got milk ad

A new "Got Milk?" ad campaign is promoting the fact that drinking milk can alleviate PMS. There's actually research that suggests upping your intake of calcium and vitamin D can, in fact, lessen both physical and emotional symptoms associated with PMS; so as far as I can tell, this campaign might have been successful in terms of convincing women to drink more milk ...

So then why do the ads themselves have to be so ridiculously sexist?

The entire campaign, "Everything I Do Is Wrong," is built around the ludicrous claim that PMS is actually worse for men than it is for women. As you can see from the website, it's targeting not women but the pitiable, downtrodden men who have to find a way each and every month to endure the horrific mood swings of the females in their lives. I'm tearing up just thinking about these poor, suffering guys! How do they make it through?

It's meant to be funny, I get it. But I think the Got Milk? people might be the only ones laughing. Relying on sexist stereotypes -- i.e., that women are hysterical and irrational particularly at *that* time of the month -- is lazy advertising. Not to mention the fact, how is it getting people to drink more milk? It alienates any self-respecting woman who doesn't appreciate being referred to as a crazy b*tch. And, it's not convincing guys to drink milk themselves -- just to buy it for their significant others every 28 days or so!

If you ask this PMS sufferer, I think Got Milk? missed a huge opportunity here with this snarky, male-focused campaign. Ordinarily, I'd be up for trying anything in the hopes I could get a little relief each month. But after knowing that the advertisers of this product consider me to be out of control and scary just because of my gender? Nah, I think I'll pass.

 

Image via EverythingIDoIsWrong.org