News Necessities: I’ll Take a Venti and Some M&M’s
February 7, 2012Let’s talk about what happened on Sunday. Sure, there was a big game but don’t ask me to explain it. I mean here’s my understanding of football: a ball gets tossed around a field, and a bunch of men (or women) run all over, annnnd then there’s some tackling. Repeat for a few hours.
Right. So like most people, the commercials are my favorite part of the Superbowl or as some folks call it – the yearly Patriot-pounding event. This year we saw some classy ads. There was the Audi vampire, the over-sized dog, and my favorite the naked M&M.
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Actually market research suggested that the M&M’s commercial was one of the top rated spots of the game. Not bad, right? But another hard-hitting spot was the half-time Chrysler ad starring Clint Eastwood. Sure it was motivational, but it also seemed politically motivated didn’t it? All the talk of pulling together and rallying – it almost sounded like an undercover ad for the Obama campaign – and it looks like I’m not alone in this theory.
When corporations become involved in political movements, it can get a bit tricky can’t it, and I tend to wonder where the line should be drawn. I know I’ll never see Target in the same light.
And perhaps Starbucks can speak to this a little better after last week, as they seem to be facing some backlash due to their same-sex marriage support in Washington State. The coffee bastion in conjunction with Nike, Microsoft and Google, publicly endorsed marriage equality in the rainy state. Starbucks released a statement claiming that they have a “lengthy history of leading and supporting policies that promote equality and inclusion”.
We all know what happens next right? Ah – (insert sarcastic font) clearly this means Starbucks “hates God”. Yes from California to Iowa, the calls for a coffee boycott are in full force. Bob Vander Plaats of the Family Leader, you know the guy who wrote the “Marriage Vow” released a video (which has since been taken down) and announced false statements about Starbucks in order to draw customers away from their caffeine havens. Yes Vander Plaats went so far as to say that Starbucks claimed, “God’s design of marriage is bad for America”.
Class act.
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You don’t see him going after Google, Nike or Microsoft but somehow Starbucks was a better target. This raises a few interesting points though doesn’t it? First, why not go after the big guns there Mr. Vander Plaats? Let’s see you boycott Google. Go ahead. Secondly, and I hate to say this but believe it needs to be pointed out – Target became a villain (to some people) due to its support for an anti-gay candidate. Although I whole-heartedly agree with Starbucks (and Google etc…) and appreciate their public support of marriage equality, at what point is it okay for these companies to get involved, or is it?
Oh and one last thing – Vander Plaats received a new nick name – HBIC (head bigot in charge). Anyone else just have a flashback of I Love New York (NSFW)? That reminds me – whatever happened to Tiffany Pollard? I mean we all know where Flavor Flav is.
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News Necessities: Sue
Sue likes sticking to the important issues and brings you one post every Tuesday to highlight a recent event or media frenzy and dissect it.
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Diffuse 5 is a website providing events, news, articles, products and interviews for the lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer community in Boston and beyond.
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