Will not purchase at Lowes

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

I’ve decided that Lowes has nothing I want to buy. This because in the last some months I have seen many Lowes TV commercials and every single one posits a male that is whipped, weak, sniveling, cowardly, and subordinate.

I don’t desire to waste my money on people who insult me as an avocation.

cliff--

i'm with you on these types of ads. they really annoy me.

but...

just saying that you are going to spend your money elsewhere will be as effective as holding your breath.

if you decide to shop elsewhere, you need to tell lowe's WHY you are shopping elsewhere.

unless you are a volume purchaser, it is highly unlikely that they will even know that you are gone.

if enough folks take the "shop elsewhere" approach, a local store may notice an impact, but the store will still have no idea as to what precipitated the change in revenue. was it a seasonal shift, or the phase of the moon?

the local stoer manager has no control over the corporate advertising strategy. but if you visited them, or wrote them a letter telling them why you were no longer shopping in their store, you might get their attention. and, they may address the issue upstream.

adressing a letter to the local store manager and copying a district manager, and/or the corporate office may also help.

don't just go away mad. tell them WHY!

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

if you decide to shop elsewhere, you need to tell lowe's WHY you are shopping elsewhere.

Already did that ~!!

[Steven Triggs]

I agree that a lot (not just Lowe's) of commercials portray men very negatively lately. However, for two reasons, I'm inclined not to care much more than being a bit annoyed:

1. Women have been putting up with this crap for years (i.e. feminine product commercials and such), so I think we can take it too. If I were a woman, I think I would be very offended by them. I know many of the women I know claim to be offended by them.

2. From a marketing standpoint, it is very useful to make a humorous commercial (don't misunderstand, I don't find them funny, but obviously they are suppoed to be). In all honesty, it is pretty hard to make something funny without a victim. If you think about, most jokes you tell or laugh at DO make fun of someone.

Anyway, just my two cents...

[Kyle Kraft]

I agree with you Steve. Start looking at commercials with color thrown in the mix. Many situations portray blacks as the "loser". A prime example is the Cheerios wedding commercial where the bride throws a box of Cheerios and a black gal and white gal both catch the box. The white gal rips it out of the black gals hands with a snickering grin and the black gals face is downcast. There is a car commercial where the black lady and white lady are "debating" on whos car has more bang for the buck...you guessed it, the white ladies car is the better one.

The point I'm trying to make is similar to yours, and that there seems to be more victims in commercials nowdays. Whatever happened to simply stating why your product is the better choice? Don't name names or turn it into a 30 second sitcom.

PS...I'm a white guy.

[Calvin Hobbs]

You guys are hitting on one of my hot buttons. Forgive me while I jump up on a soapbox....

From the "idiot male" who burns up the grill in the backyard while the wife admires her Pella windows...

The guys who eats Cheerios because Mommy says it's good for his heart and "Daddy did a lot of stupid things before he met Mommy"

The woman who rents a storage unit to clean up some useless thing around the house moving the couch (with the guy on it sleeping with the remote in his lap).

Ray Romano, King of Queens, Tim the Toolman....

All these are "funny" but it shows the attack of todays culture against the traditional family with the man at the head of the household, providing leadership, from moral to financial to spiritual. It is from every direction. The two parent family with a strong father is going away. Divorce is rampant and crushing the stability of families. This is why I believe our society is raising a bunch of boys who never grow up because they don't have a strong role model to identify with. And Hollywood LOVES IT. Hollywood values are directly opposed to ours (at least mine), and those who refuse to believe it should wake up and realize it.

It is difficult for me to discuss this without turning to my faith, which the attack on men is directly against. So needless to say, a little "humor" in advertising is not the only thing we are up against.

I am not anti-woman at all, I am pro family.

Sorry about the rant. My wife tells me to lighten up on this issue all the time, and I really am an easygoing guy. Cal

[John Schreiber]

Respectfully disagreeing

. . . but it shows the attack of todays culture against the traditional family with the man at the head of the household, . . .

As was pointed out earlier, humor works in advertising. Much humor needs a victim. Who better to serve as a victim than the person who is not the victim in the rest of the culture. Should we instead have children, women or minorities as the victim?

Don't forget that white males hold most of the positions of authority in this country. Women and minorities are highly underrepresented in government, religion, business, the professions and even woodworking. Men can start feeling like victims when you hear people say things like "I wouldn't vote for a man for President" or "How could I get a medical exam from a man?"

The entertainment and the advertising industry are businesses out to maximize profit. I don't doubt some in those businesses would sell crack to babies if they could make money at at. The things we see on TV and the movies are what is profitable for them. I agree that morals and standards are lacking there, but I don't think they are out to attack or support a culture any more than tool companies who outsource their products. They are simply businesses with a profit model out to maximize their profit.

[Ernie Hobbs]

You guys are hitting on one of my hot buttons. Forgive me while I jump up on a soapbox....

From the "idiot male" who burns up the grill in the backyard while the wife admires her Pella windows...

The guys who eats Cheerios because Mommy says it's good for his heart and "Daddy did a lot of stupid things before he met Mommy"

The woman who rents a storage unit to clean up some useless thing around the house moving the couch (with the guy on it sleeping with the remote in his lap).

Ray Romano, King of Queens, Tim the Toolman....

All these are "funny" but it shows the attack of todays culture against the traditional family with the man at the head of the household, providing leadership, from moral to financial to spiritual. It is from every direction. The two parent family with a strong father is going away. Divorce is rampant and crushing the stability of families. This is why I believe our society is raising a bunch of boys who never grow up because they don't have a strong role model to identify with. And Hollywood LOVES IT. Hollywood values are directly opposed to ours (at least mine), and those who refuse to believe it should wake up and realize it.

Not to be the voice of dissent but I don't really look for commercials to define my life and how I interact with my family. The reason these ads and shows have such a huge response with viewers is that they have a certain grain of truth to them. When I look at my co-workers or people in the community that I interact with, men, for the most part, really don't know how to use their hands. Calvin, we grew up in a family that taught us woodworking skills and the ability to fix pretty much anything. However, this was rare and most people born in the last 40 years or so really don't have basic do-it-yourself skills. When I look at the other "woodworkers" (and I use that term loosely) that I know of locally, very few are skilled enough to produce a product I'd be proud to make myself. But, there is interest- I think men (and women) feel like they should be able to do things around the house and build things but just don't know how to do it. That's where Lowe's comes in and relates to these guys on their level. The reason that the SMC community is offended is that this group largely has the skills that most men want to have (or are working towards them). These ads and commercials are meant to connect with their potential customers and say "we know where you're coming from and we will help you get your projects done". That's just good business. That's also why professional or serious woodworkers steer towards stores like Woodcraft, Woodworkers' Supply, Rockler, etc. because they cater to this population.

What bothers me is that our kids are watching these commercials and don't have the ability to filter out reality from fiction. That's why it is so important to teach them the skills they need for life and make it so that they won't connect on a personal level to what they're being asked to buy. It's not a bad idea to ban TV altogether from the home (but it's nice to keep them occupied for a while).

[Jeffrey Makiel]

The reason these ads and shows have such a huge response with viewers is that they have a certain grain of truth to them. When I look at my co-workers or people in the community that I interact with, men, for the most part, really don't know how to use their hands.

At the age of 46, I have to agree with this statement.

When I was in my teens, I did a lot of stuff around my home. Grass cutting, wash the car, maintain/repair the car, painting, snow and leaf removal, gutter cleaning, etc. Today, I do not see any young guys doing any chores what so ever. In fact, today I see neighborhood kids walking right by immigrant workers cutting their lawn on the way to soccer practice, and, I don't live in an affluent neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination.

Another example is when I go to Woodworking Shows. It seems I'm the youngest guy in the crowd. Again, I'm 46 years old!

But, as similar to young men, I also see the same loss of basic skills and motivation with young women. Long gone are the days when girls helped with domestic chores inside the home. In fact, the most common thing I hear from parents nowadays are: "She turned 17 this year, so we bought her a new car because we were afraid to buy her something used that may breakdown; after all, she's a girl".

-Jeff

[ROBERT ELLIS]

Here Here to Calvin Hobbs post!

Robert

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Not to be the voice of dissent but

Oh C'mon~!! Be it Be it~!!

[Al Willits]

One word.....minivans.
Or more commonly called the emasculation of the American male.

One of the local radio disc jockey's is forever complaining about the lack of real men anymore, I'm assuming he's not looking for one, and just is complaining about all the wussies that seem to be everywhere now.

Gotta say I agree with him.

Todays viewing of the TV seems to make one agree with the DJ, never have I seen such a bunch of retards who couldn't make a decision if they had to, and if it wasn't for the DIY and history channel, and a few others
it'd be easy to just turn the TV off.

Ya commercials are insulting, as is most TV anyway, least imho.

Al

[Nancy Laird]

As was pointed out earlier, humor works in advertising. Much humor needs a victim. Who better to serve as a victim than the person who is not the victim in the rest of the culture. Should we instead have children, women or minorities as the victim?

Don't forget that white males hold most of the positions of authority in this country. Women and minorities are highly underrepresented in government, religion, business, the professions and even woodworking. Men can start feeling like victims when you hear people say things like "I wouldn't vote for a man for President" or "How could I get a medical exam from a man?"

Can a woman chime in here? (Yeah, I'll just bet that you all were holding your collective breaths.) As a woman, a woodworker, and a WASP, I am a member of one vast minority (female woodworkers) and one rapidly shrinking segment of our society (WASPs). You have hit one of my hot buttons, and you may have just set off an explosion. Many of you may be too young to remember the old Geritol commercials (think Ted Mack's Amateur Hour) that ended with a WASP male smiling at the camera and saying "My wife, I think I'll keep her."

Gentlemen, the victimization you may be seeing on TV commercials and other places is just those same ads from the 50s-60s-70s-80s (yes, the 80s) with gender roles reversed. Can you recall the Mr. Clean giant or the Ajax man making things all sparkly and the "little woman" being amazed? For as long as this country has been a country, white males have put down and patronized women.

Do you remember reading in your history books of the uproar surrounding Amanda Bloomer's wearing of pants and the fact that she was barred from entering certain male bastions, even hotel lobbies, solely because of her attire?

How about Katharine Hepburn's wearing of pants from her earliest days in Hollywood (in the early 30s) to the day of her death? She was called everything in the book except a white woman.

How about it taking until 1920 (!) until women were allowed to vote in federal elections (after several states had already allowed the same in lower-level elections)?

How about the uproar surrounding the election of Jeanette Rankin from Montana to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1916, and how she was able to serve only one term because she was so villified for voting against the entry of the US into World War I?

How about the practices of the U.S. military that it took until the 70s to remove the WACS and WAVES and WAFS designations for women in the armed services and just call them Army/Navy/Air Force personnel? Or the fact that it took until the late 80s for the services to acknowledge that woman just might have what it takes to drive a tank, fly a plane, steer a ship, carry a weapon, fight in a war?

How about the laws that prevented women from inheriting property or even owning their own property until just about a century ago, give or take 10 years?

How about all of the defense companies who were so glad to have women working in the plants during WWII, but as soon as the war was over, they kicked the women out to make room for men?

How about all of the "service clubs", like Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, Optimists, Sertoma, Civitans, who barred women from membership until the 80s? How about the VFW and American Legion who "allowed" women to participate as part of the "Women's Auxiliary", even if the woman had been in the military and otherwise qualified for membership?

WASP men, stop complaining about how you are depicted in television commercials, and consider how lucky you are that you have never had to march to obtain your rights to vote, to own property. How you have never been thrown out of a premises because of your attire. How you have never had to sue a club, organization, school, or other entity for admission which had been denied solely because of your gender. How if you were a female, you were denied admission to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Colgate, Dartmouth, Cornell, Penn, Columbia, West Point, Annapolis, etc. etc. etc. until the 70s (and the Citadel and VMI until the 90s) solely because of your gender.

I'm not going to either defend or villify Lowe's for their ads, nor Ace Hardware, or any other advertising agency for these commercials. It's a free-market society out there and if you choose not to patronize those businesses who "hurt your feelings" or "insult your manhood," that's your choice, but it won't make much of a difference.

Just suck it up, guys, like the female portion of the population has been forced to do for centuries!!!!

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Hey! Who let her in?????




No, seriously. This little pity-party is quite pathetic. Guys, we've had it pretty good for a long time. I'm willing to take a few lumps from a few stupid commercials. Doesn't bother me a bit.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

This little pity-party is quite pathetic.

Pity party or indignation and well placed indignation? I go with the latter.

Guys, we've had it pretty good for a long time.

Yah so? There is no excuse for making a negative parody of any one make female black white purple ( well maybe purple).

I'm willing to take a few lumps from a few stupid commercials. Doesn't bother me a bit.

Sounds like a personal decision. I am not so disposed.

[Dennis Peacock]

Ok folks.....let's keep things under control here and let's keep it cool. Leave your emotions outside and let's all be as civil as possible. Please?!!!