An Emotional Rescue

This comic ad presents that a woman who is on a business trip gets a curling iron and a yoga mat, which she forgot to take with her, from Hyatt hotel. The woman calls the curling iron an essential business tool. She also says that she doesn’t have room in the suitcase for her yoga mat. Although, she doesn’t expect the hotel Hyatt have them, she calls the hotel desk, and surprisingly gets what she needs. And that’s what Hyatt describes as “an unexpected (but welcome) discovery.”

The first frame is interesting. It shows that when the woman is leaving for her business, her work itself doesn’t bother her, but her family and friends do: her husband is clumsy when holding the baby, her daughter is crying and possibly missing her, her mother and her friend are trying to instruct her. Everyone around her makes her depressed. But, with the help of the hotel, she gets an emotional rescue. And in the last frame, the sentence is “And now the only thing I’ve left behind is stress”.

This ad is not bad, but it suggests that female workers and male workers are different. Even if they are at the same positions, their business trip will be different. Women have to care about their families. They need curling iron for their business. They need Yoga to release pressures. These plots just like what will happen on screen. Woman is woman. Then what about man? It’s true that when men on a business trip, they may remember to bring some gifts to their families. They need hairspray for their business. They may also do Yoga. However, if Hyatt uses a male character in this comic, it will be much less persuasive. Men are supposed to be solid, emotionless and calm not only in business but also in life. They won’t worry about curling iron. The comic then won’t describe in such detailed. The advertiser even won’t choose a comic for this ad. When aiming at female, they think selecting an "emotion" theme is the best. It’s true that difference exists between man and woman. It’s also appropriate to make such ads. Nevertheless, I think really smart women, and men as well, won’t be bothered by trivial things, not because they are trained to have male thinking skills, but because they are trained as smart human beings.