h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Can anyone tell me why the clearly MALE bovine star of the Boddingtons Ads has an udder????

Irony, perhaps, or stupidity?

Maybe it's a take on the Beer episode of Blackadder II

There are two theories..firstly the ad was done by towny ad men (and women) who had never seen a cow before or second it is a ploy to get people talking about it. If the second then, DOH! must stop.

Personally, I think it was done by towny ad people, who thought they had better add the udder to ensure everyone knew it was a COW - rather than a horse/reindeer etc, without realising male cows are made differently.

It is meant to look like a scrotum. 'Any animal with such an enormous scrotum must be terribly masculine, and men who wish to be terribly masculine and have an enormous scrotum like Graham the Cow will drink Boddies accordingly.'

HOWEVER, this IS advertising IRONY. We are meant to realise that it is an udder and that the character can not possibly be masculine with an enormous udder. In this way, it may be said to represent an element of masculinity that requires elements of femininity. Notice how Graham swings his pendulous udder/scrotum provocatively. It is a female attribute used to express a very male sexuality. As advertising the idea is being used to attract the more sensitive modern (and probably Southern) guy/girl to a product often regarded as rough and Northern, by 'caricaturing' the super-masculine man, (who they might regard as a traditional Boddingtons drinker and whom the man that they wish to attract to their product may regard as threatening) and turning an obvious emblem of his masculinity into what is actually piece of feminine anatomy.

The 'townies' are perfectly well aware of the anatomical differences between male and female bovines. I believe the error is intended.

You've lost me....

It's satirising overt masculinity:

Graham represents the macho man. The over-sized scrotum represents his masculinity. The irony is that it is actually an udder and therefore feminine. It is meant as a caricature of the idea of a masculine beer drinker. By caricaturing it in this way, Boddingtons can hope to attract to their brand modern folk who might be put off by the idea that by drinking Boddies they would be seen to wish to project a masculine image. Masculinity is bad, you see. The modern guy has to be in touch with his girly bits to be attractive.

Please Hoversnail, tell me you are either quoting from some source or are not speaking tongue firmly in cheek, otherwise I think you may be destined for an entry in Private Eye's Pseuds Corner.

Horribly enough I think the reasons you state may be scarily close to the truth.

CH

Your explanation may well be true, but in this neck of the woods it has the wrong effect - men think that if they drink Boddingtons they will grow breasts, which, in fact, is pretty close to the truth.

It is part of an Adland conspiracy - "Uder" the Kellogs milk bar 'cow' has a suspiciously male voice as well!

I still think it is ignorance.

And not a patch on 'Ey! Tarquil! Are your trollies on't right way round?'

Graham the Cow is a pre-op Female to Male transexual bovine. Previously known as Patsy (s)he is awaiting udder-removal and genital reconstruction. This is nieche marketing at it's most extreme.

You're right, that make's much more sense.

I think we need to take into accout the advertising industry's descent from Panto. In "Jack and the Beanstalk" for example, the cow that Jack takes to market to sell for the beans is played by _two_ men. Despite the usually very visible udders, this cow, usually called Daisy, has a deep masculine voice. QED

FYI This question has been rised at least once before on H2G2 on the forum of the article about the beer in question here

http://www.h2g2.com/A403552

CH

By me!

The Boddington's ad represents (wait for it) Udder Depravity. The advert that really bothers me is the ongoing telly campaign with the chimpanzees drinking tea, which has been polluting British airwaves now for nearly four decades ... I distinctly remember seeing a black-and-white instalment of this ongoing chimp saga back when Supermac was living at Number Ten. Those chimps must be OAPs by now. I wish that some ad exec would give these chimps their P45s, and bring back the Smash Martians who were genuinely entertaining. Whenever I watch a science-fiction movie, and the soundtrack starts playing weird electronic sound effects, I invariably start singing 'Make Smash Your Mash'. The last time this happened, I got chucked out of the cinema.

On "The worlds funniest animals" (I know - I was bored, OK?) the presenter said "And here we see a cow with his head stuck in a bucket - he clearly isn't the brightest tool in the herd"...well maybe not, but she probably knows what sex she is.