Snickers Ad Angers Some, Confuses Others. Is It Really Sexist?


A new Snickers ad has put a seemingly refreshing twist on an old stereotype: catcalling construction workers, who in this case yell out empowering statements to startled female passersby, like, “You want to hear a dirty word? Gender bias!” But the campaign, released in Australia and viewable on YouTube, may actually be doing more harm than good, according to a rising tide of social media critics. That’s because the ad’s confusing premise — that the men simply aren’t themselves when they’re hungry — seems to cement the idea that, normally, male workers are offensive cretins. 

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“The moral of the new Snickers ad is that we should keep men in a state of constant hunger,” one tweet suggests. And while some tout it for being “great” and “surprisingly funny,” more call it out for being “puzzling,” “confusing,” and “offensive,” with one man noting, “I don't really understand this Snickers ad… Eat Snickers and go back to being a lout?”

The ad was filmed at a construction site, hidden-camera style, with actors posing as builders calling out to actual strangers on the street. “There were a few nervous moments while we were filming the reactions but the public took the experiment in the spirit in which it was intended — to charm and amuse them,” Snickers executive Brad Cole tells Adweek. It’s a follow-up to the last “You’re not you when you’re hungry” Snickers campaign, which launched during the 2010 Super Bowl with the now-legendary Betty White ad. But that time around, it was pretty clear that eating a Snickers bar was supposed to bring positive results. This ad, oddly enough, seems to show the opposite.

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Besides that main confusion, there’s the thorny issue of sexism — both toward men, who can apparently only be respectful when they are “not themselves,” as well as toward women, who are supposed to be flattered and amused by men yelling at them aggressively, just because the message has changed. And while women can point to an endless history of offensive ads, it’s not the first time men have been targets, either. Last year, Samsung’s “evolutionary husband” advertisement, which featured a husband as a useless Neanderthal, caused an outcry among men across the Internet. And recently, a study showed that women aren’t the only ones hurt by advertising. It pointed to portrayed ideas of hypermasculinity including toughness as emotional control and calloused attitudes toward women as serving to normalize such behaviors, often harming the men, too.

But the Snickers ad is an equal-opportunity offender. As Jezebel points out, “Unfortunately, these women look terrified to have people they don't know threateningly yelling these messages at them, even if they are refreshing for once.” Junkee concurs: “The ad also exhibits a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem it seems to be drawing attention to. If you happen to be a woman walking down a street, and a tradesman happens to yell at you, it doesn’t matter what he’s yelling: it’s going to be intimidating.”

On YouTube, where the ad has been viewed half a million times since Tuesday, the opinions of nearly 1,500 commenters were divided; some found it “brilliant,” others “sexist,” and still others, confusing. “Can’t tell if this commercial is sexist or not…” one woman wrote.

Facebook’s Snickers page, meanwhile, was blowing up with bad reviews, several even calling for a boycott. “Your ‘gender equality’ advert was so good... until you ended it telling men to be their normal misogynistic, sexist selves. I'll be boycotting Snickers from now on, since you represent this attitude as normal and manly,” was among the pans. Another woman posts, “Your latest ad is dreadful. The reason I find it so very offensive is because what was motivational and raised optimism in me, turned out to be a joke at my expense. Thank you crappy corporation for reminding me that it is not empowering to think of men respecting women, that rather it is a sign of being hungry and not yourself.”

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