"Hannah & Her Horse", Harmless Sales Ploy or Hard To Stomach?

"Hannah & Her Horse", Harmless Sales Ploy or Hard To Stomach? 

The latest DirectTV advertisements feature a busty blond, “Hannah” and her horse, a gray stallion with CGI’d facial expressions who quips ‘witty’ remarks. The accented equine pitches the cable TV company while the breathy voiced Hannah smiles doe-eyed after pitching her one line, “Take it straight from my horse’s mouth.”

With her bikini bod, the bombshell is meant to play to the fantasy of hordes of salivating straight men. Two words can sum up the vacant vixen’s real role in the ad: sex object. Before jumping to conclusions that I’m another ugly, hairy-legged overreacting ‘feminazi’ hear me out.

I’m not making waves about the 45 second ad without reason. With our American culture’s obsession with beauty, youth, and emaciated svelte bodies, it’s no surprise that “Hannah” is being marketed as a means to sell a product.

Notice the way the camera panned....

There’s a brilliantly simple way to determine if a gal is being used in line with this all too common sex-object shenanigans. The CHIPS test. I don’t mean the chocolate, or sea-salted variety kind. Google it if you’re not in the know. Here’s the deal. “Hannah” is crowned both ‘Commodity’ and ‘Parts’ in this miss representation pageant.

By harping on directTV as being the station to get  with her come-hither invitation,  she’s something that can be bought and sold, a “Commodity”. As for ‘Parts’, in “Hannah”’s latest appearance her full perky breasts are emphasized as she lays in the edge of the water, sprawled in the sand with the tides lapping at her cleavage. Makin’ all them boys drool and DirectTV  bust out with a triumphant CHA-CHING.

“Hannah” also brings up the girl vs girl argument. DirectTV’s ad appears to be framing “Hannah” as a gal other women should be envious of and even feel resentment towards. Mkay. Earning the stamp of approval from Captain Obvious, these ads are meant to take a stab at us ladies.

Advertisers and companies get their rocks off by making women feel shitty and worthless. These one-minded companies and ad folks use these women’s desperation to roll in the dough. By manipulating women into feeling dissatisfied with themselves, these advertisers and corporations keep the cash flowing.

"Hannah" rocking her 'parts' role.

It’s not that this is anything new. Women have been made passive and subjects of the male gaze in glossy magazines, as well as perched above cities on billboards, and in living color in computer pop-ups or on television commercials.

And while this may seem to be hardly a big deal, considering all of the feminist gains, it’s still for all intents and purposes screwed the hell up. I’m not naive enough to think things for us women is gonna change in the ad business at any time soon. 

But that doesn’t change that this cheap trick is still an obnoxious and degrading way to make moolah. With the orgy of ads that come down on us, shit like this ad does make an impression and even the peeps that don’t buy into capitalism (lets be bffs?) or claim to not buy into this ridiculousness--- are still internalizing these messages. Eww. “Hannah” can’t go adios soon enough.