It seems that a small, but vocal contingent of TV viewers found a recent ad for the Hummer H3 to be offensive enough to make some phone calls and in turn, cause some tweaking.
The ad in question, for those of you who didn't see the spot, depicts two gentlemen crossing each other's paths at the grocery store. One arrives at the checkout stand with tofu and the other arrives with large piles of dead animal flesh. After grimacing at his lack of intestinal dominance, our tofu-consuming protagonist leaves the grocery store and drops his hard-earned cash on an H3. The tagline displayed after our hero is wolfing down a burger behind the wheel proclaims, "restore your manhood." That final line is what seemed to get Modernista's minions into trouble.
To rectify the situation, GM has changed the final line to read, "restore the balance." What that means is open to debate and, well, that's why there's a comment section.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Mike @ Aug 7th 2006 1:09PM
How gay!
I actually thought the ads were cool - but this makes them way uncool for sure
Oscar @ Aug 7th 2006 1:13PM
R u kidding me, who is the fags that call? I hate these politically correct times...
yaris @ Aug 7th 2006 1:18PM
Reminds me of the troubled Dodge Caliber "stupid fairy" ad... I loved both! People are becoming overly sensitive.
jfrolang @ Aug 7th 2006 1:20PM
I see these ads as ironic, they're reinforcing the idea that people that buy these vehicles are compensating for something.
Jim @ Aug 7th 2006 1:20PM
So the company whose name is a synonym for fellatio can't say "manhood" in an ad? Words fail me.
Fabulo @ Aug 7th 2006 1:21PM
So they cave in under _any_ kind of pressure?
"We have no balls."
That's the message. While the "restore your manhood" tagline was appealing to a very low level (then again, men in search of their 'manhood' in the ownership of a car need to be talked to on that level), it got the job done.
There was nothing offensive in the original line. Offensive would have been:
"Don't be gay, buy the H3, a real man's car"
"Ditch the fufu tofu, here's the real meat"
"That bitch tamed you down, this car will give you your testicles back"
"Screw everyone else, I'll run over you with my mighty H3"
Now that's offensive.
Then again, there is always the problem of being too manly, like too much leather wearing, leather hats, big moustache, macho looking, Village People, cowboy boots (on anyone else but a cowboy, like Owen Wilson with vowboy boots). Hummer is well past that line in the first place.
ATL @ Aug 7th 2006 1:24PM
That actually sounds about right -- I mean, that's what it seems SUV buyers are going for. I just wish they'd restore their understanding of traffic rules.
Bill @ Aug 7th 2006 1:27PM
I laugh at that "Stupid Fairy" commercial everytime. Was that one pulled/changed too?
Man we live in sad times. I mean, really, were the people who complained about this commercial really going to go out and buy an Hummer?
ZoomZoomin' @ Aug 7th 2006 1:27PM
You've got to be kidding. I thought the ads were pretty funny. Definitely a bit bold, but amusing and I think they were even *slightly* making fun of their own image at the same time.
I swear, this country has no sense of humor and gets pissy about the smallest things. Of course, this is while often being oblivious/apahthetic toward truly important matters.
Edward @ Aug 7th 2006 1:33PM
#4. I agree... and they're compensating by purchasing the most watered-down model at that.
Re-bit @ Aug 7th 2006 1:36PM
Knowing the industry, I bet the Ad agency is to blame for not stand by their creatives. The account manager should restore his manhood. GM have to learn to make BOLD moves!
Steve S @ Aug 7th 2006 1:37PM
That ad was great, can't say I 100% agree with it but it was funny as hell.
Steve @ Aug 7th 2006 1:37PM
They're making fun of their own image! Who are they offending? Themselves?
MTH @ Aug 7th 2006 1:39PM
Ok, the complainers are not likely gay, but vegans. The inferance being that vegetarians are not manly. So calling these people gay that complained might be a bit much. I am gay, I don't eat tofu and I sell Hummers for a living. Lets ease up on the stereotypes and use our heads.
baggin' at the wiggly @ Aug 7th 2006 1:44PM
If they can make that hummer get 25 miles a gallon I will buy one. That things got a lot of character.
dt @ Aug 7th 2006 1:51PM
Just as I was thinking that those Chevy Apprentice ads (http://www.autoblog.com/2006/03/31/chevys-make-your-own-tahoe-commercial-not-exactly-going-as-pl/) had disappeared into the ether, it turns out that they were just practice for Hummer.
Too bad Hummer didn't have the cojones to use them verbatim, only with the H3 instead of the Tahoe.
N Z K @ Aug 7th 2006 1:53PM
I kind of liked the Hummer ads, even if only because they were entirely appropriate: after all, shouldn't a maker of really tasteless vehicles make really tasteless ads?
Ryan @ Aug 7th 2006 1:55PM
"13. Ok, the complainers are not likely gay, but vegans. The inferance being that vegetarians are not manly. So calling these people gay that complained might be a bit much. I am gay, I don't eat tofu and I sell Hummers for a living. Lets ease up on the stereotypes and use our heads.
Posted at 1:39PM on Aug 7th 2006 by MTH 0 stars"
-Now THAT would be a sweet tagline:
-Restore your manhood, use your head, get it?! LOL.
Robert Aitchison @ Aug 7th 2006 1:55PM
As was already allueded to in comments it was probably two main groups of people who were "offiended" and called and complained.
1. SUV owners, especially HUMMER owners don't like to be reminded of the stereotype of people buying big SUVs to compensate for any shortcomings in other areas. Hillariously it was likely the ones who actually are compensating who took the time to complain, as people who would buy an SUV for other reasons probably wouldn't get all butthurt (pun intended) over the inference.
2. Peta wackjobs who are trying to convince people that people can be healthy without eating meat (which is technically possible but extremely difficult). With so many skinny affeminant vegans running aound already they don't like to see the messages that meat eaters are manly and tofu eaters aren't on the TV.
WillDaThrill @ Aug 7th 2006 1:57PM
I liked that commercial too. The only ones it may have offended were the tree huggin' veegans. "How dare they say we need to drive that earth killing vehicle." Or some chick with her panties in a bunch because it said something about being manly. I'm opting for the first one.
It should read, "Restore your manhood, stop being sissy!" Or, "Restore your manhood, take your pants back from your wife!"