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It's old news that sexist stereotypes have long been used to sell everything from cigarettes to cars to chicken wings. But this new Hardee's (the fast-food chain also called Carl's Jr.) commercial, which I saw on prime time last night, is particularly sick-making. Fort those of you who can't watch YouTube at work, I'll summarize: A bunch of 20-something dudes are sitting on a couch in a Generic Bachelor Pad (dart board on wall, football posters), watching NASCAR. Another guy, clad in flannel shirt and baseball cap, ambles up from the kitchen, looking pleased with himself and holding a tray of excellent-looking, golden biscuits. "Hey guys, who wants some fresh biscuits?" he asks.
Utter silence ensues as the dudes stare at each other in confusion tinged with disgust. They clearly don't know what to say. No one reaches for a biscuit. A deep-voiced off-screen announcer says, in a slow, this-should-be-obvious tone, "Guys don't bake."
Then a Hardee's chicken biscuit flashes on the screen, with the words "We bake, so you don't have to."
Gagging noises follow (that'd be me).
What the commercial is saying seems pretty obvious: Baking is an unmasculine activity and guys who bake are somehow not normal (hence the freaked-out stares). The homophobic implications are pretty close to the surface.
Watching Paris Hilton writhe around in a swimsuit eating a burger in the old Carl's Jr. ad was irritating, but this is much worse: Hardee's is taking something great (who wouldn't like a guy that makes awesome snacks?) and turns it into something shameful and snicker-worthy.
And honestly, in this Food Network-loving, celebrity chef-worshiping world, aren't we pretty much past thinking that baking is for girls (or that any activity is just for girls/boys, for that matter). I recently saw Bobby Flay baking biscuits and making jam on a biscuit-themed Throwdown With Bobby Flay. Say what you will about Bobby Flay, a pugilistic high school drop-out with tough-kid New Yorkah accent, but he's not, to quote Ahnold, a "girlie man." Who, I ask you, really believes that a man baking is gross/wrong? The guys from Mad Men? The Taliban? So why is Hardee's trying to bring back such a regressive stereotype?
To sell biscuits, obviously. Thanks, but I'll stay home and let my boyfriend bake - his biscuits are pretty good, but his cinnamon rolls are really to die for. And I've never seen his friends pass up one of his chocolate chip cookies. That would be weird.
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10-28-2008 @9:44AM Jason said... Real men don't need Hardee's to cook for them. They can to it themselves.
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10-28-2008 @10:24AM Kearns said... The guys in the commercial clearly live in "Real America", cause here in "Unreal America" guys bake... Perhaps Carls Jr. is just looking to sell biscuits to the GOP...
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10-28-2008 @10:44AM John McCain said... I'm Sarah Palin, and I endorse this ad.
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10-28-2008 @11:03AM christopher said... Real men don't need others to feed themselves. I haven't eaten at Hardee's but I'm sure I'd take homemade biscuits over their 'homemade' biscuits. I saw that commercial and chuckled. Advertising (TV in general) is all about up-playing stereotypes. Women love candles, vacuuming, cleaning, and cooking. Men love sports, cars, sitting on their arse, and avoiding their wives chores. I'm happy to live in Unreal America because that world looks miserable.
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10-28-2008 @11:36AM Daniel said... Wow, false outrage in a politcally correct America has trickled all the way down to food blogs!
I have no problem baking at all, but c'mon, is anyone TRULY offended by the commercial? Do you honestly think it was aimed at you, your storybook husband, or your lifestyle? Do you honestly think that it's going to send a message of "guys don't bake" to anyone that didn't already have that preconception anyway?
Get over yourself, and don't pretend that people get life-lessons from a damn Carl's Jr/Hardees commercial.
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10-28-2008 @11:47AM mhartnett said... Daniel: Seriously. Anyone offended by this needs to check their priorities.
Kearns: I'm extremely conservative. I also bake. Stop stereotyping in a complaint about stereotyping. It's hypocritical.
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10-28-2008 @12:11PM Spoonman said... I'm a man, and I'm not offended by this commercial, so neither should you. If I don't get to determine what is and what isn't offensive to women, you don't get to determine what's offensive to men. I feel that the commercial was making fun of the stereotype, not men, not gays, not baking, not couches. You had no issue with the "typical bachelor pad" portion of the commercial, did you? That's a stereotype, too. Not all bachelors live like that, but you glossed right over that.
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10-28-2008 @12:13PM Bernie B said... It's just wrong to give Bobby Flay credit for anything. He's great at what he does, but it doesn't mean we have to like it. Couldn't you have pointed to Alton Brown, Morimoto, Todd French, or Anthony Bourdain?
The man has some severe personality problems.
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10-28-2008 @12:25PM Samme said... My only problem with this was the scene: guys watching football without snacks see a tray of biscuits walk into the room. In my experience, unless those biscuits were for some reason inedible they would have a life expectency of less than 30 seconds before they were completely devoured.
Guys would eat Hardees awful biscuits in that situation. Fresh biscuits wouldn't even have crumbs left.
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10-28-2008 @2:10PM Pyrofish said... That is pretty silly. If I brought out a tray of my biscuits my buddies would scoop 'em up faster than I could get one. I'm a pick-up driving, scuba diving, fish spearing/catching, tent camping, bread/biscuit baking man. I am currently working on campfire biscuits in a dutch oven for the next big camping trip.
Now, that's not to say I don't catch a rash of garbage about this exact sort of thing from my dad and brother. Oh they'll eat the clafouti, or the biscuits, or the chocolate tort, but they'll harass me about it afterward. You just have to be man enough to take the harassment ;-)
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10-28-2008 @2:59PM Rt said... This was designed to produce page hits. It seems it did well.
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10-28-2008 @4:25PM DanGarion said... Dude, it's just a freaking commercial. People read WAY too much into things nowadays. You assuming that the commercial is homophobic is just as bad as if they were actually being homophobic (which personally I don't see). There is being PC and then there is just being stupid. And honestly expecting everyone to walk on eggshells just because one person might be stupid is just plain stupid (if that makes sense).
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10-29-2008 @10:39AM jerkchick said... it's almost funny to watch advertisers attempt to keep social roles narrowly defined for ease of marketing and advertising. almost.
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10-29-2008 @12:01PM Patrick said... true, this commercial is idiotic, but for the most part I think the sexist trend in commercials and sitcoms is reversed. I would say almost 100% of the time, the husband or man is portrayed as a simpleton idiot to his eye-rolling wiser wife. the wife, inevitably, looks like she hates her moron of a husband. but maybe that's just a continuation of what's happening in this commercial, since any guy who turns down freshly baked biscuits is clearly stupid.
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12-06-2008 @3:41PM Eric said... A good depiction of hell: stuck on a couch watching NASCAR with a bunch of homophobic jackasses. Hey Hardees, bite my biscuit.
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