Dont Tell the Bride the other day and the husband wouldnt let his wife wear heels on the wedding day as she'd be taller than him. Is that ok?