I’m probably about to step on a cultural landmine, but there’s
a backlash against this new Subway Halloween ad which I think is unwarranted,
and it essentially shoots the messenger. This Subway Halloween ad merely
references the easily verifiable fact that almost every advertised Halloween
costume marketed to adult females is of the “sexy (something)” variety, and as
truthfully claimed in the Subway ad, these costumes are unforgiving in the body
shape department in the same way a bathing suit is. But Subway did not invent
the idea of skimpy “sexy” Halloween costumes for this ad: they already exist and
are worn by choice by actual women in relatively large numbers in real life
each and every Halloween.
So I guess Subway is mean and nasty (and sexist) for
pointing out this fact about women’s Halloween costume marketing? I would have
thought the makers and marketers of these “sexy” costumes would be the villains
of this piece, seeing as how they do not make similar “sexy” Halloween costumes
for men, but these days so often it seems like blame gets heaped not upon the guilty,
but on the someone who points it out, in the current atmosphere of political
correctness.
And like I said, it’s a fact that many women choose to wear
these costumes to Halloween parties, so why is it then bad to show them in a TV
commercial? When someone is actually being honest in the factual representation
of reality, then they are not being sexist; maybe reality is sexist, but that
someone is not, merely for referencing that reality. I think we should probably
all agree on that point. I also think we should all agree that without the
intent to offend, some dispensation should be granted to the offender, as they
did not intend to cause offense. And if referencing reality is offensive, maybe
try to change the reality, rather than shoot the messenger. (Shooting the
messenger is admittedly easier, but it accomplishes nothing more than
intimidating others into a critical silence. And everyone has a right to self-expression
that shouldn’t be discouraged.)
Oh, but maybe the critics are saying it’s the fat-shaming
issue that’s really bad here? Um, sorry, but Subway has made their name on
fat-shaming, and it’s been the lifeblood of their advertising for years, although
perhaps not quite this directly.
And what about diet companies? Their ads scream that we have
to lose weight for our summer beach body. But apparently that’s fine, whereas
making a completely honest and apt comparison to the skimpy skintight women’s
“sexy” Halloween costumes makes Subway a sexist villain? I’m sorry, but that
seems like hypocrisy to me. I fail to see the difference in the message. In
fact, the diet ads show women in far
skimpier outfits: bikinis, in fact; so why is that less sexist than “sexy” Halloween costumes that cover more of the
women’s bodies?
I can see why some people might immediately label this ad
sexist, but I think if you look at lots of other ads, you’ll see it’s really
not that bad. And what about movies and TV shows where the female form is
objectified for sex constantly? This Subway ad is a joke, referencing a
real-life trend in a humorous way, so I really don’t see why it’s being abused
so. I would think their claim that eating giant sandwiches makes you lose
weight would be the foul here, but I guess not. Maybe nobody noticed that
Subway’s ads were all about weight loss claims until they saw women in
revealing Halloween costumes?
Personally, I think this ad is a fun joke on the
ridiculously sexist Halloween costumes that we all get heaps of fliers full of
on the run-up to Halloween each year. To me, maybe the costumes are sexist; referencing or joking about them is not.
But, to defuse the accusation of sexism, Subway could modify
this ad to add a scene of the guy in a skintight spandex superhero suit, or
some skimpy men’s costume (or make a separate ad in the same campaign just showing
men in skimpy costumes: that would actually be funny, and make perhaps a more
“acceptable” parody of the “sexy” Halloween costume issue), and then they’d
only be guilty of fat-shaming. (But they always
do that.)
Although in this case, maybe Subway is being helpful in
encouraging us to stay slim for Halloween. We’re all going to binge on candy
for a while beginning on Halloween, and we’ll probably gain weight, so starting
from a position of slimness is probably a good idea. (Hmm, I wonder if Subway
makes a candy bar sandwich that helps us lose weight? It would probably work as
well for weight loss as their other sandwiches.)
Here’s the supposedly sexist Subway sandwich spot:
