Captain Marvel actress Brie Larson continues to face criticism after starring in a new Nissan commercial aimed at empowering women.
The “Refuse to Compromise” commercial begins with a male boss denying a female employee a promotion, quickly followed by Larson – known for her strong feminist beliefs – showing up in one of Nissan’s new Sentras and demanding that the employee drop her lunch and join in on a joy ride. As they drive around town, Larson shows off all the new features of the vehicle while giving the girl a lesson in not accepting compromises. By the end, the young lady is empowered and ready to demand that promotion from her boss.
Many have taken to the video – now sporting a whopping 4.8k dislikes compared to its 345 likes – to complain of the very clear feminist agenda, citing it as a reason they won’t ever purchase another Nissan vehicle. Most feel as though it’s a manipulative commercial that takes no account of the female worker’s job performance or even asks whether she deserves to be promoted, instead simply pushing the narrative that the male boss was a sexist who only denied her the promotion because she’s a girl.
This type of contrived scenario doesn’t typically go over well with internet audiences who often aren’t opposed to the idea of empowerment but refuse to support artificial, poorly-informed messages like this. Whether the commercial will drastically impact Nissan’s sales is yet to be seen, but Gillette’s “toxic masculinity” ad suffered similar backlash last year and is thought to have played a major role in Proctor & Gamble’s $8 billion loss.
Some of the comments on the video range from simple potshots like:
I will never buy a Sentra… and I refuse to compromise on that.
To unnecessary personal attacks, such as this one:
Now I have to sell my Nissan, thanks Brie. You blank face plank of wood.
Like her or hate her though, Brie Larson isn’t going anywhere, and she’s also claimed that she doesn’t really have time for the haters. Her upcoming Captain Marvel sequel, meanwhile, was recently greenlit by Disney and is planned to release sometime in 2022.
