Also, combining greasy food with sexual imagery makes my stomach turn. I can't imagine that this would be effective for most men. But I might be giving them waaaaaaay too much credit, especially considering the target audience is the caveman-type brah-dude-buddy man-boy-child.
@TurtleSpeak: "combining greasy food with sexual imagery makes my stomach turn"
A guy(definitely a dudebro) once ate a hot pocket off my stomach during a protracted sex session. Maybe greasy food and sexual desire have become linked in the male mind, or maybe it was the marijuana, but it didn't turn my stomach. It just made me laugh because I am ticklish.
I hate that. Women's bodies aren't sex. This isn't sex. This is a sexualized image of a woman. This is boobs, and ass, and the body parts in between. It's not sex. It's a female body, and it's being sold to men.
Why don't they try to sell mens bodies to women? That would sell, too. But it's quite, quite rare. I hate advertising. They ignore women completely unless they are reminding us that we have to buy makeup or poop-yogurt so we can look more like the ideal they've been selling to men. Or that we have to clean our house. Fuck offfff.
Can Burger King and Hardees at least stop saying "sex sells" and say something more accurate like "the sexualized bodies of women are used to sell things to women and men because women are the sex class and centuries of their erasure from intellectual and artistic spheres leads to their bodies embodying the concept of desire, itself. Men could not be shown as being desired in the same way because desire, and subjectivity is a masculine attribute, that would remove their subjectivity and make them objects. Plus it would be totes gay"
I think there may be a double standard at play here, too. It's like, MEN! Hey! You should want this! This is a sexy woman who is slender and conventionally attractive! And look, she also EATS! She eats great slabs of beef and cheese! CONSPICUOUSLY! You should want a woman like this. You should want a burger like this!
The woman has to be sexy without trying. She should be lithe and taut in a swimsuit while giving the illusion of snarfing down burgers all day. She shouldn't be one of those silly pansy ladies who just subsist on YOGURT!!!!! and SALAD!!11. No, she should be a MAN'S WOMAN, a woman you can take out with the guys, a woman who won't shy from a 32-oz porterhouse and a pitcher of beer!
But she still has to look sexy while doing it. Effortlessly.
My friends and I love to mudwrestle each other over who gets to eat the delicious fast food burgers, and you can't stop us from writhing around and moaning as mayo drips from our mouths. I thought all girls did this.
"Ladies, get down here and buy a huge, fatty, greasy sandwich. It's the sexy thing to do and men will love you for it. But if we hear that you took one bite out of that sandwich without throwing it back up or immediately hitting the gym for four hours, you'll be sorry, you fat, lazy cow."
WHY don't I fork my money over to these companies anymore? Something about all their food having an aftertaste of raging double standards.
It's funny that the advertising industry has not sexualized commercials for, say, chocolate and yogurt. Like hot model-y six-packed men sensually slathering strawberry yogurt on them, or squirting Hershey's chocolate syrup in their mouths, while making bedroom eyes at the camera.
@Mary McCarthyite: Well, the closest thing I can think of is those Dove commercials, and a few other dessert/ice cream commercials over the years that shows women in some reclining position savoring some bite like its the best orgasm she's ever had, all set to smooth jazz and talking about 'indullllllllgennnnnnnce' and the like.
@kaiwhakamarie: @shorty63136: Right, but these commercials still feature women. I'm talking about MEN who are in sexualized commercials that market foods towards WOMEN.
@Mary McCarthyite: I think we're too practical. I think "slathered in yogurt" and think "well, thanks, asshole, that was the last fucking Key Lime Pie."
@labeled: Totally. But think! Then there can be a commercial featuring a man scrubbing that gummed up yogurt in the carpet with some fancy with some newfangled cleaning product!
@labeled: Ugh, you reminded me that I HATE those Yoplait commercials where the woman is bragging on the phone about how she's lost all this weight with her key lime pie and bananas foster and blady blah and the guy is standing at the fridge listening in, dumbly tearing apart the fridge looking for this supposed dessert feast that his wife has been hiding.
Then there is the second one, where the guy is similarly bragging to his buddy about the same thing and the woman is like, 'Um, excuse me?' and shames the dude into hanging up or some crap. I don't get it. Women = yogurt hoarders obsessed with being thin, and men = dumbasses that don't deserve sweets.
I have voluntarily limited my own access to burgers until after I am photographed repeatedly in a "groom's maid" dress at the end of the month.
Everything nowadays makes me want a burger. Having sex makes me want burgers. Getting on the train in the morning makes me want burgers. Cracking my knuckles makes me want burgers. Running on a treadmill makes me want burgers. Feeding my cat makes me want burgers. Talking to my mom on the phone makes me want burgers.
In conclusion, get your fucking burgers out of my face, fast food restaurants.
@morninggloria: I've always wondered how the "grooms maid" dress thing worked. I had a friend who wore an AMAZINGLY tailored tux with tails as a grooms maid - but instead of the white shirt/ascot combo like the other grooms men, she wore a really cool corset underneath the jacket. That was my only reference to it and wondered if other ladies wore dresses.
@shorty63136: The bride chose the dresses. They're black and floor length to her maids' light purple. So I suppose they're sort of tux-y, but they're also re-wearable.
I have complained about these ads so much, and for so long and that's always the argument I get. "Well, they work, so as long as they work, that's what they are going to do."
I get it, it sells. BUT McDonalds, Taco Bell etc all do booming business as well without having sexist, misogynistic and offensive advertisements. Arbys and Wendys manage to cater their ads to a young, male demographic without being as offensive.
It is like they think the entire world is made up of horny frat boys.
There are way more families with young kids and seniors out there, but I guess they all go to McDonald's. I think these ads might just cement a chain as an also ran in the burger wars.
@clevernamehere: Wow, I don't often have positive thoughts about McDonalds, but their commercials associating their food with family fun and personal happiness are so refreshing in contrast.
The name our holes was targeted specifically at gay men because we often encourage partners and potential partner to 'name our holes'. Coincidentally past partners have often named my 'hole' biscuit too.
@Randy Slamberg: That makes this ad campaign utterly fascinating. I associate Hardees with a fucking awesome melty ham & swiss sandwich, biscuits, and for reasons I don't understand, rednecks. (I don't think it's the biscuits, I think it's that the last Hardees I saw was in PA somewhere. PPL who think redneck=Southerner haven't ever been to PA.)
Thanks for sharing. And for fucking up the craving I had for sausage biscuits, for a hot minute anyway.
@Randy Slamberg: If someone gave my hole a name I would promptly break up with them, or atleast ask them their last name so I could file a restraining order.
@BearDownCBears: There's at least one in San Antonio. They're known as Carl's Jr. in California, and were quite abundant when I lived there (10 yrs ago)
@TheFormerJuneBronson: Me too, and I just had a Cup Noodles. (It lost it's "Of" or even "O" - it's just a sad chicken Cup Noodles Instant Hot Lunch, which makes me even hungrier.)
Anything can generate positive consumer sales among certain demographics, that does not necessarily justify it. Basically, these chains have decided that their core demographics are of the male variety, and cater to them accordingly. In the end, it's pretty smart. Although gross. I've always been of the mind that really good humor ads will appeal to a broader base, but I'm not in advertising, nor do I know much about the Fast Food Customer.
I'm reminded of discussions regarding negative political ads during campaigns. While everyone pretty much agrees that they coarsen the dialogue, cheapen the discourse and veer attention away from the issues in favor of petty personal attacks, study after study has shown that, despite all this, negative campaigning is extremely effective and so can only be ignored if a politician is enjoying a crushing advantage over his or her opponent.
In the same way, capitalism is fairly cutthroat in the same way that the sun is fairly hot and the universe is fairly large and so if a firm finds a technique to increase its profit in one way or another, it will seize it with little to no regard to the consequences. Remember, firms exist to minimize cost and maximize profit. All else is secondary. If the benefits of selling the organs of orphan children to zoos for meat outweighed the costs, I'll bet you a Whooper (tm) that it would become widespread. So, should we be surprised?
I'd say the fact that this supposedly works is more sad than the fact that it's used. Though only slightly so.
Do those young, hungry men love big, juicy meat? Do they like to stuff their mouths with long, tasty sausages? Do they like nothing more than seeing a big, tender piece of meat stuffed between white, buttered buns?
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A guy(definitely a dudebro) once ate a hot pocket off my stomach during a protracted sex session. Maybe greasy food and sexual desire have become linked in the male mind, or maybe it was the marijuana, but it didn't turn my stomach. It just made me laugh because I am ticklish.
07/08/09
I hate that. Women's bodies aren't sex. This isn't sex. This is a sexualized image of a woman. This is boobs, and ass, and the body parts in between. It's not sex. It's a female body, and it's being sold to men.
Why don't they try to sell mens bodies to women? That would sell, too. But it's quite, quite rare. I hate advertising. They ignore women completely unless they are reminding us that we have to buy makeup or poop-yogurt so we can look more like the ideal they've been selling to men. Or that we have to clean our house. Fuck offfff.
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The woman has to be sexy without trying. She should be lithe and taut in a swimsuit while giving the illusion of snarfing down burgers all day. She shouldn't be one of those silly pansy ladies who just subsist on YOGURT!!!!! and SALAD!!11. No, she should be a MAN'S WOMAN, a woman you can take out with the guys, a woman who won't shy from a 32-oz porterhouse and a pitcher of beer!
But she still has to look sexy while doing it. Effortlessly.
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07/08/09
WHY don't I fork my money over to these companies anymore? Something about all their food having an aftertaste of raging double standards.
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'Cause, you know, women love that...
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Dammit, I can't find it on YouTube.
07/08/09
I always hated those, too.
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They're about eating yogurt because "men's preferences will never change".
It's not what you're talking about exactly, but I'm sure they'll get around to that if you just give it some time.
07/08/09
And no, I've never seen the Brazilian ads.
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(Also, I never realized that is almost exactly how the mister and I go about the sexy. Squeeze, rub, groom and done. Subliminals ftw.)
07/08/09
Then there is the second one, where the guy is similarly bragging to his buddy about the same thing and the woman is like, 'Um, excuse me?' and shames the dude into hanging up or some crap. I don't get it. Women = yogurt hoarders obsessed with being thin, and men = dumbasses that don't deserve sweets.
07/08/09
It is weird, though, why is yogurt a woman thing?
07/08/09
Ah, memories.
07/08/09
07/08/09
Everything nowadays makes me want a burger. Having sex makes me want burgers. Getting on the train in the morning makes me want burgers. Cracking my knuckles makes me want burgers. Running on a treadmill makes me want burgers. Feeding my cat makes me want burgers. Talking to my mom on the phone makes me want burgers.
In conclusion, get your fucking burgers out of my face, fast food restaurants.
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I wish I could just wear a tuxedo tee shirt.
07/08/09
I get it, it sells. BUT McDonalds, Taco Bell etc all do booming business as well without having sexist, misogynistic and offensive advertisements. Arbys and Wendys manage to cater their ads to a young, male demographic without being as offensive.
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And you know why they don't want to think about why they approve.
And you don't really want to think too much about that either.
(And really, I don't blame you.)
Welcome to America, land of the PC, home of the bottom line
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There are way more families with young kids and seniors out there, but I guess they all go to McDonald's. I think these ads might just cement a chain as an also ran in the burger wars.
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It is off limits.
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I wonder how the holes are in Spooner?
07/08/09
Thanks for sharing. And for fucking up the craving I had for sausage biscuits, for a hot minute anyway.
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I'm reminded of discussions regarding negative political ads during campaigns. While everyone pretty much agrees that they coarsen the dialogue, cheapen the discourse and veer attention away from the issues in favor of petty personal attacks, study after study has shown that, despite all this, negative campaigning is extremely effective and so can only be ignored if a politician is enjoying a crushing advantage over his or her opponent.
In the same way, capitalism is fairly cutthroat in the same way that the sun is fairly hot and the universe is fairly large and so if a firm finds a technique to increase its profit in one way or another, it will seize it with little to no regard to the consequences. Remember, firms exist to minimize cost and maximize profit. All else is secondary. If the benefits of selling the organs of orphan children to zoos for meat outweighed the costs, I'll bet you a Whooper (tm) that it would become widespread. So, should we be surprised?
I'd say the fact that this supposedly works is more sad than the fact that it's used. Though only slightly so.
07/08/09
I try to tell this to my father all the time. He's still apparently too idealistic to understand.
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