Uh oh Fender... Instagram accusations of being misogynistic

stonevibe

Fender has been accused of being inappropriate again, what do you guys think?

Winny_Pooh

Who says the guitars are female?

stonevibe

I think it just has upset around 50% of Fender's growing target market and so not their greatest PR moment.

https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/fender-study-finds-half-of-new-guitarists-are-women-738025/

Bigsby

I reckon, if people continue to become increasingly thin skinned, humourless and desperate to be a victim of some one else's '-ism' at the current rate, we'll have to give up using words within the next 10 or 20 years. Things will quieten down then.

AlexC

I don’t get it. What’s that photograph of two male models in their pants got to do with guitars. Not so much a humour bypass on my part, more a complete lack of understanding. Can someone clarify for me, please?

stonevibe

Here is a good explanation of why this was not okay


https://www.instagram.com/stories/camillabasskilla/2517299593185875458/?hl=en

brucegill

I'm assuming the guitars had Brazilian rosewood? or have I missed something? 

usedtobe

I like to think I’m fairly ‘right on’ and I absolutely don’t approve of going out of ones way to be offensive and hurtful. Nor do I approve of going out of ones way to be offended. There’s actually plenty of actual dickishness, without seeing it where there is none. And I agree with calling out shitty behaviour..
 The advert.? I don’t know what they were going for.. whatever the intent, it’s gone right over my head..

Pabcrane

I think Camilla from The Veronicas nailed it. It was a bit weird and creepy. It would appear that this was pointed out to Fender who thought better of the post and took it down because it was a bit weird and creepy. Doesn't appear to be any pitchforks et cetera being raised or threats to throw away one's Fender.

As far as I can see it didn't even have the saving grace of being remotely funny or witty. It was just careless, stupid and bit shitty.

Sassafras

Is it a requirement of Master Builders to be Master Bators>

Gassage

Did Camilla just assume the guitars' gender?

DeeTee

usedtobe said:

I like to think I’m fairly ‘right on’ and I absolutely don’t approve of going out of ones way to be offensive and hurtful. Nor do I approve of going out of ones way to be offended. There’s actually plenty of actual dickishness, without seeing it where there is none. And I agree with calling out shitty behaviour..
 The advert.? I don’t know what they were going for.. whatever the intent, it’s gone right over my head..

It was intended as Sid James style innuendo. "You know, couple of Brazilians, ey? You know what they're like, am I right? Eh? Bounce 'em on your knee, talk about the first thing that comes up, right? Luvvly jubbly. Phwoar." Etc etc.

It's pretty tone deaf in the modern world, especially if the company involved has been vocal in its attempts to market to women.

DaevidJ

Yeah that's a bit crass... Ofc most of us white dudes would not see an issue with it or miss the inference or complain that they are being oppressed or something

PonchoGreg

Pabcrane said:

I think Camilla from The Veronicas nailed it. It was a bit weird and creepy. It would appear that this was pointed out to Fender who thought better of the post and took it down because it was a bit weird and creepy. Doesn't appear to be any pitchforks et cetera being raised or threats to throw away one's Fender.

As far as I can see it didn't even have the saving grace of being remotely funny or witty. It was just careless, stupid and bit shitty.

We could end the thread right there. Without even going into "is it mysoginistic/racist/etc", it's just the sort of lewd/creepy stuff your drunken uncle might drop over dinner. It's simply not funny, and i fail to see how it could appeal to any sort of demographic from a marketing point of view.

Pabcrane

Gassage said:

Did Camilla just assume the guitars' gender?

I think it was the bit about hanging off your neck - which fairly traditionally would be associated with females more than males. You're probably right that she assumed it as it was not explicitly stated however it seems a reasonable assumption on her part given our social history and linguistic suggestive connotations.

Edit: grammer

prowla

They should do a whole series offending every minority/nation/race/creed and then say they're not being discriminatory.

danishbacon

Relic humour

Gassage

Pabcrane said:

Gassage said:

Did Camilla just assume the guitars' gender?

I think it was the bit about hanging off your neck - which fairly traditionally would be associated with females more than males. You're probably right that she assumed it as it was not explicitly stated however it seems a reasonable assumption on her part given our social history and linguistic suggestive connotations.

Edit: grammer

Then that's pretty homophobic of her. Braz guys are hot.

brooom

Amazing fender... you've done it again!

octatonic

This forum gets a mention here in relation to social media posts by John Cruz:

https://guitar.com/news/industry-news/fender-custom-shop-master-builder-john-cruz/

When did this happen?

thegummy

Bigsby said:

I reckon, if people continue to become increasingly thin skinned, humourless and desperate to be a victim of some one else's '-ism' at the current rate, we'll have to give up using words within the next 10 or 20 years. Things will quieten down then.

It's worryingly pathetic, more and more people are becoming completely obsessed with political correctness. It must be to the point where a lot of people are viewing internet posts, watching tv shows/films, listening to songs etc. and the first thing on their mind is "is this politically correct?".

I don't even think more people are actually feeling genuine offence more often, it's that more people want to make it part of their identity that they're the type of person to point out lapses in political correctness.

Even competition to come up with complicated ways something is cryptically offensive before anyone else noticed it was problematic.