Thursday, December 03, 2009

Method to their Madness?

Method, the maker of natural cleaning products touted as NOT containing harsh chemicals such as ammonia or optical brighteners, had to take down it's recent viral video after receiving complaints that the piece trivialized sexual assault.

From Advertising Age :

Method Pulls 'Shiny Suds' Ad After Sexism Complaints

Household cleaner marketer Method has pulled down a viral video roundly applauded by marketers at the Association of National Advertisers annual conference last month and by most viewers who've seen it because of heated complaints from some women who view it as sexist and even condoning rape.

...The video got more than 700,000 views in a week on YouTube and a five-star rating from viewers before Method pulled the plug.

2 comments:

Jason Bellamy said...

Interesting. I hadn't heard about this.

I think the rape complaint goes a bit too far, but it feels a little creepy regardless.

Matt Maul said...

There's a Burger King commercial that actually aired on television (as part of a Star Trek movie tie-in) which featured "Kingons" beaming into a guy's house and stealing his girlfriend. In this case, there's an even more overt implication of rape than in Method's viral video.

My wife and I both found the Method ad funny. But I get why some found it offensive. The woman in the ad is quite attractive and there are some hints of nudity shown. They juxatpose the titillating shots of her with the cat-calls of the bubbles (gezz, this reads silly as I type it).