Male entitlement in the John Lewis ad

[MardyBra]

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/john-lewis-advert-boy-backlash-b1938929.html

Lots to deconstruct in this.
I have no problem with an exuberant boy in a dress (although I feel JL are trying very hard to show their target market how woke they are).

But the wilful destruction of the home his mum has put a lot of time and effort into offends my feminist (and middle-class!) sensibilities.

JL says it’s a ‘young actor getting carried away with his dramatic performance”, not “wilfully damaging his home”.’ He looks a bit old to be at the crayonning on the wall stage still.

Good idea to raise a complaint. I have done so on 4 counts.

1 misleading ad - wilful destruction and confusion parents may be enticed to buy on this premise and a terms and conditions apply disclaimer on the ad is not enough

2 sexualised at times

3 sexist. 2 females watch passively as boy destroys their property and the house

4 potential to be a draw for pedophiles

I included a screenshot. You can only include one. Here are a couple more as I took 3 if anyone wants to use them.

www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html

@FluffyBooBoo

Aww thanks...I had no idea it wasn't real...what a revelation

Have you read the thread? Quite a few people are talking about the behavior as if it was real... It might actually be a revaluation to some.

I think you’ve misunderstood. When people are commenting on the appalling behaviour, they’re commenting on the appalling behaviour of the character. Literally everyone knows it’s not real - hence no need to preface any comments with ‘I know it’s not real but…’

Thanks for the link mummy. I just went to the John Lewis site to try to find how to do this then I got distracted by ‘window shopping’ - grrr.

For me its not so much about the kid trashing the house thats the issue..... Its the fact that a boy in a dress with make up has to give off this ' sassy' drag queen vibe, it sexualises him.

Why cant it just be a boy in a dress wearing make up? There's no need for all the pouting and flouncing.

Complaint submitted.
Thanks @Mummyoflittledragon

Good stuff. Oh just realised my pics didn’t upload.

I think you’ve misunderstood

I guess you didn't see me say 'might actually'

@FluffyBooBoo

I think you’ve misunderstood

I guess you didn't see me say 'might actually'

So you’re focusing on the conditional nature of ‘might be’ now that you’ve realised you were in fact wrong?! Good save

So you’re focusing on the conditional nature of ‘might be’ now that you’ve realised you were in fact wrong?! Good save

No. Just highlighting your misunderstanding of my initial post.

@FluffyBooBoo

Sorry to labour this but I really don’t see what you’re getting at. You suggested that people on the thread had been talking about the advert as if it was real and suggested that being told it wasn’t real might be a revelation.

I said that no one thought it was real. Unless you can find a poster who implies they doindeed think the scenario is real, then I don’t get your point. Your focusing on the ‘might’ doesn’t help at all

Unless you can show where I said that people absolutely think that it's real, and where all previous posters indicated where they clearly know it isn't, then your point is moot.

I'm not sure why you are making such a big deal about it tbh.

Anyway, I'm out. This is really not important enough to be spending this amount of time on what was ultimately just a wry observation.

@FluffyBooBoo🙄🙄🙄You implied people thought it was real. That was literally the only point in your post. But fine if you are retracting that - it’s nothing to me.

Back to the actual issue - it’s a fictional representation of a real phenomenon. That is, men and boys dominating spaces and being encouraged to do so. Anyone trying to derail the discussion by reminding posters that it’s “not real” is part of the problem.

You implied people thought it was real

No I didn't. I suggested that it was a possibility.

@FluffyBooBoo

Ye gods!! You literally said:
Have you read the thread? Quite a few people are talking about the behavior as if it was real... It might actually be a revaluation to some.

The only point you were making was that some people seemed to be thinking it was real!! Whether you suggested it, implied it, hinted it WHATEVER! Or were you making a different point that I’ve missed?

The only point you were making was that some people seemed to be thinking it was real

Yes! Exactly that! Seemed As in, it's a possibility.

😂😂Then why bother to post?! Everything is ‘a possibility’

@Carrotsandbroccoli

😂😂Then why bother to post?! Everything is ‘a possibility’

Are you ok?

Fine thanks. Just annoys me when people try to argue black is white. I’ve made naff points that can’t be defended before - I either admit it or scuttle off. I don’t keep trying to redefine what I originally said. Don’t know why it annoys me so much that you’ve done that.

People don't think it's real! It's just like criticising a TV programme or a book!

Anyway it annoys me but it's not the most annoying ad out there. The Marc Jacobs ones (Daisy Daisy Daisy and I'm perfect perfect perfect) annoy annoy annoy annoy me more (and the British Gas TURN DOWN THE WATTS one).

But I'm not redefining anything. In fact, you yourself paraphrased it in such a way that you seemed to finally get it. And then continued to try to attack me by saying I shouldn't have posted it because it wasn't definitive enough. It was merely possibility.

I think we see the issue though. You are looking for black and white. I posted grey. Grey is a legitimate colour. I stand by my post.

@FluffyBooBoo
I’m genuinely intrigued now. You did a rhetorical “have you read the thread” thing in your original post. The only thing I can see that you meant there was along the lines of “if you’ve read the thread you’ll have seen that people ARE discussing it as if they think it’s real.” Did you not mean that?

Of course it’s a possibility that some people think the scenario is real - rather a strong possibility given the range of people in the world - but you were directly suggesting that people on this thread had given you the impression that they thought it was real. And that having someone say “it’s not real” would come as a revelation to them. That’s very different from acknowledging that, in general, some people may struggle with fiction v reality.

When pressed on this you seemed to retreat behind the very general ‘it could happen’ facade.

But no one takes the trouble to join a thread just to suggest the vague possibility of something that they don’t actually believe.

I admit, I’m over-invested in this exchange now because it interests me when people argue against logic.

Follow the money. Yep advertising is expensive and all this shit is insidious. Tiresome. Another one to avoid.

The only thing I can see that you meant there was along the lines of “if you’ve read the thread you’ll have seen that people ARE discussing it as if they think it’s real.” Did you not mean that

I did mean that. Please take note of the 'as if they think it's real'

but you were directly suggesting that people on this thread had given you the impression that they thought it was real. And that having someone say “it’s not real” would come as a revelation to them

Not quite. But we've been through this. People are talking about it like the situation is real. My point was that if people do think it's real, in that specific scenario, it might be a revelation to them to discover it's not.

As I said, it was a wry observation.

I don't have anything to add. I stand by my post. It's not deep. It's not some tricky intangible comment. I've explained it more than once, and at one point you seemed to understand.

It really is not worthy of all this dissection.