These are the well-loved ads where a guy playing football
becomes Betty White, or a football coach becomes Robin Williams, until they
take a bite of a Snickers bar, and then they become themselves again.
Let me get this straight: When we’re hungry, we’re Hollywood
TV & movie stars, but Snickers will remedy this for us, as once we bite
into one, we go back to being the regular non-famous Joe Schmoes we usually
are?
Wow, what a way to encourage eating disorders and unhealthy
body image in young people! In these ads we clearly see how being hungry and
not eating will make us into famous celebrities, but eating something will make
us average again. And you’d think Snickers would make us want to see an upside
to eating their candy bar.
But maybe I’m misreading this? Perhaps what these ads are
truly saying is that celebrity may seem attractive, but it is fraught with all
kinds of soul-killing side effects, like being stalked by paparazzi, slandered
in the tabloids, objectified, pigeon-holed as a character and typecast, etc.,
and that celebrity isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. And then they offer us
an out: eat a Snickers, and you’ll become anonymous again to live your life in
a positive and healthy way. Is that what they’re saying here? Oh, but I guess
not, because according to all the health food people, we cannot lead a healthy
life if we ever eat candy bars.
Here are the star-making spots:
