Analysis of Burger King's "Seven Incher" Hamburger Advertisement

Two young teenage boys are dropped off at the mall and their parents run some errands. Armed with ten bucks each and every and some time to kill, the boys commence to roam the halls searching for anything they can devote their cash on. Although walking close to the food court they catch a whiff of numerous distinct traditional foods, but what they see genuinely catches their eye. On a banner close to Burger King stands an advertisement of a wide-eyed young girl with her mouth open facing a BK (Burger King) “Seven Incher” hamburger. The text about the photo reads, “It’ll blow your thoughts away” in all caps. Hormones racing, the two boys know what the bulk of their income will be spent on.

Organizations who develop ads for goods that are basically “a dime a dozen” will seek to publish one thing that sticks out. Was this strategy the very best attainable way to do so? Or may possibly it generate a lot more difficulties than very good for Burger King? I’m going to make the argument that BK makes use of sex in ads to target their younger male audience, rather than especially making use of their items. I will do this by evaluating Burger King’s target audience, their history of ads, and the slogans and images incorporated in their messages.

Approach

Target audience is defined as “a distinct group within a larger audience”. Target audiences are employed in marketing and advertising by businesses who want to reach a specific demographic of men and women and also share distinct demographic traits. Slogans are “a brief interest-obtaining phrase employed in marketing or promotion” (Merriam Webster, 2015, two). Companies use these to make an advertisement connect with their target audience.

Analysis

Burger King’s target audience when these ads have been run was a younger male-focused group (Morrison, 2012, 1). Far more lately Burger King has branched out and created newer, healthier possibilities for their menu. Even so, the stereotypical “manly meat” menu that they previously sported appealed straight to their target audience. The “seven-inch burger” advertisement ran with the skinny model covered in makeup, mouth open and eyes wide, facing the burger while the written message read, “It’ll blow your thoughts away”. One more advertisement BK ran was the legs of a lady from the knee down, whilst she only wears red high heels and a Burger King crown about her ankles. Clearly, this offers the illusion that she would be wearing tiny but the “crown” and once once again points straight to the sexual nature and general target audience of the brand. Combine the audience with the suggestive sexual messages, and Burger King all of a sudden not selling worth meals and sides but rather sexual innuendos straight aimed at their male-dominant young audience.

Burger King has a history of running advertisements that have been edgy and sexually suggestive over the final 20 years. Since Burger King has a product and product line that is duplicated by several (that becoming the fast meals and hamburger sector), they are essentially not advertising just their item and rates but instead a snapshot of what they provide combined with sex. In the advertisement with the woman wearing the BK crown around her ankles, her shoes are a dark shade of red. Red is the “most emotionally intense colour, red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing” (Johnson, 2015, 5). The color red also “exudes a robust and strong masculine energy” even though “stimulating deeper and more intimate passions in us, such as love and sex” (Scott-Kemmis, 2015, 6). It basically was not just by chance that BK chose to spot red footwear on a model with a suggestive notation attached to it, but as an alternative a very carefully constructed message aimed to maximize their profits for their audience.

The written slogans in every single person message, even though it has something to do with the goods they offer, arguably has just as a lot to do with sexual suggestions. “It’ll blow your thoughts away” is a message constructed about sex, with the item in thoughts. “Irresistibly long & beefy” is one more slogan by Burger King that possesses that same double standard of fitting the item and sex. Due to the fact this message is written in all capital letters, the advertisement gives the vibe that the message is masculine and not afraid to hide the double meaning. In the advertisement that solely has the woman’s legs with the BK crown about her ankles, there are no words that appear on the publication except for a little picture of a new product they are introducing. Simply because there are not any words tying the picture to any distinct solution, it appears to be an apparent instance of considering sex first, then their all round brand. Understanding that their audience is young and male dominated, this advertisement tactic may be the best attainable remedy, even even though morally it may possibly seem unethical or incorrect.

While it may be true that sex does sell, maybe the explanation why they had to incorporate other items and target a new audience was simply because the meals business was not the greatest spot to sport that notion. There is clearly no doubt that these advertisements had been published with the thought of sex very first and their products and brand second. Searching at the original target audience, history of print advertisements, and the written slogans on every, there is no question that their concentrate was tapping into the industry of their young male audience. It is protected to say Burger King thought the ideal way to do so was by way of the indicates of mesmerizing buyers with females and sexually indicative messages.