I’m a spazz when it comes to rings. Naturally fidgety, anyone who has spent more than about 30 minutes around me will be subject to one of my many nervous habits, which include but are not limited to: folding or shredding pieces of paper into bits, taking apart pens and putting them back together, manually checking to make sure all the knuckles in my fingers are where they’re supposed to be, or twirling a ring on and off my finger until it goes flying off somewhere and I have to retrieve it, embarrassed.
Before this goes any farther: Mom, I am not engaged. So stop making gasping sounds, and put down the phone.
As I drive various places during the week, I occasionally listen to commercial radio and sometimes keep from punching away from the blasts of advertisements. Jewelry commercials, they are everywhere. He went to Jared, every kiss begins with Kay, Tom Shane from Shane Co. and his monotone, and – all the time – Dean and Umit from Wedding Day Diamonds going on about something NEW and AMAZING that is SURE TO KNOCK HER SOCKS OFF.
Or at least shut her up, as evidenced by this billboard that is in downtown Minneapolis:
LouderYes.com is a website affiliated with Wedding Day, and is supposed to be proposal tips for fellas to get a “louder yes” out of their girl. I guess that loud yes comes after she is lulled into a shocked lapse from her normal obnoxious womanly chatter, which is exactly why you want to marry her, isn’t that right, Guy?
In addition to this, I saw ANOTHER board on the side of Hwy 280 last night. Chris and I were driving back to Minneapolis after a lovely evening with his fam, when there it is, a big white glaring slab of ridiculous: “This should shut her friends up.” Another massive diamond perched on a diamond-encrusted band. So not only is your harpy girlfriend perpetually screeching in your ear, but the topic invariably turns to her equally shrill friends who pester her non-stop about when you, Guy, are going to pop the question already. Aha, problem solved! You can quell the chirping of not only your woman, but others that you might not even know, just by getting affianced. And who doesn’t want a quiet wife? Ta-da!
I’m not opposed to conflict-free gems, and would be fine with owning one someday. But the whole “diamond as defining love” association, and especially this ludicrous Wedding Day campaign, has me not only quite pleased with the simple claddagh I have, but keeps my desire to punch pig-headed morons appropriately primed. Clearly, I talk too much for them to listen to my objections to the ads.
I’VE SEEN THOSE ADS. OMG, they piss me off so much. Any man buying me one of those rings would promptly get punched in the face. (Except not really, ’cause I’m a wuss. But he WOULD get a very loud NO.)
While I don’t think the presentation of a large ring would warrant a punching or a turn-down from me, if the fellow in question mentioned that he had been “inspired” by one of “those clever billboards,” then there would be a reckoning.
Hello fellow Mpls Amanda. ;)
I saw the 280 one as well, and got so pissed off my boyfriend was starting to get worried about my blood pressure. We’re both writing a very angry letter to the company. That sh*t is -not- acceptable on so many levels.
Way to cheapen the sentiment I thought all the hype was supposed to encourage. :P Now you don’t give big rings to show off your love (via the wallet); now you give them to “make her friends shut up.” And way to encourage tired old gender stereotypes. That’ll make -everyone happy-, I’m sure.
Even if my bf and I get married, we’re not doing diamonds at all. DeBeers can go suck it.
Oh my gosh lets make it a conspiracy, get over yourself jeez
I laughed so hard, that sign is in no way offending, that sign is funny. If you dont find that funny you have no sense of humor.
It should of said “That’ll shut her up.” instead.
To the first Amanda (who commented in June – sorry I’m so late!): Rock on. I had a friend who did a very cool sculptural metal band as an engagement ring, and it ruled.
To the second Amanda (who commented today): I had to read your comment a few times to really figure out your point, but surmised at the end that you think I can’t laugh at things. In fact, I laugh at quite a lot. I’ve posted humorous things in this blog before, if you’ve read any of my other entries. I have nothing against you if you found humor in the sign, I just think that perpetuating a stereotype of women as shrieking harpies who cling onto men, hounding them, unsatisfied and constantly nattering until they get a diamond is… not OK.
Nobody should have to put up with a partner that buys them shiny pretty things as a means to avoid interaction.
Shane’s ads include “Warm her up with some ice” and “Get her a diamond…that’ll shut her up.”
I’m pretty sure my wife wouldn’t want one of those. I’m pretty sure, because she’s made it very clear she thinks very poorly of them, in no uncertain terms.
I’ve also seen a car ad or two that seemed incredibly sex-relations-retrogressive. Hypothesis: the [rec|dep]ression has made people hunker down, and some of them include reverting to old roles…add in that some number of men may feel inadequate because they can no longer earn as they did, and they might be great prey for this sort of thinking.