When presented the topic of food advertising, I remembered 2 commercials right away. The first, Paris Hilton's Carl's JR commercial is an uber-sexy example. In the commercial Paris is washing a car, very sexually, and at the end she takes a bite out of a big juicy Carl's Jr burger. After I watched the video, I felt like I had just watched the beginning of a soft-core porn scene, and the burger was the man that Paris was seducing - and then having her way with. Then, after thinking more, I looked at is as woman being compared to a piece of meat (the video shows Paris acting "hot" and then at the end it shows the burger and says "now that's hot"). Paris Hilton is well known as a famous heiress that got famous by starring in a sex-tape with a previous boyfriend. I feel like Carl's Jr used this, and in turn, tried to make their burger famous (haha). I am sure after men watched the commercial they were very aroused (and suddenly very hungry). One part I found very interesting was when Paris takes the hose and holds it by her groin area and turns it on, almost as if mimicking that of a male erection ejaculating, in this case it puts Paris in a position of "power," it takes her out of the role of the submissive/passive object. Then I wondered, is it the burger they are saying "now that's hot" to, or is it Paris EATING the burger that is hot - if that is the case then the commercial could also be targeted toward women (many of whom try to stay away from eating these types of food). By showing a very sexualized, very popular celebrity eating their product it may make it "okay" for other women to do the same. I would make the argument that Carl's Jr is objectifying women to sell their product, but it is kind of hard to make that argument when Paris clearly made the choice to act this way in the commercial.
All-in-all Carl's Jr took the saying "sex-sells" VERY seriously in this case, but don't you agree that Paris does make eating a burger look unusually "hot" ?
B-Bloggin'
First, I'll start off by saying that I personally do not find Paris Hilton attractive (even with my queer gaze as a bisexual woman). I believe this commercial is intended for a heterosexual male gaze, so the audience can watch Paris be sexual along with her desire for that big juicy burger. I agree with B-Bloggin' that perhaps the hose Paris holds can be illustrated as a phallic object when it is “ejaculating” onto the car. In addition, I think the car can then be put in the position of being submissive, because she is washing it and being on top which makes her dominant. It makes me think back to objects being called/named female; for example, cars, ships and other devices men give names to, and are proud of owning. “She's a beauty!” a man would say about his owned object/device. The burger itself can be coded as masculine as well because of the meat.
ReplyDeleteSo could we illustrate that Paris is taking the active role to wash the car, using the phallic object to do so, and then eat a male-coded food? Does the commercial perpetuate her as being dominant with agency over the car? (Just throwing it out there for discussion.)
On the flip side, we could perpetuate that the burger (which is male) can be that she's taking in a male organ in her mouth, which can further our idea about the commercial being a soft-core porn? Then again, I suppose any food being eaten by a woman can signify the a male organ. Bwaha. This commercial is definitely a polysemic text.
I think of a burger being masculine, so it is interesting to see a woman eat a big juicy one for a commercial. Usually we see happy women alone with salad, which makes me think back to these hilarious images...
http://thehairpin.com/2011/01/women-laughing-alone-with-salad
The commercials that I usually see on television stereotype women with salad, low-calorie snacks, and the biggest one would be chocolate.
Electric Erio
Sorry for the double-post, but I just re-watched the commercial and I had an after-thought about something else. I will still assume that Paris is using the hose to "ejaculate" all over the car, but considering how the camera angle is, it looks like she is ejaculating all over the audience/viewers. I thought about this because the car is not within the picture frame at this time!
ReplyDelete...I feel metaphorically violated and bukkaked. =[
Electric Erio
Hahaha!!! I almost fell over from laughing.. It is definitely a polysemic text, you can analyze it in sooooo many ways. And yes, I believe she ejaculated her hose all over the audience, and if the commercial is directed toward a male audience, then she just blew her metaphorical load all over them!
ReplyDeleteLast post was from B-bloggin'
ReplyDeleteI must say from watching both the subway commercial and this paris hilton one, the 1st thing i thought of was my gender studies class last year and how we learned about how food is gendered. masculine vs. feminine foods. masculine foods such as potatoes, meats, big portions and feminine foods such as salads, fruits, sweet and small portioned. Many women are usually shy to eat burgers or such foods around a man. When they go out most order a salad because they don't want the guy to think they are fat or anything.
ReplyDeleteThese days it would be hard to go through any prime time TV line-up without coming across finding soft core porn. For the most part TV commercials are easy to ignore, but every one in a while couple commercials come along that push the boundaries. From beer ads to burger (food) commercials, to clothes, makeup and health supplies. What is sexy can be achieved in a lot of ways. These commercials are from a males point of view to a male audience, even though its targeting both male and female viewers. They include mostly white Caucasian females, tall, toned and skinny wearing close to nothing in clothing. That is not reality, men watch these commercials and expect women to act like that and women watch them and feel pressured to look like that.
Another point is that the actual product doesn't even play much of a role in most of these kind of commercials at all. Just an excuse to have beautiful women in unrealistic situations. In this case make Paris pose in front of and on top of a car, washing it and herself than eating a bite off a burger, the burger made its own day view for a quick sec than its make to mindless car washing that has nothing to do with a burger (haha). To be honest i really don't think Paris hilton even eats burgers so this is showing a girl that "look paris hilton eats a burger and she has this body why don't you look like that while you eat a burger". So you see these commercials are supposed to be for just the male eyes forgetting that women also see these commercials.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/17/gender-eating-men-women
pretty good read, and the picture just says it all (lol)
~FIESTY~
Examples such as these always remind me of the other similar commercials I have seen. I think of a Burger King commercial in which men unite in a musical manifesto set to Helen Reddy's "I am Woman" except that 'man' is substituted for 'woman'.
ReplyDeleteThe role of women in commericals have two extremes: the highly sexualized female body and the asexual(in a lot of cases, in my opinion)domesticated homebody; what is left in between these two poles is a sprinkling of minor examples. What this enforces in my mind is that the sexualized female body has been a long-standing marketing tool and is going to be used in commercials again and again. This brings up the issue of objectification for sure, but what also comes into play here as well is the consent to the actress in question to allow herself to be filmed in this manner. Does Paris Hilton not understand what this commercial is portraying her as? Is money the factor that allows women to let herself be objectified?
I wonder who was on the set while she was filming this commercial: was the majority of people men? Who was the director, and what were they telling Paris to do to capture the essence of what Carl Jr. burger is? Would Paris Hilton even eat a hamburger? I do not see any reality in this commercial at all -- it does not make me want to go eat a burger, or wash my car wearing high heels. Like FEISTY says above, it is definitely as though women are left out from the scope of the audience. The burger is only in two scenes of this commercial -- when a single bite is taken from it, and when it is held in the shot at the end. A far-fetched guess that Paris Hilton is advertising the practice of good hygiene by washing herself (which I doubt)the focus is on the female body as an object of desire.
-- OwlEyes
I love this commercial, and Sarah Haskins version of it...
ReplyDeleteThe Doctor