Skip to main content

Why Hertz Won't Get My Business

I think capitalism works. I generally like to continue doing business with companies that I have used before. I have had the same insurance company for 30 years. I like that I get to spend my money the way I see fit and give my patronage to whomever I like. I am not trying to start a movement, incite folks to boycott or to take any sort of stand with me, but I do want to tell all six of my readers that I will not be renting a car from Hertz in the near future because of their new commercial campaign. It ticked me off. I find it an insult to men and women. Yeah, I have a sense of humor. A rather keen one actually. I don't find the Hertz "gas or brake" campaign funny.

I am an equal opportunity satirist. I think folks are easy to poke fun at. All of them. Male, female, democrat, republican, old and young. OK, I especially enjoy poking fun at democrats. They make it so darned easy. But this commercial that Hertz is so proud of irritates me. Individually each little scenario is funny.... except that it's the women who are given all the power. I am offended for men everywhere as they are portrayed as fearful and inept in each little vignette.

Why is it that it's OK to sacrifice the confidence of young men and portray them as fearful losers as long as women aren't made to look that way? OK yeah, the woman dressing the frog before its dissection is moronic, but she touches the frog and you know from the look on the boys face during that skit that he has no desire to touch the dead frog. Seems to me that women don't want equality in our culture, they want to flex their superiority muscles at every turn of the road. I am a strong, capable woman who is sick to death of men being treated like second class citizens. Where are the feminists with principles of equality now? Laughing their butts off without a second thought to how commercials like this shape the minds of young male people. They don't count.

Haven't we learned anything from Jane Elliot's experiment? How we treat people matters. How we portray people matters. Or maybe we are stuck with Orwell's Animal Farm. All of us are created equal, some are more equal than others. Discrimination is OK as long as it is couched as "just kidding" or in fun and I am not the target. Would my reaction have been different if the role of gas and break had changed in the various vignettes? You bet, but it didn't. You've come a long way baby but are you're just too stubborn or stupid to admit that woman have become the overbearing chauvinists we complained about men being during the 60s?






Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Super Church a song for the Emergent-sy

In the early 70s I was in a youth choir at my church. Our youth pastor was a musician and his way of connecting with us as a group was through the choir and music. Somehow there was an affiliation between him and The Continental Singers, New Hope and Jeremiah People. He was worked with Moishe Rosen of Jews for Jesus too, I think. Are any of these names familiar to you? Though I remember the church fondly I was a profoundly lost and troubled young woman during my years there. That and time have muddled the memories quite a bit. Today I was digging through some old paperwork and one of the books to the musical we did. It's Getting Late For the Great Planet Earth, a folk rock oratorio by Cam Floria. Yes, that's right. Cam Floria put Hal Lindsey to music. There's a lot to laugh about and some to groan about but as I was looking through the songs and remembering, I found this little ditty and I only wish I could sing it for you. Just remember that this is circa 1972 and even th...

It's all part of growing up

Today is my birthday. I am 51. I have officially lived longer than my mother. I have survived several major earthquakes, three fires, five floods, uterine cancer, having my infant body burned by percolating coffee and a childhood from hell. I have been stalked by a madman, been asked to be interviewed for the Australian version of 60 Minutes, received a bronze medal and helped foil a kidnap attempt of a celebrity. In my short 51 years, I have had an incredible life. I was asked by a former student what advice I would give a 30 year old that I have come to value now that I am in my 50s. The list of things that I value now that I didn't value then and vice versa is huge. Since my current topic is discipline, I would have to say that I wish I had cultivated discipline at an earlier age. Much earlier than my 30s. I wish I had learned the difference between need and want sooner. I have tried too hard to fulfill wants as if they were needs. The want vacuum just moves, it doesn...

Be yourself- don't waste your blog...

So... I read an article on my friend, Carla's blog . I have written about her on my blog before and have recommended her before. In this particular post she talks about one blogger's vision for a directory of Christian bloggers to help promote accountability. Which, on the surface sounds all good and 'Christianly' but Carla has reservations. Then I read the comments for her article and Steve Camp of Camp onThis fame has responded. I have also recommended his blog a number of times. For those of you who don't want to click the links, this is a brief synopsis. Some guy wants to have a Christian bloggers directory for accountability purposes, Carla questions the need since accountability begins in the bloggers local church, and she fears it will set up a click of bloggers who are "in" and those who are "out." Steve drives the point home and signs his comment "Don't waste your blog..." That's the part that has me spinning....