We all love those DirecTV ads with Rob Lowe and his alternate personality that has cable, right? They’re everywhere, maybe even more so if you watch sports. Far Less Attractive Rob Lowe and Creepy Rob Lowe have become a big part of baseball’s postseason and NFL games this fall.
But it’s Painfully Awkward Rob Lowe — who some consider the funniest — that is now drawing attention of a different sort. (And not just from Crispin Glover, whom I think Lowe is riffing on with that character.)
http://youtu.be/KGeJV7_0Wsg
Not being able to urinate near other people isn’t just a sign of awkwardness. It’s a real thing called paruresis, or “shy bladder syndrome.” (Shyness does come into play, apparently.) According to the Associated Press, a group representing sufferers of shy bladder syndrome feels that the DirecTV ad depicting Painfully Awkward Rob Lowe not being able to pee with others in the room is in poor taste, making fun of a serious issue.
“It’s a situation that a lot of people don’t understand,” Steve Solfer, CEO of the International Paruresis Association, said to the AP. “In this particular case, the portrayal is making it look ridiculous, that this guy is a loser for having a problem.”
DirecTV isn’t backing down, saying it will keep running the ad and that most people understand these commercials “take place in a fantasy world and are not based in reality.”
Wow — this could turn into quite the pissing contest.
Be honest: Was the love theme from St. Elmo’s Fire running in your mind the entire time you read this?
