Dairy Queen helps little girls stay flirty and dependent.
May 9th, 2008
Courtesy of a tip from Feministing, this ad from Dairy Queen, showing a little girl flirting with a little boy to get him to buy her a hot fudge sundae. Now, maybe my dad would say it’s cute. Or maybe not.
There are so many things wrong here:
1) The little girl seems to know she’s attractive — why else would she assume the boy would buy her a sundae?
2) When the girl says “make it one,” at first I thought it was because she was watching her weight. Is that the advertiser’s intention?
3) An 8-year-old girl is already into courting and flirting. (Not unlike how many of them also know about being “sexy” and “hot”.) Also, she first seals the deal with the boy at the same moment the mother says the word “temptations.” Accident? I think NOT. The advertising agency wrote the script and synchronized it with the commercial’s action.
TAKE YOUR OWN ACTION: I’m gonna go let Dairy Queen know how I feel about this ad that encourages gender stereotypes that encourages girls to be dependent and manipulative. I hope you’ll do the same. Here are some ideas.
- Go to this web page to give ‘em a piece of your mind.
- If you’re a Dairy Queen customer, don’t go there for a while. (Resist!) Or pull the super-gutsy move: Go to your local Dairy Queen, ask for the manager, and tell him/her that you are not buying anything there because of this ad. Heck, fill out a complaint form while you’re there!
- Call DQ Corporate headquarters: (952) 830-0200 (I just checked the number, and yes, a real person answers.)
- Write a real, paper letter and send it to:
American Dairy Queen Corporation Headquarters
7505 Metro Blvd
Edina, MN 55439
We hope you’ll let us know whether you took these actions in our comments below, and what the result was.
- J. B.
Entry Filed under: advertising, stereotypes, little girls, TV, commercials
3 Comments Add your own
1. Jim | May 10th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I’ve only seen this ad once, and from my point of view (51-year-old male) I chuckled, because I was thinking the little boy was more like a fish on a line being reeled in by a savvy angler. “Like shooting fish in a barrel,” she says.
I didn’t think of it as her being dependent on him for a sundae, as much as getting him to spend his money for what she wanted. I thought the little girl was completely in control, actually.
It made me smile to think that that little boy is just beginning on the fool’s journey so many men head out on, thinking that buying women things will win their hearts. Boy, is he in for a shock when he finds out that women want more than just a guy with a paycheck…ANYBODY can buy things.
But that’s me. If you were offended and felt the wrong message was being sent, then that’s the way it is. As I said, I’m looking at it through male eyes, and I can’t tell people what to be offended by. I mean, I could have been offended because it makes the boy look like an easy mark, but I wasn’t because that’s the way guys are — willing to do anything if it’ll get you to smile at us.
2. Jennifer | May 11th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I really like that you offered your perspective, Jim, and were also open to our point of view. And it’s interesting that you have such a positive opinion of women that you understand that we want something more than “a guy with a paycheck.” Lots of people I know have more cynical views of women… including most of our media, I’m sorry to say.
The ad definitely shows the boy as an easy mark, but it also shows the little girl as a manipulative coquette. And that’s the issues I have. Girls don’t need to learn this behavior from an ad, and boys also don’t need to learn about their expected reaction this way. We need to evolve.
Jennifer
About-Face
3. Porscha | May 12th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I sent an email via DQ’s website, and received the following response:
Dear Ms. ********,
Thank you for contacting International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ) with your
comments regarding our commercials featuring Waffle Bowl Sundaes.
I am truly sorry that our commercial has upset you and that we have
disappointed you.
Your concerns have been documented and forwarded to all appropriate IDQ
personnel for their review. We are taking your comments seriously and will
take them into consideration as we review our advertising plans for the
remainder of this year.
Best regards,
Carolyn
Carolyn Kidder
Senior Consumer Relations Manager
INTERNATIONAL DAIRY QUEEN, INC.
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