Comments on: Geico’s new commercial makes it even more normal for popular girls to not eat

By: Bryce

Bryce — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:10:51 +0000

Larkin,
I agree with some of your general statements but your argument against this commercial is completely unfounded. You wrote “The man explicitly states that he is saving money by not eating anything – not by eating more healthfully, not by eliminating certain foods – by not eating at all.” Your entire argument is based on that statement and it’s completely inaccurate.
The man states that “weight-loss programs can be expensive.” Most weight loss programs promote healthy eating habits. Not all, of course, but there’s no reason to assume that this guy wasn’t looking into healthy, albeit expensive weight loss programs. Rather than pay for an expensive weight-loss program he enlisted the help of these girls to call attention to his unhealthy eating habits because they clearly find his unhealthy habits to be “gross.” Obviously the insinuation is that these girls don’t practice unhealthy eating habits which is the whole reason the man is using them in place of a weight-loss program. The man wasn’t trying to save money by not eating, he was saving money by not paying for an expensive weight=loss program. This whole article is in response to your complete misunderstanding of the storyline. You can make whatever points you want about the “greater social environment” but this commercial isn’t to blame.
This commercial is clever and humorous. You and others may be hypersensitive about the issue you raised and may be more likely to see something that isn’t there but this commercial and its producers can’t be held accountable for your false assumptions.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:02:03 +0000

This commercial makes no sense. The point is that he is trying to save money, not lose weight. In America the obesity rate is highest among the poor. They should be preventing him from shopping at Whole Foods or buying fresh fruit, not grabbing a cheap meal at Burger King or the Waffle House.

Besides, those girls do not look like the popular clique; they look like a trio of drama geeks.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 01 May 2012 03:28:25 +0000

I was more disturbed by the fact that 3 middle school aged girls are following around a middle aged man. Umm – pedophile much? 3 middle school/teenaged girls should not be in the apartment of a man they don’t know. Geico needs to leave this commercial on the shelf and stick with their other funnier stuff.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:51:57 +0000

I dont know much about eating disorders but another question comes to mind when watching this commercial. Why on earth is an middle aged overweight ugly man hanging out at the middle school talking to little girls anyway. I know in my neck of the woods this guy should be more interested in life insurance than car insurance because daddy’s tend to be protective of their daughters. Just an observation as a father, it is kind of disturbing.

By: Resu-Chan

Resu-Chan — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:02:43 +0000

I can see both sides…it may be triggering in some severe cases but I think it makes most people annoyed more than anything.

By: Larkin Callaghan

Larkin Callaghan — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:06:43 +0000

Larkin here, author of the post. First, while we encourage discussion here at About-Face, I would like to reiterate that telling people to shut up and referring to them as dummies shuts down the conversation. It’s simply unnecessarily rude. Secondly, I did note at the beginning of the post that many think this ad is funny, and I’m not at all surprised that it gave people a chuckle. But what I think is particularly interesting is that the very first comment came form someone who has struggled with an eating disorder saying that this commercial did indeed normalize behaviors of disordered eating, that she herself had experienced – that alone tells us that this is not an entirely harmless and solely amusing commercial and refutes the comments that say it’s merely funny. Additionally, nowhere in the post did I say that this commercial is responsible for the mass diagnosis of eating disorders. What I did say is that this commercial contributes to the cacophony of noise in the greater social environment that promotes disordered perceptions of food. I have to say that I strongly disagree with the insinuation that the girls are shaming him because he is eating bad food, and that this should support better eating habits. The man explicitly states that he is saving money by not eating anything – not by eating more healthfully, not by eliminating certain foods – by not eating at all. The fact that he employs these girls to prompt him to stop eating is where the true message lies. We ‘assume’ these girls aren’t eating because they are the ones that he brought on board to help him not eat. And we have had many discussions here at About-Face around the unsuccessful campaigns of shame launched in attempts to get people to change their behavior. Making people feel bad is not the answer, and it sadly does not make people “grow up.” Shame does not equip people with tools o change their behavior.
I’ve spent years of graduate school studying the onset of eating disorders, and I also work as a behavior and nutrition coach, so this is an area in which I am deeply familiar – disordered eating does not stem from one commercial, or one comment, as I noted – it is the combination of many factors that normalize unhealthy behaviors, of which this ad could be one, and the addition of compromised mental health. Many recovering girls of the hundreds I have studied and worked with have told me in the past month that this commercial causes them anxiety and brings their emotional state back to what it was when they were in the throes of the illness, even when they know it’s meant to be funny and isn’t directed at them personally – this is how media works, and this is why we at About-Face work to decode commercials’ impact and influence.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:38:41 +0000

The joke in the commercial is not about shame. It is about the exaggerated portrayal of tween and teen girls as snotty (many are) and superficial (many are). It is not about shaming him not to eat, it’s about them just being annoying girls. If you took from it that they are another reason why eating disorders are up, you should go find that woman who is thowing knives at Ronald McDonald and Michelle Obama…maybe you can have a little tea party. People! We need to teach our children to be accountable for their own actions, to stop pushing blame on what other people ”make them do” (my 5-year-old does this and we are retraining him), and to make good decisions without be pressured by others. The existence of hamburgers, french fries, and snotty tween girls is not the problem; it’s parents who coddle their children. Perhaps we should try to end the stereotype of snotty kids by giving them a little tough love when they are little. Till then, rock on, Geico! Thanks for putting the cave men away and giving that gecko a vacation.

By: Molly

Molly — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:43:39 +0000

I totally see what you mean… I mean, I see what people mean who say this commercial isn’t a big deal. BUT as a person who is still struggling with an ED, these “popular girls” are what I hear in my head every day and what I always believe other people are thinking when I eat in front of them. It definitely reminds me of that, but I don’t find it triggering. It does seem to normalize my behavior/thoughts though.

By: Eli

Eli — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:20:38 +0000

So very clever and fun! I think some of the (apparently unattractive and bitter) women commenting on this are missing the point. This commercial is about food CHOICES, not food in general.
As I watched my young, beautiful, athletic daughter at lunch today eating her grilled mahi and vegetables, I was reminded how this commercial resonated with her, for the obvious reasons.
Lighten up, people! Maybe you’ll “lighten” up as well.

By: Shut Up Dommies

Shut Up Dommies — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:39:58 +0000

To Larkin, Hailey & Magdalena – SHUT UP!!

Okay I watched this commercial and it is HILARIOUS. It is not a swipe at eating disorders at all. They are shaming and overweight middle age man (which I am one of) for eating unhealthy. This says nothing about what those girls eat or other girls. They most likely are popular and eat healthy salads and other foods. Why do you have to assume they starve themselves just because they don’t want to eat unhealthy, junk foods full of calories. If anything Geico should be commended for shinning the light on obesity which is an epidemic in the United States and more people are suffering from heart disease, diabetes and inflammation than suffer from eating disorders. If you Google the “Flintstones” season 1, episode 28, that cartoon was made in 1961 and has a very similar theme. Fred is followed around by some people who shame him into not eating. Oh my gawd, how could they do such a thing, children watch that show all the time, they will getting eating disorders!!!

This poor man, Robert Gibbs, is overweight and suffers from over eating. He makes a plea on YouTube for someone to help him lose weight because his life is at risk. I’m more worried about this than the made up problems you are projecting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhQlQVq_i8c