By KATE HUNTER
We’ve had Masterchef, then it was Masterchef Junior (x2), Celebrity Masterchef, Masterchef All Stars and Masterchef Professionals.
And coming soon, Masterchef Boys Versus Girls.
I guess it was inevitable. What else was there? Masterchef Seniors? Masterchef AFL vs Leaguies? Masterchef Pollies? Personally I’d love to see Tony Abbott whip up a pav while Julia Gillard does her best with a Victoria sponge. I can see it – blue aprons, red aprons, it’d be GREAT TV and frankly, a lot more watchable than Question Time.
But no, the people at Ten have gone with Girls Versus Boys, and their promo has caused quite a kerfuffle. Watch it and you’ll see why I used a quaint olde term like ‘kerfuffle’:
There’s a lot of outrage whooshing about the Interweb, especially on media websites about the concept and its promotion.
This, from Mumbrella whose columnist ‘Dr Mumbo can’t quite believe it:
Dr Mumbo is rather a fan of MasterChef, and indeed the network’s promo team. So good indeed was the promo for Junior Masterchef that it was the making of the show.
Which makes this latest addition – to promote the new season – apparently themed around boys versus girls – all the more depressing … Please let it be a prank (Dr Mumbo half suspects there will be a twist and the ad will be part of the joke)…
Then the commenters joined in:
Look, I love a bit of advertising outrage as much as the next former ad chick/ feminist / mother, but this one I’m letting go through to the keeper. It just doesn’t bother me. I’m right into that Mad Men retro vibe right now and while I don’t find it funny (the cake in the face is decidedly un-funny) it has a benign retro charm I can’t see anyone taking seriously.
But really, other than that very naff line about women are used to grooming (gag) isn’t it just a bit of fifties-themed fun?
At the risk of scarring them with sexual stereotyping forever, I showed the promo to my kids (longtime Masterchef fans ages 12, 10 and 6) and they looked, if anything, a bit bored until the end when they said, ‘Yay! George and Gary are back.’
And just between you, me and the internet, I think it’s a mildly interesting concept. I have always wondered why so many top chefs are men while so many women seem content to remain ‘cooks.’
And that part about men have only one dish? In our house, when my husband cooks, it’s salmon in soy and honey. Kids love it. Every. Single. Time.
What do you think of the new Masterchef concept and promo?
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