Burger King is a global fast food chain restaurant. Currently located in 100 countries and half are in the United States. They created an advertisement campaign in Singapore to showcase their new sandwich. In 2009, they launched their super seven incher which received a great amount of backlash. This advertisement relies on several elements in this image that act as signifiers that lead the audience to the intended sexual innuendo signified idea.
In the ad, a young woman with short blonde hair with lips wide open is ready to take a bite of the sandwich and she is also wearing red lipstick. On the right of her face is the new super seven incher sandwich that she is going to take a bite out of. The tagline below says in all white capital letters “It’ll blow your mind away”. In the top right corner has the words “It just tastes better” and at the bottom right corner of the small text says that this sandwich will “fill your desires for something long and juicy that will make you yearn for more”. The advertisement that was just described most would see that this is intended for a male audience. With further analysis shows that this was made for shock value. An excerpt from Representation argued, “There was the form and there was the idea or concept in your head with which the form was associated” (Hall 16). As a result, both are required to produce meaning, but it is the correlation between them that is fixed by cultural and linguistic codes that shape the audience’s perspective.
First glance at this advertisement many would be shocked that a global fast food chain was behind it. To start off, the colors alludes to the idea that she is in a room that has a backdrop of a tan color with an outer shadow cast over her with the light focused on her face. This puts an idea into the consumer’s mind that women are seen as a sex symbol in society. Her makeup, especially her red lipstick; the color is associated with passion, love, and attracting attention. The bold red color on her lip draws attention to the inappropriate positioning of the sandwich near her open mouth.
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The text that is located below the woman is in all capitals stating, “It’ll blow your mind away” in white. The color white is associated with purity and innocence and I believe that they tried to make the ad come across not intentionally inappropriate leaving it for open interpretation. The word “blow” which goes in combination with “it just tastes better” slogan in the top right corner; altogether the words and image have a signified meaning that the consumers would receive pleasure from eating the sandwich as they would from receiving oral sex. An excerpt from Decoding Advertisements stated, “It is one thing for a product to mean happiness, it is another for it to be or create happiness” (Williamson 36).
This is present in the advertisement because in the fine print at the bottom right says that this sandwich will “fill your desires for something long and juicy that will make you yearn for more”. Looking further into what is put into the sandwich shows the buns that are close to skin color with white sesame seeds sprinkled on top and white melted cheese oozing from the sides with onions and grilled beef stacked together. This is reinforcing the sexual innuendo and has a signified meaning of the sandwich being perceived as something other than food but male private parts.
The main focus of this ad is a woman which could be considered offensive and degrading. The woman’s wide-eyed expression with an open mouth resembles a blow-up doll which again shows that this is targeted towards a male audience. This brings up another point that shows the idea of portraying women as objects. Creating an idea that is put into the society that make women feel like they need to look a certain way to feel beautiful or to be wanted. According to Jhally “Advertising doesn’t always mirror how people are acting, but how they’re dreaming. In a sense what we’re doing is wrapping up your emotions and selling them back to you.” Playing into the role of power dynamics and making women seem like they are here and seen to only serve men.
Overall, in today’s day and age, sex sells. The intended purpose of this advertisement was to shock and get people talking about Burger King’s launch of their new sandwich. Also, the way everything in the ad was positioned aimed at putting a specific sexual idea into men’s heads. This does not shed the best light on women or portray them as good role models to younger children. Ads like this reinforce how men should treat and view women in society. By the time Burger King pulled the advertisement from the media, many have already seen it. There should definitely be more regulations on what is considered appropriate or inappropriate advertising.
References
- Burger King official website
- Burger King Singapore website
- New York Times article on the Burger King ad campaign
- Adweek article on the Burger King 7-inch sandwich ad campaign
- Analyzing Ads: Gender Representation Techniques Used in Advertising by Karinna Gerhardt
- Seductive and Saucy: Perceptions and Response to Sexual Content in Advertising by Jay Thibodeau and Michael T. Kellogg
