Living Out Loud with Darian

I'm sure by now everyone is aware of the brewing controversy over the Snickers commercial aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday. In the commercial two mechanics accidentally kiss after they both decide to simultaneously eat a snickers bar under the hood of a car. Once the men realize that they've kissed each other in true macho hetero style one says, "let's do something manly" and they begin to rip out their chest hairs. There's also alternate endings, in one the men decide to drink motor oil in order to prove their masculinity after the kiss.

As expected the dominant LGBT community is up in arms and accusing Mars Inc. of promoting an anti-gay message in the commercial, they've even solicited a reaction from Judy Shepard, mother of the late Matthew Shepard. Read for yourself here .

Personally I wasn't offended and thought the commercial was a sad but honest portrayal of how insecure a large majority of straight men are with their sexuality and the extreme lengths they wil go in order to prove their manhood. Drinking motor oil and pulling chest hairs, please not me!

I was more offended by the reaction of some of the NFL players when they were given an opportunity to watch the commercial., particularly the Black players. Many of them reacted as if they had been living on another planet and hadn't been exposed to gay people in their everyday lives. Playing in the NFL doesn't exclude one from coming in contact with SGL people, just revisit the Roy Simmons story.

Mars Inc. has since pulled the ads due to the controversy(although I saw it this morning on tv). It's going to be interesting to see what GLAAD will have to say about this one, since they have so much to say lately.

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Labels: Entertainment