Tag Archives: Judy Kurtz

Can a ‘White Dudes for Harris’ Ad Really Turn Out . . . White Dudes for Harris?

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and scrolling through Politico Playbook, when I came across this scoopy item about a new ad campaign in the presidential bakeoff.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — White Dudes for Harris is launching an eye-popping eight-figure ad campaign targeting, you guessed it, persuadable white male voters in swing states, trying to draw a sharp contrast between the so-called “toxic masculinity” Trump displays and Harris’ campaign pitch.

The ad is airing in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on YouTube, streaming and social media platforms with a buy in the $10,000,000 range. It is backed by the Beige Rainbow PAC.

Bro-tastic narrator: “Hey, white dudes – so I think we’re all pretty sick of hearing how much we suck. Every time you go online, it’s the same story: we’re the problem. And yeah, some white dudes are. Trump and all his MAGA buddies are out there making it worse, shouting nonsense in their stupid red hats and acting like they speak for us when they don’t.”

Whaddaya think, Doc – could that pitch actually work?

– White Knuckles for Harris

Dear WKfH,

First off, ten million dollars is real money, bru.

Here’s what Beige Rainbow PAC is buying with all that dough.

As the dude puts it, this “isn’t about picking teams [but] who’s got a plan that’s gonna make life better for me and my family . . . [Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz] are actually talking to guys like us — no lectures, no B S. Just real solutions that protect our freedoms and help us take care of the people who matter.”

Not surprisingly, the MAGAsphere thinks the ad is just cringe. The Twittersphere, on the other hand, likes it just fine.

White Dudes for Harris is only one of the grassroots groups jumping on the Coconut Train, as The Hill’s Judy Kurtz reports.

Many organizers credit the “Win With Black Women” call for getting the ball rolling and igniting the virtual fundraiser trend. The July event drew more than 40,000 participants.

Since then, countless other calls have been organized from a dizzying number of groups, including “White Dudes for Harris,” “Cat Ladies for Kamala” and “Comics for Harris.”

Bill de Blasio helped coordinate “Paisans for Kamala” (ciao, Robert De Niro and Nancy Pelosi!), while Swifties for Kamala was up and running well before she officially endorsed Harris.

Still waiting for Comma Nerds for Kamala (Harvard Division). Shouldn’t be long now, yeah?

Why Is Mars Incorporated Slut-Shaming the Green M&M?

by doctorads

(Aditor’s note: Thanks to both readers of this site for joining in the triumphant return of the good doctor yesterday. We won’t forget your kindness.)

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag once again and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, just minding my own business and scrolling through Twitter when I came across this.

The Hill’s Judy Kurtz reported that “candy is about to get more ‘inclusive,’ with the maker of M&M’s announcing its famed characters are getting modern makeovers and will have more ‘nuanced personalities.’”

For example:

The green M&M, previously seen in ads posing seductively and strutting her stuff in white go-go boots, will now sport a pair of sneakers. A description for the green candy on the M&M’s website says she enjoys “being a hypewoman for my friends.”

A hypewoman? What the hell even is that? Help me out here, Doc.

– Candy Crushed

Dear Crushed,

In the past, the Doc’s efforts to tackle delicate subjects like this one have tended to go over like the metric system. So let’s leave it to the Double Xers.

Danielle Cohen at The Cut.

Let the M&M’s Be Hot and Mean

Have you ever gazed at a piece of chocolate and asked yourself, What if this candy were … progressive? Can’t say I have, but lucky for me, somebody thought to do just that. Mars has rolled out new versions of famed M&M’s characters to reflect what the company sees as a “more dynamic, progressive world” and what I see as a very rude corporate rebrand nobody asked for.

Claire Carusillo at Gawker (headline: They Made the Green M&M a Dumpy Slut).

[Yesterday], the Mars Wrigley company rolled out a sterile, bone-dry rebrand of those sentient, sexy, candy-shelled roly-polys we like to call M&Ms. Notably, the hot green one is no longer wearing go-go boots, and the brown one has a lower heel. Anton Vincent, the president of Mars Wrigley North America told CNN that tamping down the sexuality of our most beloved screen sirens by giving them more sensible footwear is “a subtle cue, but it’s a cue nonetheless” that M&Ms are feminism, that they are geopolitics, that they are egalitarianism, and that they are corporate ladder climbing.

EJ Dickson at Rolling Stone (headline: Let the Green M&M Be a Nasty Little Slut).

The recent push to rebrand corporate logos to be more inclusive has, for the most part, been a good thing. Making Barbie more body-positive? Great. Renaming Aunt Jemima syrup? About damn time. Yet in brands’ fervent quest to capture youth audiences and capture the woke zeitgeist, they may be going just a little bit too far. Case in point: the slut-shaming of the green M&M.

‘Nuf said.