ah. my dear hubby points it out all the time: men in advertising are ignorant, clumsy buffoons. are all commercials geared toward ignorant spend-thrift women -- you know, the stereotypical soccer mom, driving around aimlessly in her mini-van, yapping on her cell phone while she pulls into the next mega-department store to spend more money on her fourth credit card (because cards 1,2 and 3 are maxxed out)?
just don't buy products from those companies -- better yet, send them an e-mail and tell them you're not buying from them... and WHY. we've done that. doesn't do any good, but if enough people start doing it... maybe they'll change their advertising tactics!