Is JC Penny Promoting Bullying? No. Just No.

This isn't a serious question, is it? God, I really hope that people aren't actually that upset about this.

On CNN this morning, they ran a segment on JC Penny's newest back to school television advertisement. The story was about how many were upset with the recent spot as it seemed to promote bullying in schools, which has become a seriously hot button topic lately, particularly in the wake of the recent video capturing three 15 year old students beating a 13 year old student on the bus.

Take a look at the new commercial:

People's outcry stems from the :14 second mark in the video. The advertisement's suggestion is simple: wearing the wrong clothing could "make or break" your first day at school. By the looks of the lonely boy at the table, his first day broke in a big way.

I am a little confused though. Why is this all of a sudden considered bullying? TV advertisements have been telling us for decades that if we aren't wearing the right shirt, lipstick, deodorant, shoes, jewelry, etc., that we aren't superior, the fastest, the smartest, the sexiest, the absolute best in the world. That is how these companies sell their product. They pinpoint a certain "critical" characteristic that society deems so necessary and brand their product as the gateway to whatever pinnacle we are trying so desperately to achieve.

If I don't drink Gatorade, I'll fail to succeed in sports. If I don't wash my body with Axe, girls won't want to be sexual with me. If I don't buy a huge diamond and propose in a completely outlandish way, then my girlfriend won't marry me.

This is not a new trend, everyone. Commercials have long tried to convey to us how we can better ourselves with whatever product they push. The reason that you buy Gillette at the store instead of the generic shaving cream is because deep down you truly think that Kate Upton will want to sleep with you if you are grooming the correct way.

So JC Penny says that the outfit that a kid wears on the first day could make or break the year. Exaggeration? Of course it is. But so are all of the other examples above as well. Nobody ever remembers what anyone wore for the first day of school. And even in grade school and middle school, when first-impressions are so critical with judgmental peers, it doesn't alter your entire year.

At no point in this video is there even a scene of anything remotely close to bullying. That two second clip of the kid at the lunch table alone got everyone so bent out of shape--nobody says "Oh, man, what a loser. Look at what he is wearing!" or anything remotely close. The scene passes so quickly that if anyone were paying half attention, they wouldn't have even noticed.

Yet, somehow this ended up as a serious segment on CNN this morning. "Is JC Penny promoting bullying with their new advertisements," they asked. No, CNN and reactionaries, they are not. Put down your pitchforks and open your eyes. Because if this is the type of advertisement exposure that gets you worried about how your kids will turn out, you clearly aren't paying close enough attention to the world around you.