By Pascal Oparada
A mother is visiting. She calls her son and tells him. The son tells his wife that his mother is visiting and she would want her favourite meal prepared. Nightmare!
The daughter-in-law wants to impress her mother-in-law. Every detail counts. She doesn’t want to disappoint. In this clime, kitchen skill is key. You are either a good or bad wife mostly based on your ability to impress in the kitchen. The wife is struggling in the kitchen.
The daughter-in-law needs all the help she could get. She calls her mother on video, who gives her step-by-step guide on how to prepare the particular meal.
Only the mother-in-law’s taste bud can tell if the wife is a great cook. The atmosphere is tense. The mother-in-law had to be constantly pacified by her son, no thanks to the delay in getting the meal ready.
Finally, she comes. Serves her meal and braces herself for the worst, constantly exchanging nervous glances with her husband who is no less anxious.
The result? Excellent. The husband heaves a sigh of relief. She hugs her mother-in-law and winks at her husband who in turn gives a thumbs up for a job well done.
Many have argued that the daughter-in-law must be horrible in the kitchen thereby resorting to quick service restaurants to feed her husband. Others say it’s not the case. She probably wanted to avoid an eternal feud.
While MTN intends to sell their data to consumers, it has inadvertently thrown up what many believe is age long feud that portrays daughters-in-law as inept in the kitchen who constantly run to their mothers for help.
It shows a mother-in-law who appears menacing and mean and hard to please. It shows a son who has not known if his wife could deliver on any given occasion and has to sit with his guests to constantly assure them of his wife’s ability.
It also shows a daughter who appears not to have been properly coached at home by her mother before going into marriage and has to resort to coming back to learn what she missed while living with her parents, albeit through video streaming.
Remember the (in)famous Mama na boy, the advert by MTN that brought gender battle to the front burner even before the advent of social media? It generated so much controversy that the advert had to be pulled.
MTN has been constantly flayed by many people for controversial ads. This age, with the help of social media, is hyper-sensitive to ads that seek to portray the wrong values. Feminists are on the prowl, searching for anything that jeopardizes womanhood. Extreme vetting of ads by companies should be of utmost concern.
Ads that highlight ineptitude, which only their data can correct, as the advert seems to portray, is frowned at.