It is only days away.
People across the country are buying big-screen televisions, cases of their favorite beer and popcorn with movie-theater butter. They're rearranging the living-room furniture to fit two extra couches and a corduroy-beanbag chair.
They're inviting over co-workers, neighbors and that guy they met in line at the liquor store.
Why?
Because it's almost Super Bowl Sunday: the once-a-year opportunity to join with friends and watch action-packed, never-before-seen…commercials. Or football, if that's more of your thing.
Personally, I wait for the game to come back on before I go to the bathroom or grab another handful of chips. I don't want to miss any of the good stuff.
And there is usually a lot to laugh at during the commercial breaks.
There are beer ads with men behaving like children. There are Snickers ads with men looking ridiculous. Oh, and there are General Motors ads with men acting stupid.
I think that about sums up every commercial I saw last year.
A popular favorite was the Snickers commercial in which two men accidentally kissed, then ripped off their own chest hair in order to do something manly.
An ad for Bud Light that received big laughs showed men slapping each other across the face because the fist pump went out of style.
The ad that won the Chevy Super Bowl College Ad Challenge turned a car wash into a striptease when men on the street couldn't seem to keep their hands, or bodies, off a passing Chevy.
Now come on, guys. You're not all immature and foolish.
I'm studying advertising so it's possible that I've read way too much into this, but aren't art and entertainment supposed to, in some way, reflect life? Apparently, ad agencies everywhere employ either women who get a laugh out of making all men look stupid or men who get a laugh out of making other men look stupid.
I am not saying that the absurdity of everyday men behaving like idiots isn't entertaining. However, this is not at all close to reality. I mean, I've definitely met men who fit the idiot label. We all know a few. One of them may even be sitting on your beanbag chair during the game.
But in all fairness, there are plenty of intelligent, levelheaded guys in this world. This could be the new male stereotype, if only it were funny.
Assuming the majority of Super Bowl viewers are men, clearly guys aren't too insulted.
Who knows?
Maybe this Sunday we'll watch an ad where two guys decide who gets the last Bud by seeing who can solve a math problem the fastest. Maybe a couple of guys will greet each other by reciting pieces of cultural trivia. Maybe after kissing, two men will enjoy the liberating feeling of breaking the mold. Hmm, probably not.
I'm guessing the stupidity will continue. Commercial breaks will most likely be filled with shirtless, mindless and shameless men on their worst behavior. They will undoubtedly embarrass themselves, and they will consequently get a laugh from every guy who's watching, which is great because that's what any Super Bowl ad aims for.
As a female, I am not terribly bothered by the obvious stereotype. Looking back at ads from the '50s, women were always the butt of the joke. But it's 2008, and we should be past that now. If I were a man I might be a little worried about the public's opinion of my gender. I'd consider the trite, oversimplified image a real manly slap in the face.
Carly Hallam is an advertising senior. Her column appears on Fridays.
