One of the more fascinating sexual dynamics in the media is how it is usually perfectly acceptable to depict violence against men as humorous while using the same tactics against women brings an immediate protest reaction. This was highlighted over the weekend when NBC announced it was pulling a Nike ad featuring American runner Suzy Hamilton.
The ad is a parody of horror films and starts with Hamilton in a remote wilderness cabin when “a chainsaw-wielding masked maniac” arrives on the scene. The only problem is that Hamilton is obviously in much better shape than the would be killer and leaves him eating her dust. The final shot shows the killer out of breath, limping away and ends with the tagline, “Why Sport?” which is quickly answered with “You’ll live longer.”
Apparently when this ad aired, NBC’s switchboard lit up with outraged viewers. Some parents were apparently upset at the horror spoof showing in prime time where children might see it, but there also concern about the ad depicting violence against women. USA Today quoted David Lubars, president of ad agency Fallon McElligott, saying,
I have loved almost everything Nike has done in the past 15 years. But this spot I did not like at all, because of the violence against women. I am not a creative prude in any way, but that’s not funny to joke about. It had me squirming. It’s something you can’t kid about.
The interesting thing here is that Nike ran a parallel ad that USA Today doesn’t even bother to mention and which apparently nobody objected to. In the ad a skateboarder in a crowd city street is confronted by a sword-wielding gladiator who repeatedly tries to kill the young man. As in the Hamilton commercial, however, the teenage boy repeatedly dodges and evades the gladiator’s murderous schemes and the ad ends with the “Why Sport? You’ll live longer” line.
Violence or the threat of violence in a Nike ad is apparently completely acceptable when the commercial features a man, but not when it features a woman.