Hazing in commercials is not funny
Cassie Fincher
The weekend; the only part of the week where I have time to do nothing. I spent this time watching re-runs of Jersey Shore and Meet the parents.
I was astonished by Jack in the Box’s new “Focus Group” commercial. How did it get past their lawyers and advisors?
In one focus group, they are advertising the franchise’s new sandwich and in the other, they are “hazing the new intern.”
What is wrong with this situation? Millions of people are consuming this commercial, and here, the fast-food company creating a mockery of hazing, a dangerous act of bullying and torture.
They must not have realized that, according to hazingprevention.org, 55 percent of college students involved in clubs, teams and organizations experience hazing, when the creators added laughter to the scene.
Hazing has trickled down from college fraternities to high school sports and cliques to middle school establishments.
It contradicts the “golden rule” that was pounded into our heads to create a better world of equality and replaces it with the idea that one must go through torture and punishment in order to become an accepted person in a group.
The website also said that 1.5 million high school students are hazed each year; 47 percent of students came to college already having experienced hazing.
How did this company get away with mocking a serious issue that plagues our nation’s schooling?
Hazing is not a joke. It is bullying in a slightly altered form and can seriously harm the conscience of an individual as well as their confidence and perception of life.
It may not seem like a lot to you, but as of Feb. 12, the number of recorded hazing-related deaths in fraternities and sororities stands at 96 – 90 males and six females.
Even one death is enough to cause one to respect hazing as a serious issue.
Did all of the people who put effort in to creating this advertisement think about the serious side of the matter?
