Watch it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcpo8YsAeno

I did generalize a bit there, didn’t I? I do recognize that in the States, some men have “twisted views” of women, and it is a problem. But harassment in the States, as you mentioned, is not nearly so much a problem as it is in Egypt. That’s all I meant by referring to it as an Egyptian problem; the twisted view that some men have of women is, as you implied, a universal problem. I hope that clears that up a bit.

As to my statement that some men don’t know how to “behave appropriately towards women,” I did not mean that this is just an Egyptian problem, either. But you are right to “call bullshit” on the phrase. I was thinking more along the lines of sons seeing the behaviour of their fathers or elder brothers and assuming it is socially acceptable, at least in the beginning, but I could be wrong there.

Having said that i don’t think that it is the responsibility of an advertising agency to condone something or have a bias towards it. Their main function is to sell. Their main function is to appeal to the masses, and most of the times that means appealing to primal instincts. In this case that means women. It doesn’t make it wrong and it doesn’t make it right. That is my point. There is no one to put the blame on in this case.

I still hold to the fact that men – and most women – will look. People will look at you at the end of the day, again regardless of what they’re wearing. Men DO look at women, they will judge them on their looks, in the same way that women will look at men. It is not Birell’s place (or primary motive) to tell you what is right and what is wrong. They aren’t selling you the beer. They aren’t worried about offending women because they are selling to men, who, unfortunately will always look at women. What you get from the ad is your personal judgment. Putting something in brackets does not allow you to show the context, it’s twisting words. Allowing people to formulate their own opinions [should] be your primary motive. Which i know you wouldn’t have done if the ad was available for people to see and judge for themselves.

Showing a common mentality, might not be perpetuating it. All i’m saying is that advertising, unlike any other form of media, is made with a very defined goal; to sell. It is different from films, books, music and even journalism in the fact that it needs to stand out, needs to drill the product home and make it memorable. It is also important to point out that controversy isn’t a bad thing, this discourse took place, didn’t it? Which is always a step in the right direction.

First of all, like I said above, I acknowledge that the ad doesn’t say should. But it implies it, very strongly, in the distasteful expressions the man’s friends give him when he doesn’t notice looks first. I put the word should because I was considering the context of the ad.

With regards to the other Melody Ads (for those who don’t know, Melody is an Arabic music video channel), at least the ad you were talking about (here), the man does get beaten up for harassing. Which, in some small way, sends a message that harassing is wrong.

As for the other Melody Ads (in particular, Melody tatahada almalal or “Melody Challenges Boredom”) I, of course, hate them (even though they did make me laugh the first time I saw them) because you’re right, they COMPLETELY objectify women.

The woman with the extremely sizeable and exposed assets that features in most of the ads, Boobie (and yes, that is her name in the ad!) personifies everything I dislike about the way women (in general) are portrayed in the media (she actually warrants a post all on her own. Check out this horrendous one in particular). But I wasn’t talking about the fact that women are objectified in the media: I was saying that the Birell ad took it a step further in saying not only that men LOOK at women but that they SHOULD be looking at women first. Let’s agree to disagree here.

And I’m sorry, but I disagree with the idea of showing men having fun at the expense of further perpetuating the common mentality when it comes to women. We want to dig ourselves out of this hole, not deeper into it.

@ Inal & Fatemeh: Sorry I wasn’t here for that thread but I’m glad that worked out. I get why Inal wrote that (potentially) incendiary statement about rape (we all get worked up!) but I understand where you’re coming from. Fatemeh: Thanks for replying!

One thing Inal (and also MJ): when you talk about the woman (in the ad) believing she was a feminist in participating in this, remember that in many societies many women believe that the “exploitation of their flesh” (regardless of what that really means) is actually liberating them. To each his own.

@ Darcy: Sorry to sound pessimistic here, but fat chance of us actually managing to get it off the air.

@ Sahar: Interesting. Kind of like: I demonstrate my insecurity by making you feel inferior.

@ Hossam: LMHJ (Laughing my Hijab Off—Term Courtesy of comedian Dean Obeidallah).

You cracked me up. And there is some element of truth in what you say—if the brand character was not selling, then they had to create one that will.

@ Peter: I agree. Perhaps you generalized a bit, because certainly the “Egyptian mentality” of some men in the way they look at women isn’t unique, but on the whole, you’re correct. And that’s my main argument with this ad. Again, it’s nothing new. But at this period of time, an ad like this does a lot more harm than it would at any other time.

@ Fatemeh/ Sobia/ Philip: Without going into details, suffice to say the reasons for harassment are multifaceted. I’ve actually interviewed a man who, in all seriousness and conviction, told me that he harassed women because it gives them a “confidence boost.”

First, let’s get something clear here: I know the ad doesn’t say a girl’s personality is the last thing you should notice, which is why I put the word in brackets.

However, I put in [should] because according to the context of the ad, that is the message that was getting across (and this isn’t just me, it’s what almost everyone I talked to said). When the man’s friends were disgusted by his commenting on the girl’s personality, they were—essentially—telling him that looks were the most important thing, and that personality wasn’t something he should mention. So not only is the ad saying this is what men do (which is the message that we get when we see ads of men checking women out/ women dressed in a certain way), the ad goes a step further in condemning those who do the opposite. To make a long story short: condemning the man for thinking of personality condones those men who think of looks.

Another thing to clarify: Of course I understand that this is nothing new, and that it happens in countries all over the world. I also understand that harassment is not unique in Egypt’s case although how widespread it is may be. But in Egypt’s case, at this stage of its development, this ad just makes it harder for women (and men) fighting for change.

Its great that people are taking a stand for things that they believe are sexist, but at the same time the main function of the ad is to sell something and not to make a political or religious statement. In your article you mention that the other ads that the company created – including the melody ads – were spot on with egyptian culture. What i get from those ads is that we’re ignorant, we can’t speak english and we slaughter foreign songs, which is yes funny, but doesn’t exactly make us look like stellar examples. The Melody ads also objectify women, look at the one where the man is cat calling and gets beat up, is that ok because he is put in a trash can at the end? Was it ok that her breasts were bobbing up and down just because she wasn’t ‘white, white, white and had blonde hair?’ Because she was the archetype of the egyptian woman that became an adequate representation of our culture? you cannot say that an ad agency has it’s pulse on the country looking at the elements you look at without looking at the campaign as a whole. If you look at the melody campaigns in their entirety, you see that they have exactly the same objectifications – if not worst ones – to the things you find so offensive in the Birrell ad. Something that you created, parenthesis do not make it an actual fact. Saying that egyptian men DO not notice is different then saying they SHOULD.

Look at the rest of the campaign before you judge. It shows men not using coasters and putting their masculinity in question for doing so. If anything it is making light of a situation, the theme throughout the ads is one that does not glorify or objectify women, but shows men having fun. Checking women out, drinking beer and being messy are all trademarks of the men, egyptian or not.

Just food for thought. Just because something doesn’t appeal to your sense of humour – which is how you’ve judged the other ads as far as i can see – doesn’t make it any worse or any better. Judge things for what they need to be judged on, not on your personal bias.