And Now I am Really Pissed

Perhaps the near-constant rain of the past five days has made me overly cranky, but an ad in today's newspaper for a new Sony HDTV has really ticked me off.

"Introducing Bravia -- The World's First Television FOR MEN AND WOMEN."

"We had guys in mind when we gave it wider viewing angles and a picture that keeps up with the action. We had women in mind when we gave it a broader color spectrum and a slim, wall-mountable design."

Holy crap. What focus group from hell gave the ad agency the idea that women are only interested in the color and slimness of a TV? (Oooh, the pretty picture! It's so colorful!) Especially when said TV has an extremely hefty price tag.

Since the Bravia proclaims itself the FIRST television for men and women, evidently I have been going against some law of nature by sharing any number of televisions with my husband lo these many years (and one of them is a Sony.)

There we were, innocently in bed, happily watching the same TV -- perhaps I should consider myself lucky that the gender police didn't take us into custody for our transgression.

Or at least what we were staring at hypnotically looked like a television...golly, if I believe everything I read (like a good little woman) then it must have been something else.

O.K., I'm not trying to be stridently feminist or anything. I just hate seeing these gender-specific concepts thrown at us consumers so nonchalantly.

Granted, I also get pissed because Gillette feels it has to make pastel Sensor Excel razors for women (they are essentially the same product as the silver/gray men's.) So I use the "men's" version, not only because they are more streamlined but also on principle.

I just happened to be out with my parents last week as they were shopping for a wall-mountable HDTV. They are in their sixties, having come of age in the very gender-specific 1950s. Yet, they were both equally concerned with picture quality (the supposed "guy" factor) and the overall "look" (the supposed "women" factor) of the televisions they were deciding between.

Hmm, and they wanted my technical input and opinion -- imagine that -- me being a girl and all??

So, listen up, you stereotyping copywriting goofball -- men can care about picture color and women can care about viewing angles and both can care about whatever it is they happen to be looking for in a TV.

The other thing I really hate about this newspaper ad is that it carries the dual headlines "Makes HDTV History. Makes HDTV Herstory."

HERSTORY? HERSTORY?? Barf. Oh god, this is just too bad.

For whatever reason, it reminds me of Michael Jackson's "HIStory." And really do you want to mentally associate your product even remotely with anything Michael Jackson?

The only positive thing I can say is that I went to the Sony website, and there was nothing there that resembled this print campaign. That said, I don't really feel like providing a direct link to their site. Besides, if you've got enough money to afford the Bravia, you probably aren't spending your time reading this blog...