When first viewing this advertisement I see two scantily clad women, sexy poses, and lesbian fantasies, which seem to have nothing to do with the food being advertised. The attractive women immediately grab my attention and I don't seem to care too much about anything else.
When looking deeper into the advertisement, I realize that whenever I think of Hardee's I think of grossly unhealthy food and all of the health risks that go along with eating it. This commercial uses image to veer the audience away from the stereotype that Hardee's makes people fat and unhealthy. This is because there are two beautiful women making and eating the food, which leads the audience to believe that beautiful people in good shape can still eat this food without consequences.
The audience is intended to be males, particularly living in the southern or southwestern United States. The audience is probably middle-lower class because the product being advertised is fast food, which is more commonly purchased by middle-lower class citizens. The layout sets the scene in a place that seems like Memphis, Tennessee, geared towards patriotic Americans. The author uses the colors red, white, and blue throughout the advertisement to convey this patriotic message on the American flags in the background, the banners hanging, and the clothes of the females in the advertisement. The author also uses a grill as a platform, which gears the audience's attention towards the midsections of the females, almost hypnotizing them with their attractive bodies. The language used is the voice of a seemingly masculine and stereotypical American male, with a lackadaisical tone. The language and image both convey the message that eating this barbecue is the not only the masculine thing to do, but it is also the American thing to do.
When I first saw this commercial, I was like, "Wtf Hardee's. Why on earth do you need to create a whole commercial centered around two women's bodies? They're too pretty for your restaurant anyway." But after I read your analysis, I realized that's the point! These women are meant to serve as a distraction from the heart attack on a plate that they are eating. The director turned a messy disaster of a burger (that probably is not eaten gracefully) into a thing of desire by using two young, attractive women; therefore, the viewer doesn't associate this burger and Hardee's with heart disease, but rather with lust and desire. Good job, Kyle!
ReplyDeleteDo you think the women are meant to distract the audience from Hardee's food or emphasize it? For example, If you have a Hardee's burger, attractive women will want to be around you. I think it is interesting that Hardee's creates an ideal environment for its food as well. Instead of appealing to the working-man as an everyday meal, the food is shown as something that beautiful people eat when they are having fun and everything is perfect. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThis advertisement never made much sense to me at all. I always thought about why a fatty fast food restaurant Hardee;s would perceive their customers like this. I really enjoyed reading your analysis. This was a great choice of an ad to look at. I never understood Hardee''s intentions in these types of ads, but it sounds like they actually do have a purpose.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your chosen advertisement very much. That being said, I still would've enjoyed watching the two attractive women even without knowing that it was a advertisement for Hardee's. The two women are very beautiful and take away from what Hardee's really wants the viewers to see: their new burger. I liked how you emphasized the use of American colors in the ad because i also noticed that. Does Hardee's input these colors to make the audience feel that it is more American to eat their new burger? Does the use of the sizzling grill also intend to make the audience feel that the new burger is more "American"? Even though most would view this ad and criticize the fast food restaurant for it, sadly this type of advertisement technique still works on most men around the world.
ReplyDeleteGolly gee let me tell you after seeing this commercial all I wanted to do was slam a Hardee's burger and then burn off all the calories with these two fine honey's if you know what I'm saying. I was upset once I read your analysis and realized that I had fallen into the trap that Hardee's presented me with. While watching the commercial, my stomach was growling to get a bite of those hunks of meat (and I'm not talking about the burgers). However, I then realized that the burgers looked extremely appealing to me as well. I googled just a plain picture of a Hardee's burger and it did not look nearly as appetizing as the ones in this commercial which led me to agree with your statement analysis. However, I disagree with you that the target audience is only lower or middle class males. I believe that by using clean, beautiful women, Hardee's is attempting to reach out to the upper class and convince them to try what might be thought of as "cheaper" food. Hardee's is exploiting the fact that all men, no matter how rich or how poor, can't resist a sexy woman and a burger. Do you think that it is immoral to exploit women's bodies in order to gain more revenue?
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