War on reality

You’ve probably seen the most recent Sunsilk shampoo commercials. And if you have, I hope they have encouraged you to never purchase a single product from this line.\nIn its recent media campaign, Sunsilk pits blondes against brunettes in what the women declare a “war” between the two hair colors. In the commercial, the blondes are found in bright rooms surrounded in pink, where they declare themselves the “ladylike” ones and the partyers, noting that “nothing ruins an afterparty faster than a pack of brunettes.”\nAt the same time, the commercial puts the brunettes in a library, where they declare themselves the classy ones, adding: “We can read.” \nThese commercials demonstrate a horrible perpetuation of stereotypes: The blondes are the fun ones, and the brunettes are the serious ones. And Sunsilk forgot to even incorporate the stereotypes of the millions of women who are neither blonde nor brunette (red hair, black hair, what about dyed-blue hair?). So much for catering to the masses.\nWhoever thought that insulting women would be a good way to get us to buy their product clearly is out of touch. Insinuating that a woman is dumb simply because she is born with a certain gene that makes her hair lighter is probably not the quickest way to her bank account. \nNot only are the ads insulting, they also give us the impression that women should be obsessed with and accordingly classified by their looks. Blonde or brunette? That’s the determining factor in self-identity according to ads like these. \nAdding insult to injury is the company’s Web site, where you can fight “Mortal Kombat”-style in the Color Showdown, with a blonde and brunette clawing at one another. Enter VIP lounges according to hair color and decorated accordingly – the blondes’ is pink and trendy, the brunettes’ darker and more classic. The site even has “secret experiments,” such as finding out who’s sexier between the two colors when asking – you guessed it – men for their opinions. It again suggests we need men’s approval to validate our existence. Brunettes are given “points” for things like “More brunettes stepped up to star in a sexy calendar,” while points are detracted from the hair color of women who ate the most junk food behind a hidden camera – another insinuation from the media of how important women’s appearances (in this case, weight) are to their being.\nAnd if offending all women weren’t enough, the site’s expert “hairapy” guys also embody plenty of stereotypes of homosexual men, talking about how much they love fashion and doing hair and makeup. \nIf there’s one thing we women can agree on – not just blondes and brunettes, but women of all hair colors – it’s the boycott of this horrible company and its goal to pit us against one another.