A Shy Bladder Group Wants DirecTV To Stop Airing Rob Lowe Ad
A shy bladder advocacy group has taken exception to a recent DirecTV ad featuring a “painfully awkward” Rob Lowe, saying that the ads make fun of a serious problem, The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting.
If you’re not familiar with the DirecTV ads in question, here’s the setup: Rob Lowe plays two versions of himself. In one version, he’s a DirecTV customer: handsome, successful, coordinated. In the other, he’s a cable TV customer: unattractive, sad-sack and awkward. The message is: DirecTV makes you Cool Rob Lowe, cable makes you Awkward Rob Lowe.
Here’s the newest ad in the series, which has the shy bladder people upset.
Steve Soifer, CEO of the International Paruresis Association (Paruresis being the clinical term for “shy bladder”) says, via The New York Daily News, that shy bladder affects seven percent of Americans, and is not a joke.
“We don’t mind if people have a little fun with it. It’s a situation that a lot of people don’t understand. In this particular case, the portrayal is making it look ridiculous, that this guy is a loser for having a problem. What if he didn’t have a leg or an arm?”
Mr. Soifer has called on members of his group to write and call DirecTV and demand that the shy bladder ad be removed. However, DirecTV spokesperson Darris Gringeri is having none of that, and said that the ads will air.
“The ads will continue to run for the vast majority of viewers who have told us they enjoy the spots and understand that, like all of our commercials, they take place in a fantasy world and are not based in reality.”
The reaction to the shy bladder controversy on social media can most charitably be described as “hostile.”
Piss on it, you humorless twits–get a life & lighten up. Shy bladder group protests Rob Lowe DirecTV ad http://t.co/RwO9ofFt0U
— Scott St. Clair (@PiperScott1949) November 4, 2014
Today is apparently a busy day for advocacy groups to get upset about what other people are watching on TV. Earlier today, this Inquisitr report brought the news that the Parents Television Council is demanding an apology from ABC for airing a sexy Scandal scene immediately after Charlie Brown’s Halloween special.
Do you believe the Rob Lowe shy bladder ad is in poor taste?
[Image courtesy of: I Spot]
