it’s good to be an American
I always wondered when the day would come that a television ad would be so grotesque, perverted and over the line that no sane person would be able to defend it. My friends, that day has come.
First, the product. Anything that is defined by a public interest group as “food porn” has the opportunity to do amazing advertising. And boy did they ever take it.
Check this out. Their slogan should be “not only is our food porn, so is our advertising!”
I’m sorry, but only in America is there this kind of ridiculous combination between sex and something that would make you so fat as to never be attractive to anyone, ever.
Comments
Sorry, but this is just a silly posting on many levels.
First of all, I seriously doubt your problem is with the ad. Yes, the ad is suggestive. It’s not half as suggestive as any randomly-picked beer commercial (or as family guy would say: “Drink pawtucket pat beer and hot women will have sex on your lawn”). So what if they’re using sex to sell really fatty food? Why is it any worse than selling beer (which can give you that extremely sexy beer gut) or, for that matter, using sexy women to sell stuff to computer nerds (we’re never attractive to anyone, ever, either). They use sex to sell everything. The horrors. Nobody’s being hoodwinked here.
Really, this sounds like masked outrage over *gasp* food that’s bad for you. How dare they foist something on the unsuspecting american public that nobody has to buy and nobody is claiming is good for you! In fact, the Daniel Drezner article you link to points out the fact that they’re openly selling it as being over-the-top and unhealthy. Some people are buying it just to give the middle finger to overbearing public-interest types who want to tell them what to eat. If it’s selling, then by golly, maybe people can make a decision for themselves!
Yeah, it’s over the top. No, it’s not any more over the top than (insert favorite American excess here).
Let’s ban all fatty foods. Regulate til you can’t regulate no more!
Because I know that that was Dave, I stand by my contention that “no sane person would be able to defend it.”
I’m not saying ban it. If the American people want to treat themselves like crap and be lured into buying a burger with over 1500 calories (what is that, three fourths of a day’s worth?) by two women suggestively simulating oral sex, than they are free to do so. They are also free to stab themselves in the eye with a pencil, that doesn’t mean that I’m not gonna say “ummm… that seems like a bad idea.”
Someone’s got to say to people: “NO! Sit, stay, have a salad.”
I would repeat my previous contestation: I don’t think people are being duped here any more so than they are on any product. Yes, a good portion of the ad is sexually suggestive, but it also makes abundantly clear that this is a big freaking meal, not one that is healthy. If americans want to go out and fatten themselves up until hypnotic reams of celluloid bulge conspicuously out of their too-tight jeans, let them be (mmm… mental image).
I personally find it a bit repulsive — then again, that has as much to do with the bacon as the unhealthiness. However, I find it less repulsive than, say, a McDonald’s commercial misrepresenting the healthfulness of their food. I think you’re giving people too little credit by saying that they’re blinded to its unhealthfulness because sex is used to sell it.
In short, people are already saying “if you care about your body, eat a salad.” Everybody knows this already.
You’re not in the least bit disturbed that this is what American culture has come to, women winking at the camera as they shove things in their mouth? Where’s the moral outrage?
And if Americans “know” that they should be eating a salad if they want to be healthy, maybe we need to convince them they want to be healthy, because we’re turning into a parady of over-indulgence.
I’m a Jew. I don’t have morals. I killed Jesus, remember?
Yes, I find the ad off-putting, but is it more outrageous on its own merits (i.e. ignoring the product it is selling) than an ad using sex to sell beer? I say no.
And I’m going to have to disagree with you on this last point. I agree thaat Americans should be as well-informed as possible, but the second we attempt to prioritize values for them, I think that’s over the line. I’d find it disgusting if someone ate one of these every day, but if fatty wants to act that way, then fatty can go ahead and do it. He knows the consequences — look how fat he is!
It’s the same thing (in my personal opinion) with smoking. Tell someone that smoking is dangerous, that it’s addictive, and that it’ll kill them. In short, tell them that if they want to be healthy, they shouldn’t do it. Make sure they’re as well-informed as possible. But don’t tell them they shouldn’t do it per se. Let people make their own choices, regardless of whether or not we agree with them. I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to presume that I know what’s better for somebody than that person himself.
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