To find the new Alexa ad sexist and disturbing

[Sugarleaf]

The premise seems to be: men can’t help their aggression and swearing, but they have to try to rein it in for the sake of the women and children, so Alexa steps in to help.
I googled the man in question and apparently he’s well known, but I had no idea who he was. What I see is a man being aggressive, AI playing music so ‘the cops aren’t called,’ leaving his sister and the children outside while he tries to get his aggression out of his system.

And I really don’t like the way this portrays women as genteel, non-swearing creatures who need protecting from men’s behaviour. Women swear. We don’t need to be cast as the delicate audience for men trying to manage their own behaviour.

Alexa being a female and coaching this poor aggressive man just adds to the weirdness
The whole premise feels pretty patronising

AIBU?

(ps the original post was withdrawn due to a problem with the link!)

I didn't bay an eyelid, but I can see how it'd land differently if you were unfamiliar with the character.

great advert

Yes true but I couldn't see the character of Malcolm Tucker being used to advertise Alexa as he wouldn't be seen dead discussing his life with a robot so it would be a pretty unconvincing marketing campaign.

And by the way I'm not calling you thick, the 'collective think' is referring to what most people are to use your word, 'parroting' about the topic, if it's unchallenged then yes, it can be very much, 'collective thick'. Presumably, the only reason they are looking into this, is precisely because people did challenge them and did question the environmental impact. People who do this aren't 'parroting' anything, they are acting as mature citizens of a democracy rather than an indifferent consumer. Apologies if I offended you.

Before I watched your link I had a very different picture in my head of what you were describing. He is not being aggressive. He is swearing. That's not the same thing at all.
Yes, women swear but a lot of people of both sexes avail swearing in front of their children which is the premise of this advert.
Some people just go out of their way to be offended. Maybe Alexa can help them get it out of their system.

Aggressive is only in your head.

This. The bloke seems like a bit of a sausage but I imagine that's part of the joke.

plus I hate the implication he’s calling Alexa a cheeky ‘cunt’ at the end.

In the female version she calls Alexa a bitch. The 'calling the cops' bit was also clearly a joke about the fact they'd have otherwise heard him repeatedly swearing. A bit like a neighbour hearing somebody letting off steam by screaming into a pillow.

I'm afraid this kinda stuff just makes feminists look like joyless whingers always looking for an excuse to moan about men. Sorry to say it but it completely undermines their credibility. Who actually wants a completely PC world where people can't swear and be a bit racy from time to time.

I can't actually work out if you are agreeing with me or not 🙁

If you read my posts you’d see it wasn’t to do with swearing. I don’t care about swearing.

Also, on feminism. Feminism has nothing to do with ‘moaning about men’ and also nothing to do with my post.

Jesus Christ, educate yourself, it’s embarrassing

I think it’s horrible. Puts me right off Alexa.

It’s funny…. He is well known for his swearing… it is a form of humour which is sadly being eradicated

It's not the swearing, I loved the brilliant use swearing in, 'The Thick of it' for example but it was interesting, purposeful. The point is that there is no irony at play for a vast majority of us who haven't seen the comedy and don't know who he is. It just looks like a man who is annoyed and has to be calmed down by a female sounding robot.

Who helps disguise his behaviour in case ‘the neighbours call the cops’

Yep. I resisted it for ages.

From the title I expected it to be very American but I was very wrong.
And Roy Kent is the best character in it.

Yes it is. It’s about not swearing around the children, you are seeking offence.

Unclench…

I don't have Apple
I just saw it as don't swear in front of the kids
Not sure what your issue is

No
It's you that doesn't get it
Just because people disagree with you it doesn't mean they don't get it.
I understand what you're saying and, in my opinion, you're wrong

You know a lot of people pirate shows these days?

It would have been created for the US market and adapted for the UK. Similar to the Booking.com ad with Tina Fey, and those app game ones with Jimmy Fallon, who aren't nearly as well known over here

Also isn't Ted Lasso now on Amazon?

So people not understanding it is also useful. They start threads like this and everyone recommends it. Win win

@Sugarleaf at first I thought you were being unreasonable but now I’ve watched it I see what you mean.

at first he’s playing his ted lasso character of Roy keen who is like that. But yeah the end of weird as fuck one it’s odd. Not sure what Amazon were thinking

There is so much discussion about this online - that AI assistants are female coded when they act as PAs, and suddenly male coded (Claude) when used as a sort of co-worker.

Do men as it isn't 'people' in this case have so much pent up anger, they have to do this? It strikes me as at the best, very immature and at the worst, sort yourself out mate, get some anger management therapy.