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These ads have followed on exactly what the country has been taught over the last, oh, 8 or 10 years. Smart and well-educated = elitist and bad.

I don't think the ad set Feminism back at all though, that's been well covered and accomplished already this year. This ad isn't a blip on the radar of setting Feminism back any further.

I think they pretty well cleared up any issues of their brightness when they chose to go to McDonald's for coffee.

By the way, if you don't know the geography, it's Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Sweden, Turkey, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

wow.

add that to my mile long list of reasons why i won't go to mcdonalds.

i feel so much dumber for having watched it...in fact, i think i'm going to go show my knees now (?--seriously, what is that about?)

The ads got a chuckle out of me. I like them. If I really thought hard about it, then I can sort of make the connection that it's anti-feminism.

Maybe I'm an idiot.. Even though I know that Paraguay is a country, if you ask me to point out Paraguay on a globe w/o names of countries... well then I don't know where Paraguay is either.

*sigh* It is possible for a woman to be educated and intelligent and absolutely gorgeous! *ech-em* :D

Is it me or does it sound like the guy says "crummy lattes"?

it's not nothing silvermike - there are the kids screaming :)

hey now. there's not a thing wrong with talking about sports.

I think they're harmless and hilarious.

Wow talk about link baiting.

Yeah, these are just hilarious. ugh.

LOL SkinnyFatty

McDonalds ambiance- the stench of old fryer grease, the grizzled masses chawing their Big Macs and sucking down their oversized drinks, shrieking children ravaging the pee stained indoor playground, the drone of "welcometoMcDondaldsmayItakeyourorder , the shriek of that alarm telling the cooks the fries are ready.....

hmmm....I will take jazz please.

Oh come on... as a feminist who grew up in the '60s & '70s, what has set feminism back, is the current crop of so called feminist leaders.. talk about harpies. They epitomize the negative stereotypes feminists like myself have defended the movement against for decades now. I can well understand why some younger women tend to view feminism so negatively.

Anyway, I'm no fan of McDonald's, but the commercials are funny (this is the first of them that I've seen). I'm so sick and tired of pompous, pretentious types, it's embarassing to witness those sorts in real life. They overcompensate and are annoying. I think spoofing them in this way is necessary, and hope to see more of the same.

After viewing, I'm of the opinion that it's not anti feminist as much as flogging mass production versions of espresso drinks. My kneejerk reaction is to condemn these ads for employng the disturbing "shucks, book lernin' aint everthing" philosophy that this society can't afford to indulge in. But this is a land of choice, and I live in an area where I can go to coffeehouses where I don't hear about sports or listen to bimbo prattle.

Oh sorry. Meant to add

*American Heritage Dictionary 4th Edition

to that last post.

But my finger slipped.

Sad that there's no "edit" thingie to click to fix it rather than using all this extra space and time. :(

@worldcupfever: Hanging Gardens of Babylon... Switzerland.

The first problem with the ads is that they're anti-intellectual, I agree, but I think it's the gender stereotyping that make them anti-feminist. The comments on the Feministing post are interesting.

sally forth,

You prove my point.. “nation of toothless ya-hoos”??? Do you mean that anyone who isn’t exactly like you is somehow, the negative stereotype you feel the need to reduce them to? If anyone still can’t quite fathom the fact that there is a hue and cry against elitism, they should spend more than a few moments contemplating your disdain. Perhaps you should consider the fact that you have a problem that needs dealing with, and seek help.

I live in the midwest (I moved here from back east in ‘06), and each Saturday I go to the local farmer’s market. A few weeks back, I watched something that was disgusting. A clutch of women, who you, no doubt, would feel rather at home with, standing around blocking the right of way, arms filled with gladiolas, having a gab fest. They were oblivious to the fact that they stood in a narrow passage way, and that a man in a wheelchair was trying to get their attention so he could pass. They ignored him, until my daughter went over to add her voice to his, requesting that they move their discussion to where they wouldn’t be obstructing this poor man’s passage.

In the spring of ‘07, a group of female college students threatened to sue the town government, if they weren’t given a stall to sell their hand knitted/crocheted nonsense at the farmer’s market. The space is limited, and there wasn’t any available, but they got their way, as did more like them who want to sell their handmade soap (my daughter bought some, and got a skin irritation as it wasn’t made properly, and was filed with raw lye crystals). Several farmers lost their spaces, and for absolutely no good reason. No one buys what is essentially garbage, but the precious egos of a handful of selfish young women were salved.

As a person who is no fan of McDonald's, or any other fast food schlock, I do feel the need to interject. I thought the commercials were funny; why has our society turned into a group of whiners with no sense of humor? It is obviously tongue in cheek, over the top humor. Are we all really that sensitive?

If it is an exercise to undermine the efforts of feminism then, what of the advertisements geared toward our male counterparts? Were they created to offend homosexuals or metrosexuals? See how absurd that sounds? Please try to keep a sense of humor; we have enough real worries about the demise of feminism with the upcoming election. Just go to a real coffee house discuss the hell out of it.

I thought that was pretty clever. But nothing has set feminism back as much as Hilary Clinton.