Are you a Mitchum Man?

If there's one thing I don't like it is some smarmy little marketing expert telling me what to think about who I am and the products I buy. This is probably why I fast forward through commercials and TiVo everything. But I digress.

I've been a bit lazy in my blogging lately, what with having a life, and not living in my parents' basement. But the new ad campaign for Mitchum that has been going on few a little while has been really pissing me off.

"If you're the only one who knows which remote controls what...you're a Mitchum man."

Either that or you married a moron who cannot operate a simple electronic gadget.

How about this one:

"If you've ever dated a yoga instructor...you're a Mitchum man."

Or:

"If hammering stuff is your way of unwinding...you're a Mitchum man."

I mean seriously, just fuck off. I buy a chemical that stops me from producing a foul smelling wetness under my arm. This isn't a lifestyle choice. I didn't pick up this product because I am suffering from the delusion that using a certain kind of deodorant will make me more manly. This isn't 1950. Are you going to tell me next which brand of cigarettes I need to start smoking?

Seiko have already explained that it is my watch that defines who I am, so I don't need a fucking deodorant company to do the same.

The stick I have at home tells me that I am a Mitchum man if I believe that the ratio of lighter fluid to charcoal on a barbecue should be 2:1. But if that were the case, even if I were still alive, I'd need to buy a new barbecue. Not that I own one. You see it is not a prerequisite of being a man that you must enjoy cooking outside.

All in all the Mitchum commercials simply encourage ridiculous stereotypes, sexism, and the believe that behaving like a Neanderthal chauvinist is an attractive male trait. In fact you can even go to their web site where you are encouraged to take a 'man test' to see how manly you are. An actress then pretends to get excited about your answers if you profess to be a thick headed moron.

Seriously, if your deodorant defines you. If you have to take a test to find out if you are a man. If you find sexism and the oppression of women funny, then quite simply you are a jerk. You don't even have to take a test to figure that one out.