Burger King: Blowing Your Mind or Your Morals?

In June 2009 Burger King released an ad that made consumers hunger, not for just a BK burger, but for sex. Burger King’s ad for their new BK Seven Incher is a seven inch char-grilled sandwich that is claimed to “Blow your mind”. The advertisement’s background is white with shading of black along its corners; that draws your attention to an attractive young woman. The ad shows a woman with her mouth open following the slogan “It’ll Blow Your Mind” blown up in bold white letters. The seven inch sandwich is also featured in front of the woman’s open mouth. Burger King’s ad claims its Seven Incher has it all, long, juicy, and will leave consumers yearning for more. However, consumer response is yearning for no more. The ad was recalled due to its controversial nature. The controversy stems from what the ad fails to mention which is; how it directly perpetuates the objectification of women by the media, teenage sex, and the psychological effects it has on the reader to reel them in; which I plan to prove in my essay.

Research done by the Women’s Liberation Movement studied print ads much like Burger Kings. When the study concluded the analysis of the experiments showed that women are portrayed negatively in the media, much like in BK’s Ad; also showing women being used only for entertainment purposes. These studies were highlighted by Alice Courtney and Sarah Lockeretz, two members of the female liberation movement and journalist from the Journal of Marketing Research. The first omission of the Burger King advertisement is how it objectifies and degrades women. Burger King’s ad was intended to satisfy the male ego and need for entertainment. Burger King’s ad was not intended to represent gender roles in society, which drastically divide men and women in the media. Never the less, it inadvertently did. These gender roles include the idea that women need men not only in general but to make important decisions. In “A Woman’s Place” an article written by Alice Courtney and Sarah Lockeretz , the authors explore the roles of women and men in society today. “Women are dependent and need men’s protection. The advertisements suggest that there are certain business and social activities which are still inappropriate for women to perform on their own” said Alice E. Courtney and Sarah W. Lockeretz. Experiments led by the Women’s Liberation Movement reported that women were often used for decoration or sexual objectification. This is done by putting women with no specific roles in advertisement’s to make the ad more attractive and reach a lager demographic of men and women. Burger Kings ad fueled this accusation of the Medias disgrace towards women. Burger Kings advertisement, which was assumed to be witty, was actually a slap in the face to women and feminist across the nation. Burger Kings ad displays a woman who is prepared to “Blow” their sandwich. Blow by definition in relation to the article meaning to perform oral sex. The woman appears to be naked, although, full body and shadows in the ad are skewing view to affirm the claim. Burger King in the context of this ad confirmed that women are necessary for decoration to attract the attention of male viewers. “Men regard women primarily as sexual objects; they are not interested in women as people. Some limited reflection of this stereotype is found in the decorative roles more often assigned to women than to men in the ads” the Courtney and Lockeretz quoted. Although the nature of décor is not limited to sex, it extends elsewhere and perhaps alludes to a more deep-seated issue. The influence of sex from the media has extended into the lives of married heterosexual couples, and influences the social difference in males and females. Burger Kings ad is made to incite comedic affect; this affect hide the underlying message it’s sending; that women are inferior and subject to men for their egotistical use.