Some people aren’t happy with a Vernon Kia parody car commercial that pokes fun at female stereotypes.
And while the car dealership’s commercial has sparked a degree of online backlash, one of the saleswomen that stars in the video suggests some people are missing the point.
“You can absolutely trust us to sell you a car, maybe just don’t let us drive it,” says saleswoman Nicole Zbitnoff in the video titled Vernon Kia Girls Parody Commercial next to her female sales colleagues, making light of the female stereotype that suggests women are bad drivers, a running joke told in various ways throughout the two-minute ad.
Not everyone liked the commercial.
“This is the absolute worst commercial I have ever seen,” said one commenter on YouTube.
“I’m definitely not shopping at a dealership that creates ads like this,” said another.
Another YouTube commenter described the video as “manosphere (expletive),” while on Reddit, someone asked: “Are they only trying to target chauvinistic men?”
Others saw the humour in the video. One YouTube commenter wrote: “This is the best commercial I have seen in a long time – Matches a Superbowl add – Great Job Vernon Kia.”
“Not sure why so many are offended, it’s clearly just humour,” wrote another.
“People are too soft nowadays. Can you clearly not understand this is all in good fun?” added a third.
Whichever way people lean, the video has sparked a lively debate about what constitutes sexism and what qualifies as parody.
Zbitnoff said the video, which contains the word ‘parody’ in the title, was never meant to offend anyone. And for those speculating that the women in the ad were made to take part in something against their own dignity, she said the idea for the video was led by the majority female sales staff at Vernon Kia.
“We had fun doing it, and it was obviously not meant to offend anyone at all,” she said. “Unfortunately not everyone took it as a joke, but it was more making fun of the stereotypes that we face every day, typically.”
The saleswomen at Vernon Kia are working in a male-dominated field, and Zbitnoff said these stereotypes are directed toward them all the time. So the idea was to put a humorous, Saturday Night Live-style spin on that reality.
Zbitnoff said while they’ve received some blowback for the ad, many have told them they enjoyed it, and she added it’s been interesting to see the mix of opinions come out.
“As with everything, people get offended by certain things. People think it’s comedy, some people don’t. Everyone has their own opinion and they’re welcome to that.”
Zbitnoff said one of the goals behind the commercial was to show their sales staff’s human side.
“Generally dealerships don’t have a good name for themselves,” she said. “Car-buying experiences aren’t supposed to be high pressure and unfun. We’re showing that we’re real people.”
By poking fun at female stereotypes and having fun with it, the commercial aims to challenge conceptions of the stereotypical salesperson, she added.
And Zbitnoff asks: would a self-deprecating commercial about men receive the same criticism?
“Probably if it was switched around, there wouldn’t have been as much heat.”