From the department of “What the Hell were they thinking” comes this awful newspaper ad from Skoda Ireland.
This is the gender-reversed version. The original print ad was identical except it featured the bridegroom rather than the bride. But when an advertisement is equally demeaning to both genders, it’s splitting hairs on tecnicalites to argue whether it’s sexist or not.
What sort of picture or their customer base does this paint? Shallow, self-obsessed people who treat other human beings as objects or possessions?
Yes I know car adverts tend to be awful, selling a “lifestyle” with the implied subtext that you too will get the beautiful girlfriend if only you drove the right car. And they all come with magical traffic-free roads, because nobody would buy a car based on a truthful picture of the M25 on a wet Friday night.
But still, Skoda, do you think it’s still 1973?
Some of us remember the Skodas of years past, when the brand was the butt of every bad joke. They were the cars with heated rear windows to keep your hands warm while you were pushing them, and all that. The social attitudes behind this ad belong back in those days.
