ask: Jack in the Box commercial about menopause--funny or offensive, or a little of both?
I was watching TV the other day and saw an ad for Jack in the Box that stars a menopausal woman and Jack. I have to say, I don't think I've ever seen an ad for a fast food restaurant that stars a woman in menopause.
If you want to view it, go to www.jackinthebox.com and then click on "commercials" on the left and it should be the ad on the far left. You can see the lady in her pink dress.
Frankly, I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not. I thought they were making fun of menopausal women. My take was that menopausal women are not taken seriously because we're just hysterical. But it's no laughing matter as I know first hand that very few people take us seriously and that it's a real problem for lots of women.
This may be because I've lived it and seen and heard too many women who are silently suffering that it's hard for me to find the humor in it. But it goes to show you how many women are menopausal when Jack in the Box dedicates a commercial to it.
Then again, I have a dear friend who saw it and thought it was really funny. But she's a bit younger and hasn't hit menopause yet so maybe that's the difference.
I'd love it if you'd follow the link and watch the ad and then post your thoughts below. Is it funny to you, or offensive, or somewhere in between? Michelle
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Hi Michelle:
I just watched the Jack in the box commercial with the Menopausal Women. It almost feels like in the 60's and 70's when Madison Avenue featured stereotypical house wifes in their commercials but over exaggerated perceptions to the point where it made the featured house wife look and act like a mindless zombie. I feel the same holds true in the Jack in the box commercial. I don't like the commercial because I think it's unfairly characterizes menopausal women.
May 7, 2009 - 8:31amThis Comment
Lighten up! It's a commercial.....it's supposed to be edgy. By the way, it's housewive's not house wifes.
January 19, 2011 - 9:20amI'm sorry, but I'm in full blown menopause with terrific hot flashes and the crazies, and I absolutely loved the commercial. We need to just laugh sometimes, and I was honestly impressed that someone finally recognized and actually had the guts to talk about menopause.
Anyone who is offended and serious about the stereotypes just needs to relax and be happy that we're not hiding ourselves in the closet anymore!
May 7, 2009 - 10:44pmThank you Kelley and Anonymous for your honest and heartfelt replies! I appreciate both viewpoints very much. I'd love to hear more opinions about the commercial too.
May 7, 2009 - 11:04pmI'm in menopause as well, and it also made me laugh. It's good satire; I could almost see it as a Saturday Night Live commercial! It also made me want a smoothie!!!
This commercial, honestly, reminds me more of the "Desperate Housewives" women than anything! Especially the character played by Marcia Cross, in her little twin sweater sets and pearl necklaces...
May 8, 2009 - 9:30amAs someone commented on my blog, it is "Menopause meets Stepford Wives".
Hot-Flash @ menopausetracker.info
May 8, 2009 - 3:22pmI have to agree with Diane about the "Desperate Housewives" element. The smoothies also looked pretty good, although I'm not one to patronize Jack.
All the same, the commercial struck me as one more example of how Madison Avenue treats us like silly, stupid people who think it's cute to see some guy walking around with an oversized styrofoam ball on his head...or talking reptiles selling insurance, for that matter.
May 8, 2009 - 6:51pmI found the ad very offensive. To me, it takes symptoms that are extremely uncomfortable and affect millions of women nation-wide, and treats those symptoms as if they are trivial or laughable. What will we have next? An ad that pokes fun at women with breast cancer? Menopausal women already get a bad rap as being unsexy and over-the-hill, or that the symptoms are all in their heads.
May 10, 2009 - 1:25pmI'm in my late twenties and find it repulsive. Let's make one about men with erectile dysfunction Jack, and they need a smoothie to cool things off down there and make things hard. How would you like them apples? Or bananas?
May 10, 2009 - 5:41pmExactly. JITB has a long history of ads that demean women. Apparently they don't care about attracting women to their establishment. This seems like a peculiar choice to me and is one reason JITB will never make anything near the money McDonald's, with their inclusive marketing, makes. Apparently they've decided that misogyny pays and distinguishes them from competitors with less "edge". They are contemptible.
May 15, 2009 - 1:30am