So I was watching MTV, and I saw this ad:
Okay, first of all, do the kids still watch Looney Tunes? I’m serious. Back in my day, they had a half hour block on Nickelodeon. That’s where I memorized all the classics (including the Speedy Gonzales ones, which I imagine no network would ever show nowadays (which I guess I agree with)). But according to Wikipedia, Looney Tunes is (are?) currently not regularly aired on any U.S. station. I’m not necessarily saying that kids don’t know who Pepe Le Pew is. I’m just saying that having him selling cells, 47 years after his final cartoon, seems a little odd.
On the other hand, using Pepe is a brilliant masterstroke. In the cartoons, you’ll recall, the cat was always accidentally painted like a skunk, and completely horrified at Pepe’s amorous advances. When you think about it, Pepe may be our culture’s strongest symbol of the Luckless Suitor (well, they could have gone with Jon Arbuckle, but that would have been weird(er)). But in this commercial, the cat’s head over heels for the skunk. In fact, she’s painting herself (lest he find out the truth and shun her). The point seems to be that the AT&T phone gives you such an advantage in the mating game, it can make even a skunk into Robert Pattinson.
So I give it points for cleverness, and I give it points for nostalgia. It’s a little creepy imagining explicit text messages with a horrible French accent, but still, Vive L’amour.
It’s a metaphor for the post-racial society we live in now. There is no Skunk America and Cat America; there is only an Anthropomorphic Sexting America.
Seriously, looking back, wasn’t Pepe Le Pew’s amorous exploits a coded reference to miscegenation/interracial dating?
Pepe Le Pew = sexual harasser. He didn’t understand that no means no.
Agreed, Kuri.
There is actually a lot to be said about Pepe and his stink. In some of the skits, he realizes he’s smelly but doesn’t do anything about it (narcissim), while in others he’s completely oblivious to it (denial or alternate reality) and continues, sometimes to the point where he endures abuse from the cat (masochism). Interestingly, whenever the cat decides to chase him at the end (for whatever reason), the roles get completely reversed, right down to how she will prance the way he had been while he runs fullspeed away- sort of a taste of his own medicine, but the skit ends too soon for us to see whether he actually learns and would take “no” for an answer next time.
O_O whats wrong with speedy?
Some radical anti-entertainment people will always see something negative in everything.
I personally do not see what’s so wrong with this cartoon compared to other Looney’s. They made a great couple of characters that had potential skunk cases, gets chased etc (thank god,not so one sided carton. I’d run out of ideas after like 2 episodes.).And that musical part in every episode – pure genius.
It is now-days dumb people see different shit in almost everything (Alas .. some still believe Earth is 6000 years old, so ). It is like a big bubble of negative thinking that will pop someday
“Seriously, looking back, wasn’t Pepe Le Pew’s amorous exploits a coded reference to miscegenation/interracial dating?”
Wow.. I am stunned by the deepness of thought to come up with this +
As for the main point – Yes, it is sad how many characters are used in inappropriate way. This particular commercial wasn’t so bad, but I am referring to those ideas to make digital Bruce Lee and make new movies, terminator to promote soda and pink Panther to sell mobile phones :(
MonopolyMan- Overthinkingit may be many things, but it is SO not “anti-entertainment.” Far, FAR from it. I can’t tell if you are being sarcastic, agreeing with or jibing at the post (or Pop Culture) more than half the time because of your fabulous* grammar, but (I think) it sounds almost like you believe the post is thinking too hard. Well, reconsider the name of the site. Please. Thank you. Have a nice day.**
*That was sarcasm.
**So was that, but only partially.
Interesting discussion.
As Mr. Carlin once said :”Blow it out your ass!”
Pepe Le Pew (All Cartoons):
http://taringa.net/posts/tv-peliculas-series/3279080/Pepe-Le-Pew-(Pepe-Le-Puff,-el-zorrillo-apestoso).html