The government in the U.K. has completely lost the plot. Why let the free market decide for itself whether they think something is offensive, when people who self-righteously think they know better than everyone else can make the decisions for them? It’s as if those in positions of authority in the U.K. want all the people to turn into robots who all walk, talk and act the exact same.
In the U.K.’s latest attempt at social engineering, the authoritarian U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) - which CNN either conveniently or accidentally changed in their article to "Agency" in order to take the authoritarian stigma of the ASA out of the equation - have banned commercials by Volkswagen and Philadelphia Cream Cheese because they say that the commercials perpetuate “gender stereotypes.”
Because all of you are most likely more intelligent than the people at the ASA, I’ll let you go first at deciding for yourselves whether these commercials are guilty of promoting gender stereotypes before putting the ASA's slant on them (first commercial - Volkswagen, second commercial - Philly Cream Cheese):
Here’s the thing. Even if the commercials could be argued to promote gender stereotypes, who cares? If someone is offended, odds are they can decide for themselves whether to purchase those products. I understand the state — no matter the country — doesn’t think people can think for themselves. But, I swear that most people actually do have brains inside those communication containers we call heads.
As for the ASA’s argument, they claim “taking care of children was a role that was stereotypically associated with women.” Yeah, it’s called motherhood.
I just want to know why “progressives” have made being a stay-at-home mom a negative. Some women go into the workforce, some stay at home with the kids. Either is fine, but not according to the ASA and the U.K. government, apparently.
The ASA lists in their "About" section on their website that they're basically looking out for all of you, because you're too stupid to figure it out for yourselves.
"We’re passionate about what we do because responsible advertisements are good for people, society and advertisers," the website says. "Our mission is to make every UK ad a responsible ad."
CNN noted that "over 125 people complained" about the Philadelphia Cream Cheese commercial.
“We take our advertising responsibility very seriously and work with a range of partners to make sure our marketing meets and complies with all UK regulation,” a spokesperson for Mondelez International, the company which produces “Philadelphia" said, according to CNN.
I might even agree that the Philadelphia Cream Cheese commercial does promote the typical media-driven stereotypes that dads are inept morons who can barely fold a shirt. But at the same time, let the public decide.
We have a “cancel culture” where instead of people simply staying away from a product because they don’t agree with the sentiment of their advertisements, a small minority of people now feel it’s their job to complain about everything that could possibly be construed as offensive. And these companies cave pretty easily, too. Think about it.
An overwhelming majority of people could either like or not care about the messaging of a commercial, but because eight people who have nothing better to do with lives complain, companies cowardly kowtow to them.
Sad.