Sunday, February 04, 2007

Hating Cavemen
I hate the Geico caveman commercials. People apparently love the commercials though. A Google search on "caveman commercials" turns up a list of devotees who've archived the ads at You Tube.

Why do I hate the commercials? Why am I taking time to write about them? In a nutshell, they play to the code of man, summarized by Homer Simpson for his son:
"The rules that teach a boy to be a man. Let's see. Don't tattle. Always make fun of those different from you. Never say anything, unless you're sure everyone feels exactly the same way you do."

The ads teach us that complaining about discrimination is a past-time for, literally, crotchety cavemen. Substitute a minority for the cavemen, a racial or LGBT minority for instance, and the message of the ads gets ugly quickly.

Think I'm being overly sensitive? If so, I have to smile and throw the circularity back at you: you're exactly replicating the message I'm pointing to in the caveman ads. We're not in a place in this country where it's appropriate to frame civil rights issues as frivolities in jokey ad campaigns. I'd add that I'm proud to be a caveman whose not afraid to stand-up and call bul!$h!t.