Dudes Like Beer and Ladies Are a Drag: Twitter's Best Responses to the Super Bowl's Worst Ads

Here's the bad news: the one unifying theme of this year's Super Bowl ads (aside from panstlessness) was stone-cold misogyny. Men trading their wives for tires, men eschewing island rescue in favor of hot-tub time with some sexy stewardesses, men unwillingly being dragged away from the electronics section and forced to comment on candle scent with their lingerie-shopping sweeties.

The blogger Melissa McEwan often says that while feminists get labeled as "man haters," it's the seemingly man-friendly, bro-ified depiction of traditional gender stereotypes that disparages men the most. Nowhere was that more apparent than in last night's ads. Take the Dodge Charger spot, in which several dead-eyed men stare into the camera. An eerily calm voice (is that TV's favorite serial killer, Michael C. Hall, as the voice of American man's barely sublimated rage?) lists all the things men are forced to do, leaving driving a car of their choosing as a final act of free choice. 

According to this ad, were it not for the shrill, domineering harpies in their lives, men would live in filth, never show up to work, grow beards down to their navels. ("Surely there's a limit to your chivalry!" the ad's YouTube copy reads. Seriously. I mean, taking your dog for a walk? What is this, Shakespearean England?) Men also, apparently, only pretend to like reading in order to score chicks, and disregard all social norms in the pursuit of crappy light beer. 

The guys in the majority of these commercials were powerless, impotent twits. They were stupid cartoons,  bearing little to no resemblance to any of the smart, funny, interesting men with whom I'm lucky enough to live, work, and watch the game.

The good news is that no one seemed to fall for this overly broad, universally offensive brand of advertising. One of the great pleasures of last night's Super Bowl (aside from the, you know, exciting football being played and life-affirming victories being won) was the smart, snarky, on-point reactions to the ads via Twitter. Some of my favorites are below (sic all around, except for where we edited some profanity).

tvoti Google ad is remarkable mostly because it doesn't seem to have a barely restrained hatred of all humanity. Unlike every other ad.

DaveHolmes Google commercial: lovely! But it needed a dash of wife-resentment, unexpected tackling or 1982 Miamigays slapping each other.

lehmannchris: Wow, 1st half taught us women can be exchanged for cars; in 2nd half, it's downgraded to tires.

ezraklein You know, I like these Who songs, but the lyrics could focus more on how awful women are.

Poniewozik Who would write the stage version of that Dodge Charger ad: Edward Albee or Neil LaBute?

OldHossRadbourn Don't know about you, Flo Television, but shopping for lingerine with my lady didn't mean I was "whipped." It meant I was getting laid

dceiver Man, Don Draper had better get his firm started soon so he can make some Super Bowl commercials that aren't made of a--hole!

choitotheworld Why does America have girlfriends if they hate them so much?

daveweigel Sorry, I'm not going to participate in the census unless I can degrade women in some way. Get Bud Light involved.

Taylor_West : Shorter Super Bowl ads: "B-tches, man. Am I right?”

Did we miss any classics? Post your favorites below.