Legal Sea Foods has capitalized on the 2016 election by running a series of politically-themed ads with the tagline “Berkowitz for President” and the hashtag #FeelTheBerk. The ads depict the company’s president, Roger Berkowitz in a mock campaign against the current candidates. A couple of the advertisements have been funny, almost: “The way I see it, these other candidates are kinda like my fish. They don’t have a leg to stand on.”
This one takes it a step further, and it totally misses the mark. It’s flat out sexist. It’s a picture of Hillary Clinton with the caption, “We have a term for cold fish. Sushi.”
What a miss for Legal. Worn misogynist tropes aren’t clever. Neither is alienating your woman customer base. pic.twitter.com/r5JAAQkHtI
— Devra First (@devrafirst) July 25, 2016
“Cold fish” is an outdated and mysoginist term to describe a woman who is “frigid.” Of course, there has been considerable backlash on Twitter:
Not sure what Legal Seafoods guy has to gain by this, other than a lot of lost business https://t.co/lye1Btj8JH
— Dave Jamieson (@jamieson) July 25, 2016
Shame on you @legalseafoods @DeVitoVerdi. Good ads don’t pander to #sexism. And politics don’t sell seafood. https://t.co/I3QHvDEIds
— Jamia Gaffney (@jamiag74) July 25, 2016
It’s also worth pointing out that sushi doesn’t even mean cold fish. The term “sushi” refers to the rice, made with vinegar:
Aside from the pathetic attempt at humor, it’s truly embarrassing that Legal Sea Foods thinks sushi means cold fish. https://t.co/fohmhLs5OD
— CF Clytemnestra (@CFinNYC) July 25, 2016
[H/T Eater]
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This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
