Cadillac Thinks Humiliating Men Is Great Revenge–and Adweek Agrees (Video Available)
Another female “revenge” commercial. In the Cadillac commercial “Khakis” a female boss revels in humiliating and intimidating her male subordinates–and only her male subordinates.
Adweek, one of the two leading advertising industry publications, evidently thinks it’s great, naming the commercial one of its Best Spots of the Year 2006.
Watch the commercial below.
Thanks to Tom, a reader, for sending me the ad.
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May 9th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Two things: First, as much as I hate commercials that depict men and fathers as stupid, childish, lazy, etc., they often end up portraying women equally poorly; e.g., as bitchy and controlling. While this commercial certainly makes the men look bad, I’m not so sure the woman here comes off looking all that great herself.
Second, on a purely aesthetic level, this commercial isn’t very good. I can’t imagine how it could be considered one of the best of 2006. Even ignoring the anti-male bias of it, I would rate it somewhere between mediocre and awful. It says to me, “Buy a Cadillac, and everyone will hate you.” I’m not sure that’s the message they really want to send. The woman almost looks like she’s crying at the end rather than laughing.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:45 am
I’d rather look bitchy and controlling then dependent upon the one who is bitchy and controlling…what a mess.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Cadillac is running childish ads.
One is along the lines of “remember when they made fun of your bike — ha ha look at what you are driving now [compared to them]?”
This woman is a horrible manager. She needs to read Dale Carnegie “How to win friends and influence people.”
A manager who is feared by the “troops” is a sorry manager. You don’t get the best performance from the “troops” in this manner.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Feminist advertising is tired as most companies do it. Cadillac is a laggard.
Like a thirty-something woman would purchase a Cadillac, I expect her husband would buy her a something else.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
As I watch these commercials, I realize that once white men/all men mobilize and create in ad agencies a hyper-sensitivity to obnoxious ads that paint men as morons I realize:
They’re going to run out of material!
Is it any wonder they try to ignore MRA’s? If we force a change, they will actually have to start DOING THEIR DAMN JOB and think of creative non-insulting humor to sell their products.
Poor them. >Sigh
May 9th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Did the pen leaking in her presence at the sound of her voice have sexual implications – or did I study too much psychology …
I think the show of power from the casyak stride, front and back, the men snapping to attention when she sees them, and the guys pen discharging causing her some glee – the smug smile later – is just an extension of “girl power” as used in much of media advertising.
Why do so many men think it’s funny is the real question. A random ad like that would be funny but as part of the big picture it’s just another nail driven in…
May 9th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
casyak stride, no where did I hear that term before, guess I should have said “casual” smile
May 9th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
No where… instead of “now where” guess I better quit for the day. I think the chemo therapy is making my usual typos even worse. SD
May 9th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
An emasculating CTS (c**ts?)? Makes me want to buy that craptacular car!
May 10th, 2007 at 5:16 am
steven deluca said,
Did the pen leaking in her presence at the sound of her voice have sexual implications – or did I study too much psychology …
Yes, you did. Unfortunately, so did I and I had the same stupid thought.
Mostly though, I can’t figure out why these “advertising moguls” (read: idiots who have convinced other idiots to give them lots of cash) are advertising to people who can’t buy their product! How many early thirty-something females are “the boss”? Especially of a large business? More than likely, any woman this age who can afford this car is getting the money from her husband, and I doubt he appreciates the commercial.
May 10th, 2007 at 6:17 am
There’s a recent article in American Spectator:
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11401
Why Toyota’s number one: Hint: They have many of General Motors’ old customers.
In addition to Steven’s point: It appears as if there’s a sexual nature to the pen “discharging” out of the man’s nervousness in the elevator (premature ejaculation?) I agree: this ad is messed up and the fact that Adweek thinks it’s a good idea shows THEY’RE messed up too (but then again, I think NYC/LA is messed up.)
If you want to check out of a fun masculine beer commercial, go to http://www.tedferguson.com/latest_stunts/
One ad, where Ted tries the stunt of listening to his girlfriend for 2 minutes talk about relationships, was yanked possibly due to feminist pressure.
May 10th, 2007 at 6:25 am
I took it as he is so frightened of her that when she speaks to him, he “wets himself”. As in the tired old “men are afraid of powerful women”.
And then the ending….reveling in her ability to cause men to scamper like mice….
I think they may have forgotten the “U” in the “CTS” model name…
TMOTS