The new ad campaign for the Playstation video game system is a marvel of manvertising. Here’s just one example:

The gender associations are obviously rich: women have no interest in playing games, they are complainers and whiners, they are defined by domesticity (seriously, an aromoatherapy candles reference?), and they are segregated inside the home, unable to sit in the space where the system actually resides.

The marketing, though, buries an even more insidious tactic: by associating THOSE things with women, the deeper message is that the OTHER functions of the system will appeal to women. The network capability, passive entertainment functions, and extended technological options are “appropriate” for women.

Men, too, are segregated here: not visible, immersed in the game, “insensitive,” and oblivious, their behavior is taken as a given and not interrogated or questioned — only dismissed as annoying.

Then there’s this creepy example, where Playstation seems to imply the “ownership” of women’s sexuality is determined by who controls the technology, and that male lack of expertise of that technology will result in rivalry and sexual competition:

This last one is by far the most disturbing. Not only does it imply women are stupid about technology, disinterested in video game interactivity and instead only interested in passive watching, but it also suggests at the end that these things are “not an issue.” Of course, her outfit also fulfills the male fantasy “hot girlfriend” imagery as well, almost perfectly matching the imagery of women IN the game featured in the commercial.

Whether or not Playstation is basing this campaign around statistics on video game usage is irrelevant, and I would argue such supportive statistics don’t exist anyway. By continuing to market their products in this way, Playstation seems determined to segregate their audience, insult women, and keep the “boy’s clubhouse” safe and intact. By making the ads humorous, they keep right in line with the primary function of manvertising: avoid criticism by using the absurd, include a “critique” of masculinity while not actually engaging in criticism, and utilize stereotypes in that humor as a means of keeping gender divisions and cultural assumptions intact. What could be an outstanding opportunity for Playstation to move the discussion forward, include women in the marketing as something other than oddities, annoyances, or sex objects, and finally let go of the stereotype that only men are interested in active participation instead turns into a tired, derivative example of manvertising.