Advice: Don't tell me I'm 'overreacting'

At any given time, there is inevitably a commercial or two on heavy rotation that makes me want to throw the TV out the window and then call up the company and go all upset feminist on their ass. Usually, I also end up hearing something on the news or seeing something online about how others are also upset about the ads, and boycotts and the company responds by apologizing or pulling the ads (and then creating something else horribly offensive next week). But, I haven't heard anything at all about these ones.

The current model is the Miller Lite 'Be a Man' campaign. I found out from this site that we've actually only seen two of the ads so far - 'purse' and 'skirt' - and three more are yet to come - 'lower back tattoo,' 'panties,' and 'antique.' There is no softer way I can say this - I hate these ads and everything they stand for. The link above has them posted in case you haven't seen them, as well as a nice breakdown of some of the reasons for my anger.

They make me crazy. The ads basically put men in situations where certain objects make them LESS than. The purse or the skirt make them less masculine. Their friends reinforce how much less of a man they are. And you know what this makes them? More feminine, more lady like, more womanly. So, the message I take away from this is that basically, not being a stereotypical white straight man makes you a woman. And why the hell would you want to be a woman? That's LESS than. The fact that the ads have female bartenders makes me even more upset. Like it's OK to say that crap out loud because it's coming out of a woman's mouth.

I get so tired of this. I get tired of advertising companies thinking the best way to sell their product is by telling all of us exactly how to act and be. Men, buy our beer so your friends won't call you a bitch or a fag. Women, buy this product so you can try to achieve an unachievable, incredibly narrow definition of beauty and feel bad about yourself along the way. I know this isn't a new discussion. Today I just needed to vent.