As brand after brand sacrifices its reputation and sales revenue in the relentless pursuit of “modern, progressive audiences,” one has to wonder: Is it worth it? And do these modern audiences even actually exist?
Just before Christmas, I learned of a new ad for J&B Scotch whisky (Spain) about an elderly man who secretly teaches himself how to apply makeup so he can help his transgender granddaughter (that means he was born a boy) feel more comfortable and “herself” at a holiday gathering.
As I watched the three-minute video, I wondered again why so many brands today are so eager to virtue-signal their support for hot-button social issues at the risk of alienating existing customers.
Below: This Christmas ad for transgenderism J&B Scotch whisky features a grandfather and his transgender daughter.
I mean, aren’t J&B whisky drinkers mostly older men? And if so, is a three-minute ad focused on LGBTQ+ issues really the best way to sell J&B Scotch whisky at Christmas?
Even supposing this ad was intended to expand J&B’s appeal to a more “modern audience” of younger drinkers, I have a hard time believing this strategy was the best idea.
Below: I posted about this J&B Scotch whisky ad on The Cranky Creative Facebook page.
But, no matter. It seems nowadays that nearly every brand and advertiser is eager to jump on the politically progressive bandwagon, chasing “modern audiences” despite frequently paying a high price in lost sales and revenue.
Witness the backlash received by razor company Gillette for its #MeToo-inspired ad campaign targeting “toxic masculinity.” The layoffs at Disney following a string of controversies resulting from the company’s push for LGBTQ content and its vocal opposition to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits classroom instruction on gender identity for children in grades K–3.
See also the box-office slump of Marvel’s progressively more woke superhero movies; the layoffs at CNN and other left-leaning news and tech websites such as Vice and Buzzfeed; and the online backlash to Virgin Atlantic’s “See the World Differently” ad campaign, which features a conspicuous parade of racial, social, gender, and sexual minorities.
The list of examples goes on and on.
Appealing to modern audiences: a cynical cash grab?
Although it does seem that many brands have collectively clasped hands and stepped off the cliff of political correctness together, a few brave industry people are standing up and speaking out.
Jennifer Sey is a former brand president at Levi’s who once upon a time was on track to become the jean company’s CEO. But when she voiced concerns online about extended school closures and their potential negative effects on children, she was attacked by the woke mob and labeled a “C0V|D denier” who wanted to get former President Donald Trump re-elected.
According to Sey, Levi’s top brass gave her a choice: Shut up or leave.
For Sey, it wasn’t a choice. Rather than compromise her principles, she left the company.
Now, in her new memoir, “Levi’s Unbuttoned,” Sey explains why she thinks today’s push by brands and advertisers to promote social-justice issues is little more than a cynical cash grab:
“‘Woke capitalism’ is corporate America’s attempt to profit off of Millennial and Gen Z activism, often passive keyboard activism . . . It exploits social-justice politics and transforms it into social-justice consumerism — and ultimately, investor profit. Companies purporting to care about ‘progressive values’ are really doing nothing more than striking a superficial pose meant to signal virtue while distracting from any company’s true motive: financial gain for shareholders.”
Yes, I’m sure money is part of it. But I don’t think it’s all of it.
An agenda to influence the culture
As often as we hear brands and advertisers say they are merely trying to reflect the values and beliefs of modern audiences, I think it’s clear that they are also trying to shape them.
Call it indoctrination through propaganda if you want. Hell, that’s what’s happening in our public schools and universities. Only a fool would think it hasn’t been happening for decades in advertising as well.
For proof, look no further than the forced diversity and dopey, feminized males that run rampant in today’s TV commercials. Beyond just the advertising industry, these agendas have now infected most forms of entertainment, from movies to music to sports and video games.
Which brings me to this short video I’d like to share with you titled “Why Modern Movies Suck — The Myth Of The ‘Modern Audience.'”
Here, Scottish YouTuber William Jordan (better known as The Critical Drinker) laments how film writing and character development have suffered over the years as he cites examples ranging from the upcoming Snow White movie remake to the James Bond films to the Amazon TV series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. More than just an indictment of the film and TV industries, Jordan’s observations also highlight the cultural rot which is contributing so heavily to the dumbed-down, emotionally fragile, and easily offended psyches of supposedly young “adults” today.
To hear Jordan tell it, the myth of the modern audience is just that — a myth created by writers and producers so that they can — you guessed it — push their progressive agendas:
“… Ultimately, the people they’re really catering to are themselves. It’s an excuse for them to indulge their own narcissism, to impose their own worldview, to undo the things that they don’t like and replace it with stuff they personally want to see. It’s not about respecting and building upon what came before, it’s about sweeping it all away and consigning it to the ash heap of history, replacing it with their ideas, their ideology, their view of how the world should be. It’s the shallow, arrogant, self-absorbed mentality of people who have been coddled and praised their entire lives, that have never struggled, never experienced hardship or danger, never ventured outside their own carefully controlled echo chamber. The kind of people who see the past as an enemy to be defeated instead of a rich tapestry of ideas and experiences they can learn from.”
Frankly, I disagree with Jordan that this modern, progressive audience is a myth. Yes, it’s a relatively small audience, but it does exist and it’s managed to capture enough of our educational institutions, entertainment companies, and advertising agencies to seed its ideologies throughout the culture.
Despite this difference of opinions, however, Jordan arrives at pretty much the same conclusion about the film industry as I have about brands and advertisers: “In trying to cater to some imaginary modern audience . . . all [they] really end up doing is pushing away [their actual audiences] — and that’s something no business can afford to keep doing for long.”
Companies like J&B Scotch would do well to remember that.
Give Jordan’s video a watch and let me know what you think.
Why Modern Movies Suck — the Myth of the “Modern Audience”
And while you’re at it, don’t miss these other great videos from The Critical Drinker:
Why Modern Movies Suck — They’re Written by Children
Why Modern Movies Suck — They Hate Their Own Fans
Why Modern Movies Suck — Modern Actors
ENOUGH With the Remakes
See all Cranky ad reviews | Go to blog home page
If anyone needs more proof that transgenderism is being pushed on the culture, check this out. In the video below, a “doctor” at Boston Children’s Hospital claims that infants can know they are transgender. “A child will often know that they are transgender from the moment that they have any ability to express themselves. We have parents who tell us that their kids, they knew from the minute they were born, practically…”
I spent a lot of my time out of the mainstream, kids grown, work as 1-man team and live out in the country though it’s starting to get cluttered. So, wondered if the world was “evolving” or if the changes were the result of the efforts of a few rich, powerful people. Those who got super rich as a result of their technology genius and vision or made the right bet at the right time at the stock market casino. They, in turn, have bought the crooked politicians and together, have gathered momentum in the spread of their disease. The political “selling out” of America has gone on for 50 years and with the start of the internet in 1993 has picked up momentum. We had the financial crisis of 2008 and the only prosperity we have regained has been thru “globalization” and market manipulation. And who suffers? The silent majority. Those with a lot of money don’t give a crap if gasoline is 10 dollars a gallon or eggs 10 dollars a dozen.
We still buy most of our poorly made (no quality standards) retail stuff from China… even antibiotics. Fentanyl (from China) is killing thousands. So, with that as an intro, on top of my previous, we have the woke progressive bullshit that is now gaining a foothold to totally destroy the American people. I rarely watch regular television programs, so after 5 commercials in a row with all black main charactors, I did a google search and found this site. I certainly agree with all of the assertions, but my concern is… most people (the silent majority) do not agree but this stuff has been going on for several years … the pronouns, the sex change therapy in schools and many other forms of outrageous stuff, that again MOST PEOPLE DON’T WANT FOR THEIR CHILDREN.
So, the question, HOW do we stop it? not keep talking about it , writing about it, etc.
I for one appreciate your post. Just a few ideas for you to get you started (and I’m as guilty of inaction as anyone else, but it’s about to turn)…
1. Pay attention to All elections at EVERY level. Identify candidates who as closely as possible represent your ideas and values and support them with your vote, your money, and your physical help and support.
2. Vote with your pocketbook as best as you can. It’ll be impossible to 100% buy non-Chinese but try your best. I have not had a Coca Cola product since 2020, have never bought a Nike product, do not patronize any professional sport, and will not spend a red cent on a Disney product, just to name a few. Wife and I were in Dallas for a few days and were looking for a place to eat. Just down from our hotel was an interesting Mexican restaurant with a well stocked tequila/mezcal bar. Then I saw where they had a monthly Drag Buffet. Sorry, we’ll go somewhere else.
3. Be a Lion not a sheep. Roar when you have to roar. Be ugly when you have to be ugly. The other side has no problem doing that.
Thanks, Robert. Totally agree. And don’t forget to contact these companies directly to tell them what you think. Write them via email, post on their social media pages, leave comments under their YouTube videos. (Although several of these companies have been caught deleting negative comments and “dislikes” by the hundreds and even thousands in a dishonest attempt at damage control.)
Speak out!
Thanks for sharing, Norman. You make a lot of good points and I feel your frustration. As to your question about what we can do about it, I see that another reader has already responded with ideas for ways we can push back, and I added my own suggestion to contact these companies directly via email and social media. But this is going to take time. As you alluded in your post, the attempts to change our culture have occurred incrementally and imperceptibly over the past 50 years. The pendulum isn’t going to swing back the other way overnight, if it ever does.
I don’t know where this all goes from here, but I wish people would realize that the novel 1984 was never meant to be an instruction manual.
I completely agree with everything in this post. As a matter of fact, I am going to add one more complaint and observation that I respectfully think Cranky missed! However, I do want to throw something out here for you to think about which may or may not make you feel better in the sense of we’re all Americans here.
But first, this is my personal visceral reaction to the still from the video that Cranky didn’t mention. I’m talking about the close up of the face of an old man with watery eyes wearing lipstick…
It grossed me out!
The reason that this is pertinent is because this is an ad for a consumable. Yes, a drink. But when it comes to ads for food and drink, a product we will put in our mouths, I do think it behooves the companies not to put up an image that would not only make people in the audience flip the channel, but also, for want of a better term, turn some of our stomachs. Lose our appetites. Like selling cranberries by using an image of a pie eating contest when a couple of ugly guys (they think for laughs) have their faces covered with pie and blueberries. I can’t look at that, and I can’t look at this.
Now the part you and your readers may or may not find comforting…I have read Cranky for a number of years now because I love his observations. I get a sense that I am probably what you would consider left of the political views that sometimes seep through. But politics aside, because this is not a column about politics, many of you would probably think that I am on your left (I would debate that but…) and I am as angry and frustrated with this Woke nonsense as you are.
Further, my daughter goes to High School at the high school they just started at UCLA. So people, I’m at Ground Zero of this woke stuff. And I have argued with the head of the school about it. The good news is…a lot of our kids who hear this stuff, and you would think them liberal…they are all in on the new pronouns although still can’t explain to me if I should say “They are here” or “They is here”…but as a whole they do LAUGH at and make fun of a lot of the woke things the school is feeding them during Community Time. I know because I have my daughter and her friends, both boys and girls, who come over for dinner in large groups and I can just say that I am, and probably readers of this post would be, relieved. Even the teachers at the school, all the old timers who are really great teachers, are annoyed with this nonsense. (It’s the newer teachers who are creating the issue, along with UCLA Administrators).
So in conclusion…The ad is visually kind of gross. James Bond is a white guy who had a Scottish father and Swiss mother. And woke is ridiculous whether one is left, right or center.
Myles
Thanks, Myles, but your story, although interesting, hasn’t left me feeling particularly relieved. Why? Because if you ask me, all this gender-identity stuff is taking up way too much time in schools. Even if some of the kids don’t mind it, it’s still there, taking time away from real learning and potentially influencing (and by that, I mean confusing) young, impressionable minds. And it’s not going away. If, as you say, all of the newer teachers and the UCLA administration are pushing it, then it is the future.
Regarding the screen shot of the old man wearing the makeup, I totally agree. As I watched this J&B Scotch ad and wrote this post, my mind kept going back to that ghastly scene in The Silence of the Lambs where the serial killer, Buffalo Bill, puts on makeup and plays dress-up with the skins of his victims in his downstairs dungeon lair.
I chuckled a bit because I thought the comparison was funny, but then it occurred to me. That scene, as disturbing as it is, isn’t really any more harrowing than the fact that public school districts across the country are hosting drag queen shows for children as young as elementary school. Ostensibly to “celebrate, affirm, and support” students and staff in the LGBTQIA+ community (just like old Gramps is doing for his grandchild in the J&B ad), these shows often involve exposing children as young as the first and second grade to graphic materials and erotic dances.
Now, I am generally a live-and-let-live kind of guy, but I am not naive. I can see that there is a culture war raging. More and more, it seems as if members of the trans community are looking not merely for acceptance, but to push their lifestyles on the rest of us to shape the culture into what they want it to be.
Brands like J&B Scotch need to realize that when they produce a commercial like this, they’re not just carrying the flag for transgender people who may feel repressed or like outcasts. They are also aligning themselves with deviants who play with sex toys and expose their genitals in front of school children.
That’s ghastly.
Allow me to do some pandering here – this is a concise, exacting, and powerful statement on what is going on in world society today, your absolute best blog yet, and one that every freethinker, and most importantly, every non-freethinker needs to read and ponder. The folks that think they are the Powers That Be would force their ideas on us, either slowly and subtlety or like crashing blows to our body and psyche. All in an effort to have us bow down and accept their agendas, and submit to their design for society. I say, though, this is the time for Lions, not Sheep. Stand up and Roar!! And Jordan’s assessments are dead on, everybody needs to take the time to watch those videos. You’ll be informed and entertained at the same time. And although he calls himself the Critical Drinker, I really doubt that this Scotsman drinks J&B!!
Many thanks, Robert. Likewise, I appreciate your thoughtful comments and contributions.
I’m just going to say I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and totally agree!
Thanks, Holiday. Feel free to share this post if you are so inclined (and if you are willing to trigger a few people within your circle of friends and family). It’s well past time to push back against the craziness that’s overtaking the world these days, and that means making our voices heard.
I did share it with my husband, who shared it with coworkers, who further shared it. Was a break room topic of discussion, all agreed excellent post.
Great to hear, Holiday. Thank you so much!
Bingo Cranky! The dogma is getting really tedious and most of us, thank heavens, can see right through it.
Thanks, Kinchan! Good to hear from you.
Agree with you 100% about all these woke, social-justice message commericals and movies. Strictly speaking from a financial standpoint, is the cost of a three-minute commercial worth the intended results? Obviously, the commerical is creating a lot of social media discussion, but will it create more sales of J&B Scotch?
J&B brand manager: “Are you sure this ad will help us sell more whisky?”
Ad agency: “Whisky?”
Heh. Sorry, Mike. As far as I’m concerned, that joke will never get old.
You know, I showed this ad to someone yesterday and my test subject was thoroughly confused. “This ad is for whisky?!” she exclaimed. “Where’s the whisky?”
Which crystallized for me just what this is. This is not an ad for whisky. This is a three-minute arthouse film, an overpriced, oversentimental vignette that got hijacked by LGBTQIA propaganda. And it’s well past time for advertising people to understand the difference.
Great to hear from you, Mike!
J&B Scotch is crap whiskey and would never be consumed by any self-respecting Scotsman. No ad will help its sales. And the younguns these days drink liquors that mix with sweet additives. This ad is simply an attempt at self-righteous SE. Now if Macallan came out with an ad like this, I’d really be upset. But J&B machts nicht!!
If the idiots in >90% of all commercials today actually represent this country, we are running on fumes and it is almost over.
As much as I’m trying to keep a positive attitude going into the new year, Bill, I have to say I agree with you.
Thanks for writing.