AdFreak noticed controversy and outrage surrounding a Tide commercial titled, “Hoodies and Cargo Shorts,” that arguably has gender-related issues. Protestors insist the spot celebrates intolerance and homophobia, as a mother appears to be questioning her little daughter’s non-girly wardrobe and toy choices. Jezebel commented the message was too clumsy to effectively criticize, while Steve Hall at AdRants ranted, “It’s a fucking detergent commercial. Move on with your lives, people!”
OK, but before you do, check out the Latina Tide spot that also features hoodies. Mama displays no concern that her daughter might be a lesbian in this commercial. Of course, the daughter has a college hoodie—because education is mucho importante to Latinos.
Meanwhile, the Black characters in the campaign don’t sport hoodies at all, which feels totally unbelievable. Instead, Tide presents plenty of “let’s-keep-things-super-positive-and-avoid-stereotypes” advertising depictions for the minorities. There’s the guy who says, “I try to be a good boyfriend,” as if it’s a challenging feat for Black men. A suburban soccer mom driving an SUV takes her son to soccer practice versus schoolyard hoops. The closest corny cultural clichés come from a sassy sistah girl fussing about rocking her white jeans whenever she wants to—even after Labor Day.
Other Latino spots in the campaign show a young wife meeting her mother-in-law’s high standards and an extended familia where grandpapi owns loud shirts.
The White commercials, in contrast, exhibit broadly bizarre folks. An uptight woman admits she always wears yoga pants because she’s too lazy for real pants. An older couple seemingly on serious meds gushes over dad’s new designer jeans. A blogging daughter ignores her yapping parent while wearing her mother’s hand-me-downs. And a young father is reluctant to handle his potentially urine-and-shit-soaked baby. Why, the allegedly homophobic mom in the “Hoodies and Cargo Shorts” spot looks tame compared to the rest of the Caucasians.
In the end, there are lots of weird elements worthy of complaints in the Tide campaign—including the fact that a YouTube search revealed zero Asian-Americans in the batch. The only semi-relevant result was the classic Calgon “Ancient Chinese Secret” commercial.
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