Holden’s latest Acadia ad doesn’t pass the Bechdel test
While Holden’s latest ad is undeniably fun, we can’t ignore its use of outdated representations of women in an ad aimed at a primarily female target audience, writes Sarah Vincenzini.
Holden’s new spot for the Acadia (car namers, please try harder) is a little bit of fun, which, if you’ve ever worked on auto campaigns, you’ll know is a fair feat.
The line “Don’t just turn up. Arrive.” is meaningless yet cute, and I’m sure it got a round of collective gaffaws in the creative presentation.
The execution itself is memorable and entertaining, showcasing a series of everyday blokes turning up to everyday places with serious swagger in their stride, all thanks to the confidence and satisfaction borne from their ride in their Acadia.
Couldn’t agree more. Well said.
the number of times that I’ve written a comment on these articles and then not had the courage to post. I thought the whole point of this ad was that is was taking the p*ss out of these males not heroing them? But more than that , when I read article I just wonder where all the fun went out of life. And ‘podgy white boy’? you kind of shot yourself in your own sanctimonious foot right there.
“Authentically representing their main target audience and giving women’s stories equal weight to those of men [is] strategically sound”. Surely this isn’t true if the “main target audience” is men? If I had to guess (which I do), I’d say there’s a solid chance this ad was designed specifically to sell this particular vehicle to men. Whether this is a “sound” strategy or not I don’t know, but it’s (again, presumably) based on data that’s led Holden to believe they’ll see the highest return by targeting the male gender.
This doesn’t strike me as any more insidious than the current GIO ads specifically featuring – i.e. targeting – women. Again, I have the feeling it’s down to the brief. If men are the target audience, I feel like it’s been read into a bit much (honestly, we’re assigning gender to dogs now? I’ll concede that the “punching above weight” segment is a bit more of a general issue). Alternatively, if the campaign was meant to sell to everyone, the creative team appears to have gotten lazy and complacent with their casting and has, indeed, stuffed up by isolating half their market.
Willing to bet the team that put the ad together was as representative of the target market as the ad itself, i.e. full of white blokes with low levels of self-awareness. Lack of diversity in decision-making positions in any industry is (finally!) starting to bring organisations undone. Just another example. Great article.
Honestly.
Can you not target your ad to males anymore?
I’m sure no one would have any issue if women were the protagonists and men were pushed to the background- it would just be another ad aimed at women.
People need to look at issues of gender rationally instead of getting upset at every minute detail.
who chose and approved the song?
“open up the champagne” for a car ad?
Are you sure you’re not falling for the ‘to a hammer, everything looks like a nail’ problem?
It’s an important issue you specialise in and couldn’t agree more with calling out casual sexism and it’s insidious effects.
However, when you call out something quite so strongly that could just as easily be the result of the target being men and a fun ironic portrayal as per other comments, do you do more damage to your cause (ie the mainstream can just write it off as extreme) than good?
To all the commenters above who said “this ad is targeting men” – why does targeting men mean it has to exclusively feature men?
Sincerely,
A white man.
… also, why don’t more cat food commercials feature dogs?
…don’t get me started on the lack of men in tampon ads #equality
Because cats and dogs tend to eat completely different things? Unlike men and women who tend to both… drive cars?
Completely agree with you. My last point was poorly thought out.
In that case, I think we also need to have more dogs represented in steak and lamb commercials because they eat steak and lamb too. Also for real estate – dogs live in houses you know.
In fact, I’m pretty sure I once saw a bird seed commercial that used lorikeets instead of budgerigars. I was OUTRAGED.
No one above has claimed that it “has to exclusively feature” (especially when it’s not exclusive in the above), but simply that it is reasonable for an ad to feature its target audience front and centre – whether that be by gender, age, occupation, etc.
I like this ad and I also like tacos
I LOVE THIS ADD AND THR VEHICLE ESPECIALLY THE SONG AND ITS A SEXY ADD
Mumbrella, how can you in good conscience publish an article that denigrates a child? This is disgusting.
Where does Sarah Vincenzini get off fat shaming a child?! Let alone bringing his race into it? Would it be okay to even reference the weight of female child let alone call her podgy? What a hideous thing to say.
If you want people to take your point seriously, how about toning down the hypocrisy?
Yeah 100%.
There is an actual human actor behind that character.
The author straight out – black-and-white attacks a **child** based on their race, gender, and bodily appearance.
Let that sink in.
So it’s ok to portray teenage girls as objectified arm candy for boys, but not ok to describe a boy (accurately) as podgy? Your outrage is over the wrong thing.
No, neither are okay. Both are wrong. You can see that yes?
It doesn’t help your argument if you use the same tactics you accuse your opponent of using. Some vague hierarchy of importance doesn’t wash.
Imagine if the author (or anyone) had critiqued an ad by referring to a “podgy white girl”. No matter what bigger point they were making, I guarantee that line alone would create further outrage.
What would the reaction be if it was a slightly overweight female actor and she called this out…”The spot’s hero is a podgy young white girl”
Imagine the outrage – teenage girls = body issues, eating disorders, bullying, mental health etc etc etc
Why the prejudice against males from this contributor?
Brilliant ad I reckon – well done Holden.
I am a middle-aged white male with 2 young daughters so care deeply about discouraging gender stereotypes.
Car company advertisers are criticised for being formulaic and monochrome, but then you bag them when they make an ad that is fun and cool. Seriously, no-win situation. This is a fun ad and I think you’ve taken yourself way too seriously.
Anonymous *Creative from AJF*
@Non Sequitur
I agree with you, but I would like to see a clever and effective cat food ad that only features dogs. Or a clever and effective tampon ad that only features men. Or a clever and effective ad that only features women. Or…you get the point. It would help all our ads in this country from feeling so damn formulaic.
@qt3.14
I 100% agree. You could do all sorts of things – women’s razors, but effortlessly shaving spiky men’s legs and greasy stubble, a Sportsbet ad with only women putting on multi’s (i.e. “multitasking”)… the list goes on. Just have some fun, be original, and don’t be mean to either gender.
Great article. Thought the same myself when I saw the ad. The trophy wife bit is gold.
Erm this article is a little out of hand. Not sure if you’re trying to provoke debate or you’re actually accusing an 8 year old kid of ‘man spreading’. Also, the idea that a dog walking scene is a freudian slip of a metaphor for a man with some bitches on a leash is pretty out there. I lolled.
Holden’s last SUV campaign for the Equinox exclusively featured women. I’m sure this was the brief and was supported by audience research and modelling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tan1XPRZUdo
I completely support representative advertising and I appreciate that you’re drawing attention to some of the issues around it. But I actually think you’re doing more harm than good with this kind of absurd commentary.
Could not agree more.
When I too watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tan1XPRZUdo
All I could see was a single man in a workers-fluro acting as a low paid security guard… Where was the article deploring the depiction of men as nothing more than token low paid workers who only have one purpose – to hold women back?
No article, no over thinking, no attempts to draw conclusions that don’t exist… just people watching an ad where some creatives have been ever increasingly given weirder and more wonderful briefs driven by some loose customer survey data to try and sell more boxes of moving metal to people who happen to be similar for the ease of targeting a large segment.
This article is a bit much, even for me
You do your cause no good with this ill considered drivel.
I have some capacity, any chance I can get a start at campaignbechdel.com?
“The spot’s hero is a podgy young white boy, who we see bopping his head in the foreground of the car while his sisters appear in the distance, silent human props who exist solely to show off all the car’s seats. (But to be fair, they probably chose to sit in the back seat because of their brother’s shameless man-spreading across the seats in the row in front of them.)”
You can be upset at an ad without bullying an 8-10 year old child. Any point you intended to make is overshadowed by the fact that you simply sound like a [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
Advertising for product aimed at men is sexist to women and portrays them as trophies # 418821218398584986
Meanwhile advertising fro product aimed at women is sexist to men and portrays them as hapless #987598708707548908754
Don’t ever try to defend this industry. It sucks.
Hard.
Unfortunately the writer doesn’t appear to have used her apparently extensive (three brands) experience in analysing this motor vehicle ad.
Her viewpoint is just gazing through sour lens. Skewed, and missing a huge amount of brand targeting.
There’s heaps. One I suggest is that Holden cleverly positioned this against the already established children carrier image, family van, to add in a new market – the financial Male who might write it off as not useful to his lifestyle. It’s quite cool and simple by saying: we know you have lots of mates, who need carting around – you can think about buying a car like this even if you don’t have kids because it can be used for other stuff. Etc etc. I imagine this is where the money is in this ‘niche’.
But I don’t have the figures, and I’d try to get them first before I ripped into a campaign with such an amateur rant.
May Michael Porter save us all. Having come from the management consulting industry into “agency land”…fuck me, this industry has serious self perceptions and sense of humour issues. No wonder all your businesses are going down the gurgler.
I’m a mixed raced bisexual tranny and I’m furious at the lack of representation of Subaru Foresters
‘Having worked on three global car brands in my time’..really Sarah.Care to enlighten us?
Which brands,which markets,how long ago and in what capacity?
Knowing a little more about your car experience might add a bit of much needed credibility to this self serving promotional peice.
I’m a feminist and I find this article misguided and harmful.
I’m with ya; another so-called feminist seeking grievance where none exists.
I almost enjoyed the music and fun in this ad. Then I remembered, I am a bad person.
Here’s my breakdown of this highly effective ad.
Wolfpack = six full size adults in a car
Boy in 2nd row sisters in back = 3rd row is so nice and spacious I’d rather be there than next to my brother
Dog walker man = would be sexist to use a woman but more importantly, it has a really big boot that can fit 6 dogs
Family Wolfpack = funny as they are VIP fam led by “podgy” alpha kid
Arriving at the formal = not an embarrassing car, you can drop me at the front
I’m so incensed, I’ve made a documentary
https://youtu.be/uo35R9zQsAI
“There are a lot of people in the world who are sick and tired of having their desire to achieve something and to take their place in the world as adult males, who are under the weight of accusations that their ambitions and forthrightness are manifestations of something tyrannical.
They’re not happy with that.
It’s not doing anyone any good.
And it’s not true.”
Amazed to read the vitriol to the author here. She’s correctly pointed out that this ad, advertising a car aimed at mums and families, features women in stereotypical ways. Teenage girls are sexualised and represented in ways that are way more harmful than the author calling the boy podgy. Who was cast that way by the creators of the ad, by the way. Don’t mind the haters, this kind of articles are needed in this industry, to change the way ads are written in the first place. Bravo
If you have some insider knowledge or proof that this car is aimed at women please let us know.
Otherwise, it’d seem like you (and the author) are implying that big cars should ‘only’ be targeted at / advertised to women – which seems like a pretty stereotypical view on gender roles.
“Advertising a car aimed at mums and families” – Demonstrably false for self-evident reasons. The ad is aimed at men, hence all of the men front at centre?
“Teenage girls are sexualised” – …by being dressed up for a high school formal? I really am concerned if people think wearing a fancy dress is “sexualising” when there’s not an iota of sex reference anywhere in the ad (the author’s complaint of trophy-ism is actually valid in this scene, but trying to push this into weird “sexualisation” territory is doing it no favours as it’s blatantly wrong).
“Who was cast that way by the creators of the ad, by the way” – Yes, he was cast as a slightly fatter child and then used positively (i.e. confident), unlike the author who has put his weight in a negative light.
Bonus points for painting people who disagree as “trolls” and “haters”; I’d hate to think people can actually disagree in public and be treated with any degree of validity.
This is an open forum for Advertising and Media people to dis uss current and relevant topics.
It is not a social media platform with inward selfies and personal plates of food. Disagreement must be allowed.
To call people “haters” is moving into social media talk, not allowing debate.
So you may be “amazed to read the vitriol the author here”, where I see it as professionals “responding” not “hating” to a very vitriolic article.
‘Podgy little white girl’-who would dare to say that.And rightfully so.
“I’m sure this slip was purely Freudian, but there’s no doubting the perfect symbolism of this scene for the generally problematic representations of women in this spot, which shamelessly owns an overall vibe of brassy, dick-dangling swagger.”
Agree, this is galling. And let’s not ignore the large palm trees towering ominously in the background.
OMG you are just wildly and without the slightest foundation of fact, throwing mud with the ‘walking bitches’ inference. Journalism would be checking whether all the dogs cast were female and if they were female why were female dogs cast. Did the creative script anywhere state, father walks bunch of female dogs? No client would sign off on this. Freudian slip… what rubbish!
Based on families I know making this buying decision, my guess on the brief:
1) women like this car, male partner is the barrier
2) the tension for a father is: I want to give the space my kids deserve, but I don’t feel cool driving this car when it’s my turn to drop off the kids, taking them to swimming lessons. I feel like people judge me for having a large family. I feel like Alan from the Hangover. I wish I was as cool as Bradley Cooper, but I am also proud of my family on the inside.
3) kids today get ‘chauffeured’ everywhere, it’s like they are rockstars and in charge. Kids say they want a dog, but then I end up walking the dog.
The soundtrack for the ad was also used in the movie trailer for The Boss Baby. The kid is a cross between the boss baby and Alan in The Hangover. Nice touch by the agency on the gold floaties. The Hangover movie is liked by many women.
OMG did you just assume the dog’s gender? BRB off to my safe space
Lol – yes
The author mentions the boy is white yet fails to mention the ethnicity or colour of any other person in the ad. Hmm. Just another insight into how her mind has ticked over on this one.
Oh Sarah. Life must be so exhausting and lacking in joy for you. A slightly amusing ad becomes an anti-women propaganda piece.
There are so many more places to project your energy which are more deserving. And where women need more help. Women in ads are fine. They are choosing to be there and getting paid.
Oh good lord Sarah. Get a life. Yes I’m sure those evil ad people and Holden conspired to denigrate women and sexualise teenage girls. After all, isn’t that what all men do according to the feminist mantra. I have a young daughter and want nothing more than equality for her so she can be anything she wants to be in life. I’m all for equality and there is still a way to go before equality is reached, but putting all men and everything men are involved in the category of chauvinistic pigs does the opposite to the equality cause.
The vast majority of us are not the enemy so please think carefully before you over think.
Author is certainly over thinking to the extreme on this one.
Depending on what cut version of this ad you watch – it actually appears the women are leading the men.
Regardless of gender and ‘reading too much’ into it… these type of articles do nothing but to fan the flames of sexual discrimination (both for/against male/females).
Might take you more seriously if you knew how to spell “guffaws”?
I didn’t think of it like that.. It is both of my daughters playing the part of the beautiful trophies gravitating around their “little brother” as human props in the back seat of the Acadia.
Personally I think they did a pretty good job for their first commercial 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OYi2pbNK_4
Can you write up an outrage article on this one too?
At the end it says ‘we run the world, girls’.
I’m assuming the lack of men present in the ad and giving them a backseat – we are saying men are irrelevant and women run the world?
[Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
Are you kidding, a feministic, insecure review that wreaks of some kind of bra burning ceremony, shrouded by hordes of man hating cropped haired tattooed lesbians. Get a life.
Anyone know who the [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] blonde is at the end?
I’m sorry but who the fuck cares it’s an ad get over it. Imagine having nothing else better to do with ur life than write an article that means nothing just to prove to urself that you matter and that people care what you think I bet [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]