Last week, we were sent a funny ad from AMV BBDO in which Mr. T guns down a speedwalker because it’s just too goofy for Mr. T’s style and, seemingly, for Snickers. Bob Garfield just reviewed it, gave it zero stars and called the thing…huh…homophobic? What a minute. What the fuck? Homophobic?? I’ll be the first one to crap on an ad that is overtly homophobic but, seriously, WTF?? This is the furthest thing from homophobic. Homophobia NEVER crossed my mind when I reviewed this.
What did cross my mind was the oddity of speedwalking. I had a high school track coach – who was, by far, the most un-gay person I have ever known – who race walked and we just thought it was funny….because it is! And he knew we knew it was funny and that we laughed at him and he was cool with it. BECAUSE IT’S FUNNY! The ad, which features a speedwalker, is funny because speedwalking is odd. It’s not normal in sense that you don’t see it every day.
That said, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it and no one, including Mr. T, thinks all speedwalkers must be gay and gunned down. It’s fucking ad for fuck’s sake. Bob, give the public some credit. They are not homophobic, fairy-hating idiots who drive around gunning down homosexuals. I’ll say it again. It’s an ad. It’s poking fun at something. It’s not gay-bashing and it’s not homophobic.
OK, so maybe AMV BBDO put a slight gay spin on this but COME ON! Can we not laugh at anything anymore? Are we so politically correct, we can’t appreciate a little humor? Do we have to continuously walk on eggshells for fear that, OMFG, we might offend some cause group with nothing better to do than over sensitize the world to the point the only commercials acceptable would consist of a white background with the brand’s logo…appearing for the entire duration of the commercial? Oh wait. We can’t do that. The white background would offend blacks!
WTF! It is so time for Bob to go.
