Burger King Print Ad

While driving through town today, I saw a print ad for Burger King's new super seven incher. The ad is full of thinly-veiled sexual appeal, obvious innuendos, and very little about the actual product. It features a blonde, short-haired woman open-mouthed next to a seven-inch Burger King sandwich, with the words "It'll Blow Your Mind Away" written below.

One obvious tactic this ad tries to use is the need for sex. However, I think it detracts from the overall goal of the advertisement. Burger King hopes that you will see an attractive girl with the sandwich, and associate the two, meaning that buying the sandwich buys you the girl. While this may have been their intent, I think the actual result is much different. All you get from looking at this advertisement at a glance is the image of an open-mouthed girl and the words "It'll Blow". That stands out from the rest of the advertisements consumers see on a regular basis, but it also has very little to do with the product. The best this ad can hope for is that its shock value will prompt the viewer to look back and examine the ad further, but even then the product isn't what they'll remember.

A less blatant appeal the advertisers who made this were attempting to create is the idea that girls can attract the kind of attention this girl does and look like her if they buy Burger King. When a girl sees this ad, or more likely when they see guys reacting to the ad, they associate male attention with Burger King. The ad is trying to take attention from men, and create the connection in girls that Burger King is what gets them male attention.

Another, less prominent appeal used in the ad is physiological needs. The sandwich is the second largest thing in the ad. next to the girl. The sandwich is glamorized, with perfectly puffed bread, meat with the exact right shade of brown, and dripping sauce. It is clearly designed to satisfy the physiological need of hunger.