Marilyn Welsh
Professor Chastain
English 104 T-Th 2:00
10 February 2011
The Super Seven Incher
Burger King---The second largest fast food chain in the world. Everyday over eleven million guests visit a Burger King some where in the world. Burger King Corporation was founded in 1954 by James McLamore and David Edgerton. In 1958, the first TV advertisement was aired by Burger King.
The Marketing/Advertising department of Burger King Corporation has released a new advertisement for their newest sandwich. The sandwich is called “BK Super Seven Incher,” because “it just tastes better” at Burger King.
The advertisement features a young, white female. The woman has chin length blonde hair. She has green eyes. The woman is wearing black eyeliner, brownish/gold colored eye shadow, light pink blush and bright red lipstick. The woman has her mouth wide open. The woman can be seen from the right side profile. Her face and part of her neck is the only thing that is visible. The rest of the body is hidden.
The “BK Super Seven Incher” sandwich features a single beef patty, topped with American cheese, crispy onions and the A1 thick and hearty steak sauce. The “BK Super Seven Incher” also has thick, white mayonnaise dripping down the sides of the sandwich
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over the top of the onions. It has two hoagie buns, the one on the top has sesame seeds on it. The “BK Super Seven Incher” sandwich is floating in mid-air, straight towards the woman’s wide open mouth. The sandwich appears to be representing a penis. The text just below the woman and the sandwich states “IT’LL BLOW YOUR MIND AWAY.” The first two words
“IT’LL BLOW”
are white one-inch capital letters. The rest of the text,
“YOUR MIND AWAY” is white ½-inch capital letters. The statement itself gives the impression of giving/receiving “head.” The price of this “blow job” sandwich is just $6.25 and that includes a drink and fries. Every red blooded all-American male’s dream---getting “head” at a cheap price. The advertisement states “Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled with the
new BK Super Seven Incher. Yearn for more after you taste the mind-blowing burger.”
The advertisement targets young, single, straight men ages 18-25 years old, most likely from a low-working-middle class and probably live in the Mid-West. These men are probably college educated. This advertisement gives the impression that if men in
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particular purchase this sandwich, they may feel as if they have received or are receiving “head” from a young, pretty blonde woman. Isn’t that every man’s dream? Men love getting “head,” eating food and having their own obsession about their own penis being a “Super Seven Incher.” This is the ultimate dream of any red blooded all-American man. The only things that would make this advertisement perfect, would be to have some type of sports and alcohol included. Men+food+sports+alcohol+young, hot women=good times.
Since the dawn of time, women have been seen as objects; things that are there to serve the supposedly “superior” sex-men. Women are objectified in this advertisement in that it gives the impression that if you are a young, white female, you gotta give some “head” to get a man. This advertisement is degrading to women, in that it makes women feel as if they are some kind of sex toy to be played with, enjoyed for a while, and then tossed aside. Men degrade women for the purpose that they are insecure with themselves. Refer back to the above paragraph, men have their own obsession about their own penis being a “Super Seven Incher.” Women should not be degraded just to sell a product.
The advertisement sells this sandwich based on a sexual innuendo. No matter what product a company is trying to sell, if you put a young, white woman in the advertisement with a sexual tone-your product will sell. Images of women are forever synonymous with the idea of “sex” due to a new emphasis on the female body in advertisement campaigns, thought up mostly by males. Unfortuneatly Sex sells, Baby! That is the way society is today, even if it means women are being degraded.
