OK, they are not talking about Teddy Bears.
This is a silly ad. I am sad if they meant it for serious.
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So glad you posted this! As soon as I saw it I had to send it to you.
Translation: Be original! Get a Vermont Teddy Bear because nobody's ever thought of that before and because women are idiots who nearly orgasm at the sight of stuffed animals!
Am I the only woman alive who sees through cheesy gifts? I'd be happy that they thought of me, but upset that it took a hallmark-created holiday for them to do so.
Also, I'd be kind of pissed if someone sent me a bear or flowers or whatever at work, it's kind of showboat-y if you ask me.
This is sad. I have a Vermont Teddy Bear - a gift from my parents when they toured the factory. They are actually nice, well-made bears as far as teddy bears go. It is too bad they had to resort to ridiculous stereotyping to promote their products.
I actually saw this commercial while watching Rachel Maddow. Seems kinda like the wrong crowd to market to, in my opinion.
I agree. I saw it watching a different show on CNN. Maybe their thinking is that the CNN crowd is more educated & more apt to pay the price of one: Nearly $80 bucks for some. When my bf and I were watching this I said, "I would be pissed if you bought me that for Valentines Day. Do they think we're children? I bet you would hate it if I bought you that, too!" Him: "yep."
I think people realize they can get the same crappy toys (because that's what it is. a toy) at Walgreens for five bucks.
I am so glad you posted this... I've been seeing this commercial a lot on late-night tv and it never fails to piss me off.
"So much bigger than I thought... I can just kiss it and kiss it..."
wtf??!!!
The message: give your "sweetheart" a teddy bear and some fucking chocolate and getting laid will be "a sure thing."
Fuck you, VTB.
my exact sentiments!!! valentine's is just around the corner...i wonder if this is aired...(never seen it myself)
It's largely a joke. Perhaps the typical Feministing reader doesn't spend as much time as I watching Spike TV late at night (What? They have Star Trek: TNG.) But this is a very well-drawn parody of the absurd "natural male enhancement" ads that run all over basic cable in the wee hours of the night. It's even got similar incidental music.
What that information does to one's perception of the moral propinquity of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company is up to you. But the commercial is in no way meant to be a serious pitch for orgasm-causing bears.
Is that why the actors look like they were culled from the set of a soft-core porn studio? I'm sure they're nice people just trying to make a living, but there's an awful lot of plastic in those women.
OMG, is it just me or does the sentence "You can Bear-Gram her at work or at home!" sound super dirty?! Just me? Okay, I'll just keep giggling to myself over here.
=)
your comment made ME giggle.
cliffy is ever so correct. it's a joke. it's a parody and it's quite funny
This girl I know had a boyfriend who went out at the last minute on valintines day to buy her something. They had only been dating for a little while and when she asked his room mates where he had gone (when she came over that night), they all said (in unison)"to get gas." Don't you hate it when you're hanging out at your house and suddenly realize your car is out of gas and you have to go buy some? When he got back he gave her a stuffed gorilla wearing boxing gloves that said "you knock me out" across the chest, still in the Publix bag. She couldn't figure out if it was funny or not (I say YES).
What girl needs that? Who is giving guys the impression that we mature, independent adult women just LOVE stuffed animals? Are we your kindergarden-aged niece? I think the assumption is that on V-day, women lose the capacity to be practical and rational, and must be treated like children ("does baby like her teddy and her candy?").
When I get a crappy last-minute stuffed animal I just have to figure out how to get rid of it without hurting your feelings, which is just as difficult (apparently) as you figuring out what inane crap to buy in the first place (not that my boyfriend is like that, but some have been).
God, thank you. I do not get the stuffed-animals-for-grown-women thing at all. Where the hell am I supposed to put them? On my bed? On the mantle? On the couch? DISPLAYED IN FRONT OF OTHER GROWNUPS? Please.
OTOH, I've known a number of guys who were very happy to receive stuffed animals as presents from their girlfriends. Guys like cute stuffed animals and cuddly items as much as girls do, but it's less acceptable for them to express that, so if their girlfriends (or sometimes their little sisters) give them stuffed animals they have an excuse.
Btw, I agree with the folks who think this ad is deliberately satirical.
My fiancee and I met playing In Nomine-- a RPG where you assume the personas of Angels, Demons, or various other types (more rarely) in the war between Heaven and Hell-- and I've always been called a "great big teddy bear" (because I'm big, fuzzy, and soft-hearted, and proud of it :) ). I've sort of grown into the nickname and have all sorts of bear kitsch-- my homework stamp is a bear from this Native American museum up in washington, for example. So one time for a gift she took a teddy bear and sewed wings onto it to give to me. ^^ Total happy squee from this guy.
I once got my husband a little stuffed beaver as a gift. He thought it was hysterical and keeps on top of his computer monitor.
But I don't think he'd ever get me a stuffed animal. And if he bear-grammed me at work, I'd think he lost his mind.
awww....I love stuffed animals. I just bought a blue teddy bear for myself yesterday at coney island! =) I like to cuddle with it at night and I display it proudly. And I'm 20.
=D
Maybe that's the difference; I'm 32. Get off my lawn, teddy bear lover!
xD
"lose the capacity to be practical and rational, and must be treated like children ("does baby like her teddy and her candy?"). "
Compared to any other time of the year when we're seen as valid, valuable members of society?
Cliffy's right. I think it's pretty obvious that it's a spoof. I think it's pretty clever.
This is just so over the top, it's quite silly. I'm usually the 1st in line to tear up ads but, meh, this one seemed to making fun of itself as well.
Problem is, it's hard to spot this as satire when it's bookended with "PajamaGram" and "HEEEEEE went to JARED!"
I once exchanged stuffed teddy bears with a Valentine, when I was 9. Not cute anymore.
Oh, it's a joke, i was kinda hoping it was an ad targeting the "plushie"* crowd...
*Google it, you wouldn't believe me if I just told you...
did anyone else notice how the air hole was presented promintently like a whole half of the commercial? the whole thing is just completely bizarre. also, i think the only appropriate time to give an adult a stuffed animal is if you win one at a fair.
I'm not sure if it's unique to the company - probably not any more, if it ever was - but the "air hole" is like a company signature thing. They've been doing it forever as far as I know.
I've been to the company and had the tour (it wasn't a trek, I just happened to be on vacation nearby). The tour was very self-mocking, self-aware, fully cognizant that the product was silly and the air hole was just weird.
So I have to believe the ad was contininuing the "Aren't we silly?" theme.
And no, I don't own one of them or any stock in the company.
I think swapping a plushie sperm and egg from thinkgeek.com is much more meaningful and romantic... but that's just me.
The sand thing is that it is totally real. That and the actors all look like porn stars.
Actually, I've always liked VTB because I noticed about 8 or 10 years ago that they featured gay-couple bears. Seriously. I haven't checked lately but they offered as a standard couples of boyish leather glad bears or 2 "bride" bears. I'm not into kitsch, but I like equal opportunity kitsch.
That could be less about their acceptance of gays and more about them realizing there is a market for it. If other stuffed animal companies are too squeamish to make them, they could make a killing off selling them. So, could just be more about money and finding an opportunity. Dunno.
I just checked the website, and they have a gay pride bear (androgynous, with rainbow tattoo) as well as two grooms, two brides.
Of course they are in business to make a buck on a product that, face it, nobody Needs, but I think it's great that way before it was fashionable they admitted there was a market and weren't afraid to tap into it. I think a lot of places would be worried about rich (pick religious right group) picketing them.
Hmmm, not gonna lie, I love stuffed animals. I still own the stuffed care bear my sister gave me when I was born, and I have been known to sleep with a stuffed elephant when I'm feeling sad.
That being said, this commercial annoys me just as much as all the other if-you-buy-her-this-for-a-Valentine-she-will-fuck-you commercials that come out this time of year. If it is a silly parody of male enhancement commercials I can see why they thought it would be funny, but they should have chosen the time and channel to air the ad better to give the viewer that context because without it it's just obnoxious.