Assvertising

I must have seen this Vizio commercial ten thousand times in the last week:


Video Description: A young white man sits on a couch in front of a Vizio television in a research lab. Behind an observation window, a white man pushes a button and says, "Vizio true LED powering up." Beyoncé appears on the television screen; the young white man leans forward, staring intently at the screen. From behind the window, the other white man says, "Vizio internet apps on." Logos for Facebook, Netflix, etc. appear on the television screen. The researcher then says, "Activating comparability test," and Beyoncé comes walking down a staircase into the observed area, taking off a coat to reveal a short, sexy, silver dress, which she is also wearing onscreen in the video. She begins to dance, and the young white man glances over at her and smiles, then looks back at the television, where she is also dancing. The researcher says, "Increasing Beyoncé," and turns up a big dial labeled "B." The real Beyoncé begins to dance faster and harder, and sings, "Why don't you love me? Tell me, baby, why don't you love me?" The young white man glances between the real Beyoncé and the onscreen Beyoncé, but settles on the screen, staring dreamily at the Beyoncé onscreen. The real Beyoncé frowns and walks away disgustedly.

The gist is this: Young white man prefers onscreen image of sexy black woman dancing just for his pleasure to the real live flesh-and-blood black woman (who is literally controlled by another white man) also dancing just for his pleasure (but presumably with feelings and expectations and humanity that he would have to respect or whatever).

There are, perhaps, fully dozens of ways this advert is fucked up, and I shall leave it to you to dissect them all in comments.

Contact Vizio.