The Dog Strikes Back!

The Dog Strikes Back

In the 2012 Volkswagen beetle commercial,the creators show an overweight dog sitting on the couch being lazy. This dog is shown feeling very sad and down about himself and he starts to get up and start working out. As the commercial goes on they show this dog exercising and avoiding to eat certain foods.Time goes on and you see the once fat and lazy dog ,now very energetic, swimming laps in a pool and chasing after the new and improved model of the Volkswagen Beetle.

This commercial shows us how society views obesity and being overweight. In the United states we stereotype people that struggle with being overweight or obese as: lazy,self-destructive, and lonely. This commercial shows how people go through their low point in life and lose control of how they look . The title, “The Dog Strikes Back,” is representing someone at that low part of life getting their life back together and also taking a stand and making a difference to better their appearance.

In this commercial the creators use the phrase, “Back and Better than ever,” which can be related to the dog losing all the weight and how the new Volkswagen beetle looks. This also relates to how someone feels once they have taken back control of their appearance. In society we judge solely off appearance and how someone looks from the outside. Society has a certain type of way that they define who a person is. Society views obese or overweight people as being lazy and lack of self-control when dealing with certain fatty foods. In our society we don’t consider the other things that may have caused for someone to become obese; we solely believe that it’s because of their “disgusting” eating habits. In the United States, movies are made every year portraying an obese person as being very sloppy or very lazy. These stereotypes are getting worse as time goes on. Bullying in school systems have gotten worse over time also because our children see us laughing at things like that and they feel like it’s acceptable to emotionally hurt a person that is obese or overweight.

In Dieting and Health by Susan C. Phillips, obesity is called an epidemic of the united states. Phillips states that more than 30 percent of the united states is over-weight,compared with a 25 percent a decade ago. Phillips also says that more than 50 million americans are dieting and

excersing more and more because they feel the need to fit into what society views as beautiful and also for many health reasons that do come with obesity.

In The Dog Strikes Back commercial it also shows the dog ignoring certain types of food falling on the ground. This shows how much our society is interested in dieting and what we will go through to be considered in-shape. We spend hundreds of dollars on different dieting tools and  also on gym memberships. During trying to lose weight, people can also lead to starving themselves or actually hurting their bodies more and they risk the chance of becoming severely unhealthy. People desperate to lose weight go through eating disorders and also very risky 

expensive surgery that may sometimes even be life threatening. The ideal of being in shape or even being “skinny” is becoming scary, people will risk their lives to be apart of it.

This commercial just shows how much we view working out as the things to do and how being in shape will make you feel less upset or down about yourself . It also has some good points on self-confidence and happiness. After having a hard time in life and you feel like things couldn't get any better, one day if you can just tell yourself to get up and take back control of your life and get back on track. If you never do anything about it you will always feel unhappy and complain. Coming back to reality better than ever is always better than staying at that low.