Academic

Circuit City As Pimp?

By Ann Bartow

I’m not exaggerating. In a commercial entitled “Pick Up” a guy is talking to a woman on the phone, saying how he wants to pick her up, saying things like, ?It?s kind of hard to talk right now, it?s complicated?? in a hushed voice. The sultry female voice on the other end says something like, ?It?s not complicated. Just come and pick me up.? He agrees and she says ?Great! I?ll be waiting up front!?

The viewer then learns that the voice on the other end of the line is coming from a talking television at Circuit City that has feminine legs and expresses great enthusiasm about getting picked up. The guy walks into the store, smiles creepily, and begins leading her toward his car. Then, the Circuit City slogan, ?We?ll Hook You Up? comes onto the screen.

Watch it here. Another related commercial, pitched at women, does not use a prostitution narrative. Instead, it’s framed as a bad dating relationship with a camera, and entitled “Mixed Signals.” The ick factor is pretty high for both ads, and produced by a company that is now in bankruptcy.

–Ann Bartow

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on December 04, 2008 (boomark / email).