So Burger King have got a new phallus shaped burger called, wait for it, the Seven Incher (oh hee hee, ha ha, such wit). How are they going to advertise it? By posing a woman like a blow-up doll and shoving into her mouth of course! With clever headline about "blowing" your mind, natch:
http://perezhilton.com/2009-06-25-do-hamburgers-make-ya-horny#respond
*Sigh* Because that's all women are, just vessels, waiting anxiously to take your seven inches, any which way we can get them. Except if you look at this model closely, her eyes are widened in alarm/terror. She doesn't want your seven inches. But your going to make her take it anyway, yeehaw!
Because rape is HILARIOUS, obviously. Maybe that's an extreme reaction to this, maybe most people won't see it as incitement to commit sexual assualt. Hopefully. But what is clear to anyone viewing this advert is that women are subservient, women are here to provide sexual pleasure to men, whether they say they want to or not, women or of little value. Hey we're just a marketing tool, sex sells, after all.
And just when will the cock jokes start to wear thin? I always wonder how men feel about having their anatomy reduced to an un-funny one liner. I guess advertising execs will stop making penis jokes at about the same time they make an advert alluding to the idea that women are sexually dominant over men. I.e. never.
NB: A word to the wise, avoid the comments on that article if you want to avoid the rage. Nobody is implying that oral sex in and of itself is demeaning to women. If you don't get that, you're not clever enough to be allowed access to the internet, imo.
26 June, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
what gets me the most is the utter stupidity of ads like this; it's like the cliched knowledge that sex sells has blocked any further creativity or common sense.
ReplyDeletethis ad might work (albeit very tackily) for a scummy clubnight, but what the fuck is the logic in using blow-job imagery to sell things for a daytime, unlicensed burger joint whose main clientele must be families? it's just idiotic.
I don't get offended easy, I usually see the funny side, but this is not funny it's disgusting and inappropriate for a place that caters to families.
ReplyDeleteTasteless ad, but exactly the reaction the advertising guys at BK wanted.
ReplyDeleteThe best reaction to stuff like this is to just ignore it, because if it doesn't gain attention, the advertisment isn't successful, and the idea won't be repeated.
Maybe not the best reasons for ad agencys to stop producing ads like this, but certainly the easiest way to stop them.
BK wants outrage and attention, so creates ad designed to generate outrage and attention.
ReplyDeleteSucceeeds. The end.
It's a BK adventure.
Well said. I hope BK drops this stunt ASAP because it is actually just ridiculous and pathetic (sad cry for attention in a flailing economy if you ask me). In fact, I hope someone sues them. For what reason.. well not sure, but hope they do. Discriminatory/sexist charges would be ideal. Or just that a family felt it was unnecessary to sit at BK and explain to their children what exactly a "seven incher" meant.
ReplyDeleteAnd come on BK.. seven is commonly known as average. They could have even made it a bit more exciting/out of ordinary. Morons through and through.
to who knows said
ReplyDeleteI assume, if you had a child with you, the poster would not offend because nothing directly says THIS IS A PENIS IN HER MOUTH.
Also, aren't some of these places not meant to advertise to children, because of healthy eating and such?
"whose main clientele must be families"
ReplyDeleteHave you not been watching the past five years of adverts? Their main clientele are young male adults. I think that's probably quite crucial to the point that she's trying to make.
..not that you aren't making it successfully. It's just that, as it's already been stated, having you make it was probably the main aim of the campaign.
ReplyDeleteirregular commenters - saying it's a stunt to get a reaction so we shouldn't grant it is stupid, ignoring a problem does not make it go away. (hello nazism and the BNP).
ReplyDeleteplus, it just IS bad, dull advertising, there is nothing clever or original about it. subway's "morning has broken - fix it" is one of the simplest, cleverest fast-food ads around; it is possible.
plus, miss disco, i'd love to know what sheltered world you live in where kids wouldn't understand it by virtue of the poster not explaining the penis/burger association. children know about this stuff in primary school (plenty of child-on-child assaults take place as well). and frankly, if young people were only beginning to grasp it around 15 or 16, its effects wouldn't be much better either.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the responses. I do grasp the concept of not giving people the oxygen of publicity, but I don't think it applies in every case. I actually don't think Burger King are bright enough to deliberately try to stir up outrage to garner press attention; I think they're just trying to sell their shitty burger. Which our humble blog is unlikely to affect one way or another, but I doubt it's the kind of attention they'd be glad of.
ReplyDeleteI didn't make the point about suitability for children in my post but I'll address it now. Burger King IS a family friendly restaurant - hence the small-person sized meals with the toys from Disney movies. Children will see this. I'm not sure it's going to lead to too many instances of parents needing to explain fellatio to their children but it does guarantee that children grow up believing in male dominance over women, and women's role as a provider of sexual pleasure because the ideas have been pushed on them since birth by crap like this.
It just makes me... uncomfortable. It's fairly overtly sexist, and like Who Knows said, not exactly original. And while it's not shouting "hey, forcing your penis into another person's mouth is ok!", it is one of those things where the little things just add up. And ignoring it - well, I could ignore a friend of mine making a sexist comment, but they're not going to learn that it's not ok because I keep my mouth shut, are they?
ReplyDeleteSorry folks, been away in my own little world. An article will come soon, promise.
ReplyDeleteNow, being a smutty sort, I like knob-gags, innuendo and flagrant, shameless references to sex.
However, there is a time and place for it - not in front of kids and most certainly not within earshot of Mater.
This is really, really fucked up. Kids eat at Burger King! They portray themselves as a family-friendly brand! They sell their product as being the relatively nutritious alternative to Burger King.
But hang on - I've never seen this ad, apart from on the Perez Hilton blog and other blogs. Indeed, there's no mention of it on their website. Type in "Burger King seven incher" and it's all blog posts or Entertainment sites.
My guess is that this is either a hoax that has been inadvertently seen as real, or a cheeky viral released by some local agency or other (because all publicity is good publicity). It certainly hasn't gone live in the US.
I'd go for the local agency. Remember - advertising for huge multinationals is often managed at a regional level.
Ah, a bit more research has shown it to have been a local ad by some Singapore agency. Burger King don't appear to have said anything about it, one assumes because they are just trying to hope it goes away.
ReplyDeleteThis stuff slips through the net - the local Spanish agency of a big US-based ad company came up with an anti-Lewish Hamilton website last year for the Spanish market that was hijacked by racists. Neither the main agency or brand knew about it, mostly due to lack of internal comms and general incompetency.