02/10/07

Harpic TV Commercial (Australia) Depicts Testis Pain as "Funny"

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A month or two ago I complained to the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) about a television commercial that depicted testis pain as "funny". Here is a copy of the complaint I made, as well as a snapshot of the Advertiser's written response:

My Complaint:

Date: Friday; 27th of July, 2007.
Time: 6:59pm.
Programme: Neighbours
Television Stations: Network Ten (Channel 10) on terrestrial TV.

Reckitt Benckiser (Aust) Pty Ltd (Harpic) (Surface care products)

One of their cleaning products.

A man in hit in the testes by a broom-like object after he accidentally walks on it.

===================================================

The advertisement's depiction of testis pain is objectionable for a number or reasons: it's offensive to men; it's perverted and sexist, and; it gives children the impression that genital-related injuries [of men] are "funny".

As a man, it angers me that a society that claims to be pro-diversity is so biased in its application of "equality" between the sexes. A relatively mild form of violence such as slapping a woman across the face is viewed with disgust by our society, yet testis injury/pain is viewed as something to laugh at and joke about.

If the Australian Standards Bureau (ASB) cannot see the hypocrisy that pervades the way our society and television industry has politicised violence and health, and only take these issues seriously when they have a negative effect on women, then I and the rest of Australian men have a damn good reason to hate terrestrial television -- as well as the organisations such as the ASB.

I have never seen a commercial that contained a scene where a woman's vulva was injured by a kick or accidental blow. Based on my years of watching women's sport such as tae kwon do, football and mixed martial arts, I have seen at least five women fall to the ground in agony after they were kicked in the vulva. This is an indication that a blow to the vulva can be as debilitating as a blow to the testes -- and possibly as painful. Therefore, the way the advertising companies and television producers censor vulva kicking and vulva pain while they promote testis kicking and testis pain is sexist.

It can also be argued that the promotion of testis kicking (combined with the censorship on vulva kicking) is affecting the way the youth view the two subjects. When I was a child I noticed that the majority of children were unaware of the pain that a vulva kick can produce. I saw a fair few girls using their ignorance on the subject as their way of teasing and abusing boys. The boys were vulnerable to the emotional abuse as they didn't know the facts on the issue. If they had have known the facts, then the boys wouldn't have been susceptible to the abuse. Therefore, I blame the media for the problem, as the media has played a role in causing children to think the way they do about groin kicking.

Another matter of concern is the sexual connotations that are related to the way society views testis pain. A lot of men and women are fans of a paraphiliac practice known as "ballbusting", which is the term used to describe the fetish where people get off on being kicked in the testes, kicking men in the testes, or seeing men getting kicked in the testes. There are hundreds and possibly thousands of websites and internet forums on the subject on the internet.

Make no mistake about it, fans of "ballbusting" get off on the TV commercials and TV programs that portray testis-pain as funny and acceptable. Fans of "ballbusting" are known to hoard video clips of television programs, commercials and movies that portray testis-pain and/or kicking as funny and acceptable. YouTube, Yahoo! Groups and other file sharing websites are proof of this.

Over the years I have heard of many accounts where girls have kicked boys in the groin for no legitimate reason. It's very probable that the girls who did this were imitating the "groin kicking" scenes they saw on TV. Therefore, the media needs to play its role in disallowing such content from going to air. The ASB can contribute by not airing any television commercial that promotes testis kicking and/or scenes that promote testis pain.

Pages: 1 2 3

Categories: Men's Issues, Men's Health   English (AU)
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