A new campaign portraying men as sufferers from PMS is doing the exact thing people who create ads that portray men as sufferers from PMS hope for – getting massive amounts of attention.
Oftentimes when we think of PMS sufferers, we think of stereotypes. Women comically swinging giant pans at henpecked husbands, who can’t imagine why on earth they’d be upset. The reality is far more ordinary and not nearly as funny, but that’s not stopping the people who are in charge of the Got Milk ads from staging faux protests held by the male sufferers of PMS, giant billboard drawing attention to the problem. Why the link between milk and PMS? Because apparently the calcium helps lesson the symptoms of PMS. So the ad portrays men, happily apologizing for the things they did or didn’t do, while holding up milk to appease their imaginary women.
Although the ad is humorous, it’s attracted the ire of women. If I were a woman, an ad where men give their perspective on something they know nothing about would irk me too, as that’s closer to real life than anything in print media.
The billboard and protests are already being held on prominent streets like Hollywood Blvd.
Comments
Kai
July 14th, 2011 - 4:23:04 PM
I've never understood why women get so PO'd about anything every being attributed to PMS. I get that there's a stereotype of a woman suffering from PMS that is less than flattering - but if I had an excuse to be moody and violent once a month (regardless of whether I actually am or not - Every person with the flu doesn't blow snot across the room when they sneeze, but it's nice to know that it would somewhat understood if I did while I had the flu), I'd be milking it for all it's worth.
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