Leave it to Roll-Oh (Group 3)

Leave it to Roll-Oh is a silly, long-form advertisement from General Motors and its subsidiaries, but it posits particular relationships between people and technology. In this ad, how will robot technology change lives?  Do all kinds of people co-exist with robots in the same way?  In one or two well-formed paragraphs, make a specific point about how this ad imagines people (or one kind of person) interacting with “robots.”  

6 thoughts on “Leave it to Roll-Oh (Group 3)

  1. Adam Guo

    I agree with my classmates that this ad magnifies the fact that there was a shift in the duties that a household mom had during this time. For example, the ad illustrates multiple examples (robot getting the mail from the mailman, lighting up the candles, cleaning the floor) in which technology allows the household mom to express and start to take interests other than the typical role that she was playing before.

    I do not think that humans co-exist with robots the same way. The ad displayed numerous different “kinds” of robots (i.e. toast machine, water heater, water fountain, vacuum), and people may view these kinds of “robots” in different ways. For example, a water heater may be a very valuable resource in a family that was using it to stay warm than a family that was using it as a luxury to make coffee.

  2. Eli Biletch

    I agree with the central concept which all of my colleagues have presented: that through the use of novel technology, the role of the woman as a housewife which was thought to be ubiquitous at the time is brought into criticism in the mainstream media. I believe the advertisement was intended to be appealing to women who may feel relied on for the everyday household tasks depicted in the film, though they may feel burnt out or tired. The narrator offers soundbite examples where men may reprimand women for slacking while performing tasks at home: “no robot machine has ever been accused of being absent-minded or careless at its work. Here a robot that never sleeps, nor winks, nor looks out the window stands guard over the men who work at this giant press”. The appeal of the robot is to provide a household with a reliable “butler” (more reliable than a woman, supposedly) to replace the woman’s work so she may relax or complete other chores. This sentiment holds true today with continued automation, though the application is somewhat adjusted to the more gender-equal ethos of the present in the United States. I find that devices in the smart home, such as a Nest system that automatically regulates the temperature of the home using novel AI tech or a Breville toaster oven/air fryer that automatically detects when food is done have the same push for automation behind them as shown in the Roll-Oh ad.

    To expand upon the points presented, however, I find the opening sequence particularly important to the message of the advert. Is part of the appeal of robots and automated devices that women would not be able to understand the inner workings of appliances? The ad clearly creates a power dynamic where women have no technical knowledge, and immediately shows a simple device with task names and buttons. Is this push for automation fundamentally operating upon biased terms of gender roles? Can this be rectified or is this better in the present?

  3. Benton Barry

    In the ad, the robot appears equipped to handle many of the standard household chores and duties. In this era, those activities were mainly done by women and stay at home mothers. I agree with my classmates that this improvement in technology coincides with women moving past being stuck at home all the time. it is interesting how the robot is used by women in this ad. It is also interesting that the robot was able to help the black child in a time period where segregation was prevalent. in addition, I like Ericks comparison to the movie Wall-E and I agree that being too dependent on technology is bad for society.

  4. Erick Felix

    In this ad, robot technology changes lives by automating tedious and repetitive tasks. Our introduction to Roll-Oh is speculation, influenced by our imagination, on the potential for how robot technology will shape our lives, ie we thought by 2020 we would have flying cars. As both Austin and Jasmine pointed out, Roll-Oh is a robot used by a woman, this begs the question: Do we have a gendered notion of technology and robots? What I find most interesting about this ad is how it makes us rethink what robots are. I also do not think that all kinds of people co-exist with robots in the same way. Robots are man-made and therefore bring with them the biases of their inventors. I am curious as to why a black child was used for the light based robot that detected when to pour out water. Was the point to show that robots also worked for black people when something dark is detected? It is this kind of stuff, that makes me think that robots and technology might not be accessible to all people.
    In this ad, we also get the sad reality that Wall-E portrayed. We become dependent on technology. While technology makes things easier for us, we forget how to function in the absence of it. This is strongly evidenced by the disappearance of Roll-Oh and the potential disappearance of technology if we were to regress at some point.

  5. Jasmine Chau

    I agree with Austin’s point that the robot, Roll-Oh is staged to liberate women from their domestic duties. There seems to be a correlation between improvements in technology and the ability for women to move beyond the domestic sphere. Take the first scene as an example the robot is made to seem too complex for the housewife to know how to use it, but she controls it with ease and is not fearful or guarded around it. The robot also takes on the role of something familiar to people, a butler. by doing so people can make connections between Roll-oh and other household appliances. This shows that robots don’t have to look like a mechanical man rather they are objects used every day to help people. This is clear when the ad begins to zoom out its scope. This shows that robots are everywhere helping secretly in the background and is further highlighted by Roll-Oh being overlayed machinery in the car engine scene.
    I believe this ad imagines that robots and all people will interact. Due to 1940s America being segregated, but they have a black child drinking from a water fountain that is controlled by a robot. Showing that robots are meant for everyone and can be used by anyone. This idea is further pushed by showing how robots are already integrated into different facets of life and work in different roles.

  6. Austin Cashwell

    The robot liberates the woman from her domestic duties. Her casual reading of a magazine and her bossy attitude towards her are more stereotypical masculine and allow her to transcend into a man during that era. This dream sequence highlights the current ills of society and the woman’s desire to be an equal, and thus the robot is merely a tool of social elevation.

    The ad was also subtle in defining the boundaries and limits of their robots. Not being able to take a joke and operating only on human command firmly place robots into the box of a tool humans use to alleviate the fear of robots becoming too independent. I was just surprised they need to acknowledge that fear since I wouldn’t call some of that technology robots at all.

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