I have a complaint to lodge -- TV advertisers make marriage, and wives in particular, look pretty bad. I started to notice this recently, especially in some beer commercials. While hard liquor primarily use the single woman as a sex symbol, beer companies seem to use girlfriends, fiances, and wives to sell the "escape factor" of their product.
Example #1: A Coor's light commercial in which a man tells his SO (significant other) that he's going to a friend's to "vent" -- i.e. drink beer and watch sports. As though simply telling her that he's going to do that might get him in trouble with the little lady.
Other companies seem to suggest that men should be rewarded for adhering to basic etiquette in their relationships rather than behaving like debased fools.
Example #2: Klondike has a new series of commercials in which husbands do some pretty simple things -- listen and respond to his wife's conversation, keep his attention on his wife when an attractive woman walks by. These behaviors, evidently, entitle them to a Klondike bar -- like a cookie for the good little boy.
Am I the only person bothered by this approach? This portrayal is not reflective of my marriage nor of any I know. If Wes wants to go out with some friends to watch sports and drink beer, he'll just tell me that, and I'll say, "Great. Have fun." or at most, "Let me know when you think you'll be home so I don't think you're dead in a ditch" (thanks, mom). More often, he'll want me to come, too. He doesn't need encouragement to talk to me or keep his eyes from straying. I know I have a great husband, but I have a hard time believing the rest of the men out there are as ridiculous as these commercials make them seem -- or that women are as trifling as they're made to seem.
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