The Sexualization of Food in Advertisements

Sexualizing food - it's an advertising fad more common in the United States than here in Canada, but is nonetheless just as apparent. When I was watching TV in California with my American friend a couple weeks ago, an advertisement for an American fast food restaurant called Jack-in-the-Box came on, featuring a man getting married to a bacon cheeseburger. My friend was unfazed—as far the sexualization of food in ads goes, this was on the mild end of the spectrum in America. For instance, Carl’s Jr, another American fast food joint, has a reputation of creating far more provocative advertisements. Their commercial intended for the Super Bowl, featuring model Kate Upton slowly undressing while eating the new Southwest Patty Melt, is a more recent example. The commercial was so provocative that it was banned from being aired. Studies have shown that this means of advertising isn’t always effective. For example, overtly sexual ads have been shown to not work on women the same way they work on men, narrowing the target audience in commercials. So why do companies continue to use the sexualization of food to advertise their products? Well, there’s attention for one thing—when a commercial becomes controversial, especially to the point of being banned, it provokes more attention than a standard advertisement. Also, especially in the States, there are a lot more fast food restaurants and therefore more competition. Each company has to find their own gimmick to make them stand out against the fast food giants like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King. Because of the successfulness these commercials have given fast food companies like Carl’s Jr, it doesn’t look like the fad of sexualizing food is going to fade away anytime soon.

  

Jack in the Box's "Marry Bacon" commercial:

Carl's Jr's banned Super Bowl commercial:

 

Gender Representation in Pixar Movies

Because of the reputation Disney has for portraying innocence and purity in its movies, people are very apt to be critical and find fault in them. Pixar studios, however, does not have the same "children-only" reputation and so is less susceptible to that kind of critical eye. Disney's first film, Snow White, was released in 1938 and therefore should be given more leniency towards the gender roles it portrays because that kind of gender segregation was acceptable at the time it was released. Pixar's first full-length animated feature, Toy Story, was released in 1995 and since then the company has released 12 movies, and are therefore more current and should, in my opinion, be more critically analyzed for the gender roles Pixar portrays. Like more current Disney movies (Tangled for example), Pixar has created strong female characters that have more on their mind than finding the right guy, have unique personalities and can fend for themselves. Pixar female characters do have one major fault however: they are never the main protagonist. They may be strong-willed and independent, but they are always portrayed as the love interest (Atta from A Bug's Life or Eve from Wall-E) or the companion to the protagonist (Dory from Finding Nemo). The main protagonist is always male. In the summer of 2012, Pixar will be releasing its 13th animated film, Brave, which will be the first Pixar movie featuring a female character as the main protagonist. Brave is the story of a Scottish princess who is willing to go to any means to change the fate that being a girl has forced her into. This is a very important message for anyone facing discrimination, whether it be based on gender, race, etc, but does not, in my opinion, exempt Pixar from their history of gender representation. The fact that the plot revolves around the fact that Merida, the princess, is female just causes more discrimination, in my opinion. When Pixar can make a film where the main protagonist is simply female for a reason that does not revolve around the plot is when I will stop viewing the company as slightly prejudice. To get an idea of what I'm talking about, take Pixar movies like Ratatouille or Toy Story. It would make absolutely no difference if Remy or Buzz or Woody were female characters, whereas the plot in Brave depends on the gender of the protagonist. Just how I love Disney despite its obvious flaws, I do adore every Pixar movie and the creativity and brilliance behind each one. I am very excited for Brave and the step Pixar is taking by making their protagonist female, which I hope is a step in the direction of more women heroes who aren't simply female because the plot depends on it.
Brave Trailer:

These are the movie posters from every Pixar movie taken from the Pixar website...notice how hardly any of them feature a female character

http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/index.html