It offended me on soooooo many levels.
You may not be able to tell it but the father figure and the granny behind the car are smiling and laughing at the antics of the young boy who decided it would be a good idea to climb on a religious statue. Somehow I doubt they'd be laughing and smiling if it wasn't a totem pole the kid was being so disrespectful to. Maybe if their ancestors hadn't committed genocide against the Native Americans who once lived free in all parts of this country they wouldn't feel like it was fine to mock and belittle the religious objects of Indian tribes. I also doubt that they'd let the kid climb all over a cross or a sacred sculpture like La Pieta.
Next up Mom decides her son's behavior is cute enough to warrant a picture. In taking the picture she validates the brat's bad behavior.
Am I the only one who knows that "spunk" is a euphemism for male ejaculate? I giggled like an 11 year old when I saw the phrase "full of spunk." 
But what really got me was the image of the boy on the totem pole. Notice how the beak of that bird becomes his penis and the boy looks like he's ready to fill that car up with his spunk. The Oedipal overtones are also very striking.Or maybe it's just a stupid old ad that emblematic of the late 1950's when it seemed like white people would rule the world forever.
13 comments:
Doesn't happen often-
rendered speechless!
Brilliant analysis.
We need to get you a hobby.
Have I told you lately how much I love you?
Oh, yes, I did.
Anyways...excellent post, excellent points. Sign of the times, though. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks the what happened to the Native population was a genocide.
Wow, you must have studied that ad for a while. I didn't catch all that on first glance, but now that you've pointed it out, it's impossible to view the ad in any other way. On the surface, it would be possible to think that the word spunk was meant more innocently, (spunk |spə ng k| noun 1 informal courage and determination. 2 tinder; touchwood. 3 Brit., vulgar slang: semen. ORIGIN mid 16th cent.(in the sense [a spark, vestige] ): of unknown origin; perhaps a blend of spark 1 and obsolete funk [spark.], In the context of the rest of the ad, I have to say that it looks as if someone in the advertising agency that created it pulled a fast one. My father worked in advertising for a number of years and it was a matter of some pride amongst the employees if they could slip something like this past the higher-ups. Whoever was responsible for this one must have achieved legendary status in the eyes of his or her coworkers.
The first thing I noticed was Boy On Penis. But I bet you expected that from me.
All of the above.
There is a design/ad/branding firm here called Spunk. There was an interview with them in a local publication that asked the inevitable question "Don't you know the other definition of spunk? Why wouold you name your branding company that?"
I noticed the boy-on-penis thing right off too, but didn't realize the meaning of spunk. I used that word often. I'll be dropping it now, thank you.
I think your last analogy was on point - white folks are often clueless.
why don't i log onto your blog more often? i just can't handle the laughter! i'm cracking up over here...
oh good goddess, dr. monkey... i nearly choked on my coffee when i read this post because i was laughing so hard.
i love you. if sparky ever leaves you, will you marry me?
You might like this headline:
http://tinyurl.com/ypmol2
It's Going to Spunk Us Up
Yep that kid does look poised to spunk it all up! Damn now I will never look at all those Life/Look auto ads the same!
Fran-Thanks.
Angry-Umm, this is my hobby.
WC-(blushing) Aww thanks.
Ed-Thanks for the definition but I already knew it had different meanings. I'm sure the guy who designed this laughed all the way to the bank.
Beth-I hadn't before but I will now.
Missy-It's a spunk filled world.
MNMom-Never drop spunk.
Notsoccermom-I wondered where you'd been.
Barbie-Let's cross that marriage bridge when and if we ever come to it.
Blueberry-Ha! I did love that headline!
Micgar-Glad I could help out.
I think there needs to be an ad with a kid playing on a cross while his family in headscarves is yukkin' it up. I could make it more offensive than that, but I won't. I'm just sayin'.
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