What Not To Get Me

[ricevermicelli]

The baby wouldn't sleep last night, so I hit the net looking for recent episodes of How I Met Your Mother. Because yes, really, it helps her sleep. CBS.com has the most recent ep up there with *sigh* some ads, including a set in which a deeply creepy guy suggests that if I want to get "my woman" the perfect holiday gift, I could... call her doctor and schedule her a pap smear.

I hear that it's the gift that says "I care about what's inside you," so if you think it's romantic and festive to say "I want to make sure there's no genital warts up there," go for it.

Comments

[naomikritzer]

I haven't actually seen the ad but I've heard about it.

Talk about the WORST GIFT EVER. Maybe for Valentine's Day, colonoscopies will be all the rage?

[bookdivalia.livejournal.com]

The Hanukkah one is better.

Just a schmear could save her life
and "give her the gift that will light up her menorah."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4jbmAJ44Po

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

On the plus side, it's certainly raising awareness.

[mizarchivist]

Yeah- I thought it was creepy, too. But thanks for the reminder- I had thought I'd set myself up for an appointment for this month, but I didn't.

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

...is that even legal? (Calling your girlfriend's doctor and scheduling her pap smear, I mean, not the ad.)

[zathrus.livejournal.com]

Interesting question. I can schedule my husband's appointments, but our finances are linked, we have the same insurance, I know all his identifying numbers, etc. It never occurred to me to schedule an appointment for him before we got married.

Completely separate from questions of legality are questions of morality. Scheduling an appointment for someone else without their prior approval seems rather coercive to me. I can totally see sitting down with someone and saying, "It's been five years since you had a physical, and I'm concerned about your health for xyz reason. Please, go to the doctor." But scheduling the appointment without talking about it first? Yuck.

Newt

[bookdivalia.livejournal.com]

My major problem with it is that it's telling men to set them up for "their" women. Women can't do it on their own. It's not directed at women saying "get yourself the gift of good health" or something.

[buxom-bey.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I hate that ad. Thank god I've only been subjected to it once.

[beah.livejournal.com]

It's not what I want for the holidays either, but we aren't exactly this ad's target audience. The truth is that most women are caregivers, not care consumers, and they don't get medical care at all. For those who do, their only point of contact with medical care is at their annual gyn exam. This is especially true in African American, Latino, and other minority or immigrant populations, where the possessive "my woman" might be a lot more culturally accepted.

I say this having worked for the MA Department of Public Health, the MA HIV/AIDS Bureau, a homeless shelter, and a reproductive health clinic. From a public health perspective, reaching these women is very difficult, and also pretty essential. I can't say if the ad will succeed in doing that, but frankly, I applaud the effort.

[steuard.livejournal.com]

So the way to connect with minority communities is to have some white dude tell them how to manage their own medical care? I don't buy it. (The Hanukkah version sure isn't for Latino immigrants!) Reinforcing a "my woman" attitude doesn't sit right with me, either, especially in cultures where it's still common.

Personally, I'm holding out hope that this is actually part of a new CBS program to encourage ad viewership by interspersing stand up comedy segments during commercial breaks.

[chalgaryn.livejournal.com]

Amusingly, they are also encouraging women to schedule "the man in their life"'s prostate exams.

Christmas version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjLsQ4r5mbc
Hanukkah version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fun9s4lsPI8

I find it hysterical that a sly grin is apparently in the script at the same point in both videos.