is tofu somehow "less manly" than meat? weird Hummer ad

[ima_sinnic]

--has anyone else seen this ad where a guy in line at a supermarket checkout with tons of packages of meat is staring at the guy in front of him who is ringing out tofu and other "health food" type stuff as though there is something wrong with him--then it shows the meat-buying guy going out to his car in the parking lot--a Hummer, with "Save the Balance" or something like that as the slogan--and driving off like he's somehow more "manly."

Sooo--Hummers have nothing AT ALL going for them except image? They certainly can't go on about how comfortable they are, cause I've heard they're uncomfortable as hell. They can't brag about how fuel-efficient they are because, well, we all know about THAT. They can't shout about how affordable they are because they cost almost as much as a small house or a few acres of land (in some places).

But how is going to the supermarket and buying packages of meat "manly"? Wouldn't the manly thing to do be to go out with a loincloth and a spear and kill your own? What is "wimpish" about caring about your cholesterol and general health and also about the lives of the creatures around you? I see a parallel between this and the kids (well, college students) I remember in Maine who used to walk around in the middle of winter with t-shirts and sandals--like not having any common sense is somehow "tough."

All I see when I see some bozo driving a Hummer is a sucker with big car payments, bigger gas bills, a bad back from an uncomfortable seat, and a huge image problem. Like he wouldn't "be" someone without that symbol of conspicuous consumption. Dude! it just makes you look shallow--and dumber than a rock!
</rant>

on edit: btw, I missed the first few seconds of the ad so I might have got the details wrong.

[AngryAmish]

1. Yes.

[ThomCat]

29. Really?

And how do you come to that conclusion?

[Oreo]

2. You forgot the primary reason people drive hummers

compensation for their small penis

[rusty charly]

5. i was just going to say:

they don't feel comfortable running the "teeny weenie" campaign yet

[Uncle Joe]

13. I believe Hummer will next be coming out with a brand of socks

these men can stuff down their pants for that extra manliness look.

[Bjornsdotter]

20. That's always been my theory n/t

[Quantess]

27. So.........

one driver has a bigger package of meat?:rofl:

[demosincebirth]

42. I've seen a few women driving 'em. Whats with them?

[Oreo]

58. penis envy?

[demosincebirth]

67. Good point.

[TripeOmatic]

50. What would one call the one with the woman who's kid gets cut

in front of by a kid with a 'macho-mom' at the slide on the playground? Compensation for uh, ... what?

[Julius Civitatus]

69. That's one despicable commercial

We haven't seen the tofu ad yet, but we've seen the one about the revengeful soccer mom.

What a nasty, mean-spirited, evil commercial! What they are saying is:

- Our cars are monstrous, and have little redeeming value
- You want revenge against your neighbor
- Buy our Hummers just in spite, just get even with your catty neighbor in some some of road-rage fantasy

Evil, evil, and revolting.

:puke:

[quiet.american]

3. I think the slogan was weirder -- "Save Your Manhood" -- or something.

I saw that commercial, too, and just thought -- that's amazingly pathetic, if you have to buy a Hummer to "save your manhood." Weird.

[Pirate Smile]

31. I think it was "Restore Your Manhood". Pathetic. I hate that one and

the one with the woman whose kid gets cut in front of at the playground so she goes and buys a Hummer. That one says (I think) "Get your Girl on". Whatever....


I literally change the channel now. They play those two Hummer commercials all the time and they are so shallow and idiotic they drive me friggin nuts!

[quiet.american]

74. That was it! -- sad to see advertising that's that desperate. n/t

[Straight Shooter]

4. Is a woman who eats meat more "manly" than a woman who doesn't?

And if she drives a Hummer, is she more "manly" than a man who drives a regular car?

What an odd commercial.

[rusty charly]

12. the flipside of this is

"get your girl on"

believe it.

or don't:

http://pandagon.net/2006/07/14/our-khakis-are-so-rock-and-roll-buy-a-hummer/#comment-139269

[ima_sinnic]

23. thanks for that link -- interesting to see other people's take on

that same ad -- and the "female" one

[sweetheart]

6. Tofu would be a far eastern dish

like a japanese dish, and republican racists package their old "you wouldn't want to be
caught eatin' communist nip food", is reconverted to a humvee ad.

[Warpy]

7. Those stupid things are status symbols and penis extenders

for suburban daddyrabbits who want to boast about how much debt they can leverage and have sitting in the garage.

My favorite advert has one of those things going over a medium sized boulder, looks like it's gonna split in two like the Titanic.

I've only seen 2 of those ugly things in town actually being driven, and both were driven by trophy wife types who looked like they didn't like getting stuck with the monstrosity while the hubby took the reasonable sedan to work.

[Webster Green]

8. I saw it last night and couldn't believe it...

No wonder GM is failing.

They are compleat idiots!

[Quantess]

9. No Sh*t.

What a great rant. This could have been written by me.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. I actually like these commercials.

They're finally coming out and admitting that Hummer owners feel insecure about their manhood.

[unpossibles]

14. I'm not so sure about that

I think the advertising firm gets it, but I doubt their customer base does.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Well, no, of course their base doesn't get it.

But everybody else does.

[ima_sinnic]

32. lol!

[Vincardog]

18. Or insecure about their Womanhood. Did you see the one with the woman

whose kid has another child butt in line at the playground? She had to buy a Hummer so that would not happen again.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. doesn't that imply penis envy?

Or something?

[Vincardog]

24. It does imply some shortcoming.

[enlightenment]

33. Is that what it means? I thought she was going to go

run over the other woman and her kid -- a certain maniacal look on her face as she drives away at the end.

Assertiveness training would've been cheaper . . .

Who, exactly, are they trying to impress with these commercials -- and where do they live (because I never want to run into one of them)?

[Pirate Smile]

35. I know - like her car in the parking lot is going to solve that problem.

grrrrrr.

[Lisa]

47. I'm waiting for the follow-up, where she attempts to ram ...

... the other mother and child, and instead crushes the slide under her new Hummer. (Focus in on the company's logo, as the emergency sirens start up in the background.)

[villager]

22. it's true -- there's no subtext, since the sexual fears are all

...on the screen, boldly proclaiming the insecurity required to even consider buying one...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. "Restore your Manhood"

Sounds like something Bob Enzyte would say.

[unpossibles]

11. of course - they're using that old saw to sell to insecure guys

and women too - there is a commerical for them to be more aggressive too.

As a male vegetarian, this is so stupid. it's like the "real men don't eat quiche" (which I have actually heard people say, including my dad...). My response: real men and women don't let other people make them feel inferior for what they eat or drive or wear.

I honestly hate advertising, at least the current state of it. At best it's almost clever, at worst it's harming entire generations of people's self esteem so that some Madison Avenue douchebag can have a better Audi.

:sigh:

</rant>

ps - I won't even go into the correlation between high meat consumption and impotence.

[Lisa]

44. I saw a guy wearing a pink T-shirt that read "Real men wear ..."

"...whatever color they want!"

I gave him a thumbs-up.

[sarge43]

15. If you like that one, wait until you see the ad about

the soccer mom out for blood in her Hummer because some bag dissed her.

As said in another post, just what we need right now, more aggression.

[Lisa]

49. there was an interesting ad series out a few years ago ...

... which implied that women needed a strong, trustworthy protecter in their lives -- not a man -- a big heavy SUV!

[TripeOmatic]

56. BTW, THAT ad was also for a yellow Hummer

Hummer - an unfortunate name in any context and not for general 'consumption'.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[villager]

30. you left out the "fuck him!" before the "we'll throw him on the fire"

but a great rant...

[ima_sinnic]

34. ha ha, great!

[Rex]

19. Real men pack their GI tract with dead, rotting flesh from another animal.

:eyes:

[flvegan]

26. The whole concept makes me laugh.

But then, I eat tofu and drive a sportwagon. I guess I don't know anything about "manly" then, do I?

[DRoseDARs]

28. A good viral video to counter this Hummer ad...

...would be to show the Tofu guy walking out, meet up with his super model wife carrying whatever she bought, and we see for the first time his somewhat tight jeans poorly concealing the enormous "python" in his pants. The Hummer driver passes by, is dumbstruck by what he sees, and almost crashes into the store.

[ima_sinnic]

38. bwahaha!!

[SeattleVet]

45. New tagline...

"Nice Hummer.


Sorry about the penis."

[sarge43]

61. Too subtle

Anyone who buys one of those gas hog to enhance his 'manhood' is way too stupid to get the joke.

:eyes:

[sarge43]

57. Bwah

:rofl:

[Jack Rabbit]

36. That's a very twisted idea of manliness

I haven't seen the ad. However, I am a male of this species who is not a vegitarian and who fancies himself an environmentalist; I would resent the implication that masculinity equates to eating meat or driving a gas guzzler. Eating meat is neither here nor there as far as that goes; driving a Hummer is just irresponsible and doesn't have anything to do with being macho.

Where do some people get the idea that one is not a real man unless one is more destructive than necessary?

[unpossibles]

40. Where do some people get the idea that one is not a real man unless one is

more destructive than necessary?

because only chicks care about stuff. </sarcasm>

[JuniperLea]

37. I wouldn't be caught dead driving one!

I sold my SUV in 02 and I'm happy to say I'm no less cool.

I'd be thoroughly embarrassed to drive anything bigger than the smallest mini van right now. When I see massive SUV's or Hummers going down the street, my first thought is "awww... poor little thing"... then, what a freaking idiot and greedy hog! We are running out of oil and they are burning more than their share!

[Lisa]

53. wouldn't be caught dead in one? Hmm -- that gives me an idea

How about converting existing SUVs into hearses? Those things are known for being big clunky gas-guzzlers.

Then again, there's a "green" cemetery in California which is using a new fleet of Priuses to transport caskets and mourners. Apparently the senior partner in the funeral company is a bit irked by this -- says it's not dignified enough.

[JuniperLea]

63. That Sr. Partner is a loser!

Not dignified enough? So, in order for a funeral or casket transportation to be "dignified" it has to be wasteful and a disgusting status symbol for the weak and feeble minded? Oh, brother!

Maybe some of the weak and feeble minded will want to eventually be buried in their SUV's:)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

39. Wow I guess they're getting really desperate with the gas prices as high

as they are, to make a sale.

LAME and desperate. These ads sound pitifully lame.

The essential message seems to be, if you are an obnoxious asshole, you should buy a Hummer too!

[greguganus]

59. If you can afford a HumVee...

...then you can probably afford the gas. Reminds me of a friend that was bragging about the high gas mileage he was getting on his Rolls Royce. :wtf:

[Cleita]

41. Tofu eating Ninja warriors might disagree, however,

it looks like they are desparate to unload the Hummers and the red meat analogy kind of tells you whom they are targeting the guns and Jesus crowd as the most likely to be dumb enough to buy a Hummer these days.

[leveymg]

43. With a Hummer, you can chase your meat down and eat it raw.

If that doesn't slow the critter down, there's the TOW missile equipped version:

[catmandu57]

46. they're desperate to get rid of these hogs

I thought they were going to discontinue the line next year, they must be going for whoever is still dumb enough to buy one of these things. They're scraping the bottom of the gene pool.

[joefree1]

48. It's about that "other meat"

Or the lack there of.



Hummer drivers crack me up. What idiots.

[shadowknows69]

51. Killing a soy bean isn't manly

slaughtering animals is. come on. ;-)

[hamerfan]

54. Love the Google ads at the bottom of this page,

there are four of them, all for Hummers.
dumpbush

[ima_sinnic]

66. ha ha, yes I see them too (but only 3 right now) --

[hyphenate]

52. Saw that one

The whole issue of the hummer commercials is to get an image of someone who will not appear to be a wimp. I guess in their view, guys who happen t have vegetarian diets are wimps. The other one is where a mother is at a playground with her daughter, and pushes in front of this other woman, who goes out and buys a hummer as well.

I guess these idiots think we're not pushy or aggressive enough and having a hummer will somehow help that image.

[cigsandcoffee]

55. I can appreciate the H1.

That was the real McCoy. Not that anyone would really need one or anything, but it was the rugged military based machine built for endurance and miserable driving conditions.

The H2 and H3 are jokes. The former is based on a Suburban chassis, and has about as much in common with an H1 as a cessna does to an F-16. I don't know what they based the H3 on, but it looks like something heavily targeted to the "fake it till you make it" crowd. As off road vehicles, the H2 and H3 are less competent than an old Suzuki Samurai.

[leveymg]

68. Miserable driving conditions is right.

Have you driven one? It reminds me a lot of the GMC diesel towtruck I drove as a summer job long ago. Only more claustrophic.

That's on the road. Off-road, they're unstoppable, which is exactly what you want off-road.

Couldn't imagine commuting in one, unless I lived in a neighborhood like this:

[patdem]

60. Well to me it means..if you eat meat like that your gonna die so might as

well take out as many other people as you can, if you die in your vehicle. That was such a STUPID add I cannot imagine it can convince even a neanderthal to purchase their product?

[htuttle]

62. Tofu less manly than beef? Say something like that to a guy like this...

...and learn the Lesson of Ed Gruberman.

[theHandpuppet]

64. You know what's even sadder?

I just got back from the veterinarian's office where there was one of those gigantic monstrosities parked in the lot. The license plate sported a "VETERAN" logo. All I could think of was, "How many servicemen or women died today so you could fill that hog with gas? " I just don't get it.

[tom_paine]

65. The ad at the top of this thread is for a Hummer

Isn't that ironic?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

70. What About That Vegetarian Volkswagon Commercial?

I don't see anyone being up in arms about that one.

I think it was volkswagon anyway, where it was implying that everyone that bought one was a vegetarian and a green conscious consumer etc.. I don't see anyone complaining about that image.

Hummer is marketing towards their target audience, and the commercials do it well. You are not their target audience obviously. But yes, many who might be interested in a hummer would be of the "gimme a big juicy steak and a beer" type. Nothing wrong with that, it's just their market.

[lukasahero]

76. And a steak and a beer is what manhood is about?

Sorry guys, again, I overestimate you...

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

79. Don't Be So Narrow.

No one said that's what manhood is about, or at least I certainly didn't.

The point is that to this niche market; the target audience; that IS part of what manhood is about. So therefore, the marketing ploy is accurate.

[lukasahero]

80. As I said, once again, I overestimate men at least the men this ad

works for. whatever.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

81. Maybe You Shouldn't Have Such A Generic View Of Men.

Men are as diverse as anyone else. If you expect all of them to hold the characteristics of your estimation then you surely will be disappointed frequently. I find it odd that the realization that there are some men that find eating meat to be manly was a shock or disappointment to you. Though I personally don't agree with their perception of 'manhood', I certainly also never for a second estimated that there wasn't a man or group of men on earth that considered eating meat and drinking beer to be part of being 'manly'.

[Quantess]

82. That's kind of weird to me.

I understand that men love to BBQ. I also understand that at BBQs, it can sometimes be awkward for vegetarians, who sometimes get made fun of. So I can sort of see the connection. But, it is a purely societal phenomenon, if people think eating meat is a validation of masculinity.

It's as weird to me, as the idea that red or pink nail polish is "normal", and blue nail polish is "weird". There's absolutely no reason for it.

My boyfriend won't eat any animal that walks on 4 legs. Nobody gives him grief about it, from what I've seen.

[SoCalDem]

71. Unless you chase down a steer and bite into his ass, you are a wimp

It's all part of the "brie eating, cabernet swilling, hot-tubbing, tree-hugging, environmentalist mantra that the REAL HE-MEN on the right have been laughing about and writing about for decades.. It's the quintessential stereotype of Californiacs, and we all know how jealous the fundies are of us:)

They even said repeatedly that Reagan was from the midwest, even though he lived in California all of his adult life..

They love our money and our movies and our weather, but that;s where it stops..

The same people who perpetuate this myth, would jump down your throat if you called them a redneck :)

[johnaries]

72. It's like this. Men like their food to have taste. nt

[geniph]

73. They might just as well include the Viagra prescription

with every Hummer purchase.

I always wave to Hummer drivers. Of course, it's with my floppy little finger only, but a lot of them don't seem to get it.

[Roland99]

75. That commercial is the epitome of what's wrong with America!!!!

I fucking HATE that commercial and the one with the woman, too.

[lukasahero]

77. right there with you roland99

right there with you.

[Truthiness Inspector]

78. Hummers are ridiculous but some of the comments here...

directed at women saying they have "penis envy" are very offensive.

Most Hummer owners have ego issues, but the penis envy thing, please. It's like you are implying male genitalia are superior, and thus, something to be envied by women who have "shortcomings." Do those of you who are saying this feel the same way about women athletes, and women in "male-dominated" positions?

Hummers are idiotic, the commercials are pure stupidity, matched only by some of the remarks on this thread.