Saturday, November 15, 2014

#CuttheCarls

A while a go I heard about the Utah women launching the hashtag campaign to end the racy Carl's Jr ads. According to Sellnow's "Visual Pleasure Theory" the images in media encourage viewers to look pleasurably at a female image through a male perspective. Viewers don't just watch the images but gaze upon them in ways that influence our subconscious beliefs about our own psyches. You can't help but look at Carl's Jr. as a perfect example of this. I personally am sick of seeing the Carl's Jr. commercials. I don't appreciate seeing woman as objects set out for peoples sexual fantasies.

The Beauty Redefined blog created the "#cuttheCarls" to talk more openly about how these advertisements affect body image and the perception woman and men have toward woman in society. I wonder how this all is affecting young woman and how viewers are striving to achieve the ideals portrayed in the visual images. 
Here are some of the reactions to the advertisement on Twitter. I wish that I could turn on the television or see ads where women aren't being portrayed sexually. But according to Sellnow's "Visual Pleasure Theory" the sexualized ads aren't going anywhere.



5 comments:

  1. This is super interesting to me. I didn't know that #cutthecarls was a thing, but I LOVE that it is. I have never eaten at Carl's Jr. and will not because I don't support that kind of advertising. I am really glad to see people taking a stand against this because Carl's Jr ads have been this way ever since I can remember. I never saw how a woman, dressed in next to nothing, eating a burger was considered effective advertising, but it must have been. I actually read a funny article that recreated the ads featuring women, recreated in the same way but featuring men and it was almost comical. I can't remember where I found it but when I find it again I will share it with you. The whole, sex sells thing is crazy to me. But this campaign is awesome! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Okay, I found it. It's actually a video and I posted it with my blog post for you to look at. Also here is the link.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SrpARP_M0o

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  3. I didn't know anything about this #cutthecarls deal either. That is a pretty cool and goes to show how powerful the media can be to work together and try and over throw what society deems 'acceptable.' I bet Carls Jr. will do something about their advertising with so much attention drawn to them now.

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  4. Remember Fowles acknowledged using sex as an advertising appeal but that it was often ineffective. This is a perfect example of it and the backlash that occurs.

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  5. I think a perfect example of this is the Carls Jr. where the X-Men character Mystique eats a burger, but in order to do so, she has to change into a man first. In other words, she literally had to become a man in order to eat a burger.

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