On Aug. 12, the gaming gear company Razer posted an advertisement on TikTok, promoting the noise cancelation on their new headset. It would take two months for the algorithm to pick it up, pushing the advertisement onto For You pages in late October. The video itself is only 16 seconds long. However, this viral clip has sparked mass disagreement throughout the gaming community over whether or not it is misogynistic in nature.
The ad starts off with a woman trying to talk to a man about what sounds to be an issue involving him. Instead of giving a proper response, the man turns on a noise cancelling option on the headset he is wearing to ignore her. In the clips that follow, we see the woman continuing to try to talk to the man wearing the headset, but her muffled voice is barely audible (to show the efficiency of the noise cancellation feature). The words “Active Noise Cancelation: on, Drama: off,” appear on screen for the full 16-second video. Alarmingly, the caption reads, “Don’t let yapping get in the way of your winning.”
We’ve had our fair share of problematic ads this year. Recently, American Eagle launched an ad campaign promoting their jeans by sexualizing and praising the genes of Sydney Sweeny, a famous actor. This has been compared to the likes of a white supremacist dog whistle, causing mass outrage. In contrast with the American Eagle advertisement, the discourse behind the Razer ad has been much different. Merely clicking on the ad I have linked below will lead you to a comment section of TikTok users making fun of women for finding the ad offensive. Why?
Unlike Razer, the American Eagle ad was direct. I mean, it’s really weird to talk about how good blue eyes and blonde hair are when marketing jeans, that definitely raises some eyebrows. In my opinion, the harmful content in the Razer ad can be seen as inconspicuous, as the gender stereotypes it perpetuates are so deeply imbedded within our culture as a society.
Casual Misogyny in the problematic razer ad
Casual misogyny is a concept used to describe underlying beliefs, biases, and stereotypes about women that are upheld by unconscious social structures in society. Casual misogyny is virtually universal, despite the fact that women have equal rights in the United States. These ideas are not only upheld socially, but they are further perpetuated by the media that we consume.
The problem with Razer’s advertisement lies within the fact that it displays a common stereotype of women. Oftentimes, women are seen as difficult, overdramatic, and too talkative. The woman in the ad isn’t doing anything to deserve being ignored, she is simply communicating and advocating for herself. Yet, the man effectively tuned her out. The caption itself raises even more red flags as it paints this exchange as some sort of hurdle that their new $249.99 noise cancelling headset can fix. Is this really how a brand should market their headphones? It’s not a reach to say that this advertisement continues to uphold standards that belittle women and disregard female voices. Repeated exposure to this kind of messaging normalizes this behavior. The overall response to this ad supports this.
Many supporters of the ad claim that this matter “isn’t that deep.” After all, they say that if the roles were reversed, the ad would not be sexist. This is true. However, this is because there are no stereotypes that belittle men for being too difficult, overdramatic, or talkative. Everything is political. Even if this ad was filmed with good intentions, companies like Razer should recognize the influence that they have on their audience.
It is incredibly important to hold companies accountable for their actions, especially in the case of Razer. Their audience is not solely men. A lot of emphasis and campaign effort has gone into promoting their girly gaming setup gear. You cannot purposely market products towards women, upcharge the price, and then continue to fuel negative biases towards women through advertisements. Merely going on their website, clicking on PC, and then clicking on headsets presents a drop down menu where the first option are their Kitty Headset products. Additionally, Razer previously had a strategic brand collaboration with Sanrio, manufacturing many themed products purposefully targeting the demographic of “girl gamers.” This reason is why the sexist connotations of the ad have been so confusing and hurtful for women in the gaming community. It’s almost like a slap in the face to many women that have used Razer products for years.
Final thoughts
All in all, casual misogyny can be observed in all forms of mass media. Razer’s ad is a good example of how inconspicuous and unassuming sexist content can be. A distasteful ad is only a small piece of the greater problem at hand. Bias, stereotypes, and harmful beliefs continue to shape society. It doesn’t have to be this way, cultural norms can shift. Stopping to observe, recognize, and understand the negative implications of sexist imagery like this is incredibly important as we strive towards a better world for everyone, regardless of gender.