Week Two of Lisa Marie Basile’s guest blogging! Hereeeeee’s Lisa:

Quiz-oh-nos

For those of you who think AXE ads are particularly disheartening (because smelling good –as though it’s some special power- equals multiple women crawling and pawing at you), then Quiznos’ recent commercial is gag-worthy. In the commercial, we’ve got an “average” or “overweight” woman (I am hesitant to even refer to characters with these adjectives) and an overtly model-type woman sitting on a bench.

The “overweight,” older woman is eating a Quiznos mess of a sandwich of some sort, and is being looked at with obvious envy by the thinner, model-esque women at her side. The model mouths the words, “I hate you” prompts the eating women to say, with complete thanks for being noticed, “Wow- really?”

Aside from the sick implication that women should be thankful for the pretty girl’s approval or attention (we can thank the slew of Mean Girl brand movies for furthering this mindset), the sharp contrast between the “sexy” and the “average” women shows a lack of respect for both parties.

The average woman is eating, while the thin woman is yearning for the food. Not only is the commercial using weight disorders, stereotypical images and age to create humor in order to garner purchase of their product (which, by the way, is a sloppy shame), but it’s managed to escape being a blip on most people’s radar.

This unapologetic use of generalizations only furthers the pressures on society. Way to go, Quiznos!