Has anyone else noticed the latest Samsung ad? I'd put up a link but I can't find one. Still, it kept showing up on my sidebar, haunting me when I checked my email.
The ad shows a woman sitting at a table with a folder and calculator. Behind her stands an expectant daughter, dressed for soccer and holding a soccer ball. The text reads, "she wants you to watch her game but you need to finish your presentation." Two buttons are available to click: one labeled "stay" and one labeled "go".
Feeling rebellious, I pressed the "stay" button. The child's image switched to one with a sad face and posture, and the message read "Not much of a multi-tasker, are we?"
Wait, this ad wasn't actually criticizing me, was it? I pressed the "stay" button again, just to see what would happen. Another message: "Watching games not in your job description?" Wow, now the ad was trying to give me a guilt trip. What the heck?!
Next, I pressed the "go" button -- clearly the better choice, given what had happened with the other button. I was taken to the website for the Samsung "Go" netbook. "Always Go" read the text -- implying, I suppose, that buying the netbook would allow me to go to that game, to multitask more effectively, and (in general) to avoid having to choose between child and career.
I really don't like this ad. It's bad enough that women are socialized to feel far guiltier than men when they choose work over family time. The ad actively plays on these gendered expectations, implying that you are an inadequate mother if you are too focused on your work. In fact, the ad's mechanisms suggest you should feel guilty for wanting to finish your presentation, and uses this guilt to push its product.
The ad is also suggesting that you can fulfill your motherly duty by doing your work while you're at the game. I don't buy that either. If you're working on that spiffy new netbook, you're not really watching your kid play. By trying to work and watch soccer at the same time, you're probably not doing well at either task.
I know it's just an ad, but I find it highly offensive that a company is using women's deeply-ingrained guilt to target its female market. What do other women think? Is this just how advertising works, or does the ad go too far in using gender roles to sell its product?
