Yesterday I took my car to the shop for some minor service. The TV was on in the waiting room, and much to my dismay, my attention kept being caught by the morning show instead of my immunology notes. I saw two things that appalled me, though for very different reasons.
First, they showed part of the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest. The winning entry was baked chicken with spinach stuffing. It sounded pretty good, until they described the recipe: it was based on a frozen waffle kit. The glaze for the chicken is based on the “maple” syrup, and the bread in the stuffing is chopped-up frozen waffles! I can’t imagine how anyone could have ever thought of doing that (though I suspect this abomination might have been the inspiration), and I flat-out refuse to believe that it tastes good.
After that, a commercial came on for Healthy Choice frozen dinners. The commercial shows a dad and his two kids. The little girl keeps saying “That’s not how Mom does it” as Dad vacuums the baby and clears clutter with a leaf blower. Finally he serves them all Healthy Choice dinners, and the girl thinks Mom would approve of that.
I really hate commercials that trade on the stereotype that dads are incompetent buffoons who babysit their kids, while moms are loving caretakers who always know best. Not so much because it’s offensive to men (though it certainly is offensive to imply that a large group of people are morons), but because it reinforces the ridiculous idea that women are caretakers whose job it is to take care of the house and kids, while men can’t be expected to take any responsibility for their own children. Sexism is still with us, folks.
(Of course, the idea that a frozen dinner would be the highlight of someone’s day is pretty goofy too.)
No wonder I never watch TV.