That woman on the Morrison's ad...

[roundwindow]

should soooo read Wifework. Dontcha think?

[roundwindow]

[peppercold]

She looks utterly miserable.

[CailinDana]

Wow what a horrible ad! It just made me feel fed up, which is hardly a Christmassy feeling. What is with these ads that show lonely unsupported women struggling with no thanks? Are we supposed to aspire to that?

[roundwindow]

For me it was a really transformative read, about how entrenched the inequality of unavoidable domestic labour still is in almost all marriages. Depressing in a way but very enlightening and ultimately liberating (in my case)

[firawla]

Morrisons one is much worse than the asda one everyone was complaining about, just looks so depressing

[elastamum]

OMFG! That has got to be the worst christmas add yet. Downtrodden mum / wife slaves away without any meaningful help for a family that take her totally for granted. The poor woman look positively ill. Not exactly aspirational

[roundwindow]

Don't worry Joyful, I hadn't either until I read of it on here

[BertieBotts]

Did the Asda one change, BTW? Only I read on here that someone was outraged that the mum doesn't even get a proper chair at the end, she sits on a little pouffe thing, but I saw the ad the other day and she's sitting in an armchair and someone brings her a cup of tea? I wondered if they'd changed the ending due to the criticism.

[roundwindow]

ha, if only that was to be reflected in real life up and down the land!

[FloatyBeatie]

Those ads are awful, aren't they. Women's Hour tweeted that they would be discussing them. I'm not sure whether that discussion has already happened. Anyone know?

This extent of pressure on women to project manage the perfect Christmas is new, I think? It has happened alongside the hypertrophic consumerisation of Christmas. Women are (for bad reasons) the main household shoppers, so the more Christmas becomes about shopping, the more it is women's work, and women are further and further exposed to an exhausting unattainable task erecting in reality the advertisers' profit-driven fantasy version of Christmas.

Just one of many ways that consumerism is exacerbating gender roles.

[elastamum]

I think there is a bit of a christmas backlash starting though. A couple of my previously perfect friends have more or less vetoed christmas. One has even fled the country and told the kids they are all having a holiday, but there is no christmas - at least not one organised by her

I am not organising christmas either. My DC are going to their dad and I am having my dinner cooked by DP at his

[FloatyBeatie]

Oh I do hope you are right about the Christmas backlash. Surely it can't keep up the huge event-status it has had since Victorian times, now that it is just a big sales pitch.

[AnyFuckerForAMincePie]

That woman looks positively ill and petrified about something. It is quite disturbing to watch, tbh. It's a Xmas ad curiously devoid of any Xmas spirit at all < shudder >

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

Joyful, Wifework was discussed in Feminist
Book Club, if you fancy looking that up.

[iamabadger]

I actually thought that ad was one of those public service things about how mental health crises and things are higher at Christmas! The woman looks so depressed and ill, such a bizarre premise for an advert.

[OnwardBound]

Oh yes, the Morrison's ad is terrible!

I thought the Asda one was bad enough with it's control freak smug and simpering housewife and the inadequate manchild...

But Morrison's really takes the prize for most depressing and least aspirational Christmas advert ever!

That woman with her sad lacklustre face, in her dull claustrophobic home, preparing a mountain of brussel sprouts, later surrounded by a sweaty baying crowd eating their Christmas lunch...

It is enough to make you want to veto Christmas [let alone Morrisons!] entirely.

[AnyaKnowIt]

It looks like she is heading for a breakdown

[FamilyGuy2]

I watched that ad last night with my wife. It's quite sad indeed although our discussion ultimately turned into one where we were quite surprised that people continue to do things they don't want to do at Christmas.

It equally applies to any time of year but Christmas seems to be compounded by unwanted family members, tasks and all sorts of other nonsense that people don't enjoy. Why?

It really gets my goat the whole abuser/abused thing and for the life of me I don't understand why that woman doesn't just say, "stuff this" if you really want Xmas dinner then either knock yourself out or roll your sleeves up and help out. Why is she even slaving over a mountain of sprouts in the first place? It wouldn't happen in our house.

Stupid ad IMHO

[SolidGoldFrankensteinandmurgh]

That is truly awful. WTF were they thinking other than 'We hate women, let's take the piss out of them.'?

[KRITIQ]

Reason 46 why I'm glad not to have a TV. Haven't seen this and wish now I hadn't seen it at all.

I think the surreal scenes were meant to be funny, and would have been without the grim voice over and shots of a woman who appears to be descending into a nervous breakdown. The line at the end, where she's clearly invisible to and unacknowledged by the throng of people around her, snarfing down all the food, where she says she wouldn't have it any other way, well, jaw dropped to floor.

Thing is, they could have had a really funny, witty commercial if they just left in the turkey wrestling scene, the Escherian kitchen cupboard and the mountain of sprouts if they'd actually just focussed on the "silly things" form Christmas preparation and included all the family members (not just the dad at the start,) experiencing the stuff. Nope, they went the whole nine yards of mother-as-masochist-martyr. Doesn't make me think "Happy Christmas" at all (or feel inclined to shop there.)