Friday, April 25, 2014

Sexist BMW poster



Usually, sexism is found in older commercials, but, this is proof that sexism in media is far from gone. In this recent BMW commercial, the company uses this attractive woman who is laying down (presumably naked) and flirtatiously staring at the camera as the main picture for the commercial. Not once did this poster mention anything that it is advertising.  This poster has a small, white box in the lower, right-hand corner with microscopic writing that reads: "BMW Premium Selection, Used Cars." If it wasn't for the BMW logo in the corner, one would never know what this poster is an advertisement for used cars. If the un recognizable product wasn't enough, there is the small subtext that is near the woman's chin. It says "You know your not the first." This statement is implying, both, that  the woman has had more than one husband, boyfriend, or tryst in her lifetime, because, when you look at her, "you know that you are not the first". This also translate to: these cars have been used, therefore, they have been driven already. And this woman has also been used, therefore she too has been (insert dirty joke here _______). This advertisement is encouraging men to buy these used cars by pasting an attractive woman's face on their poster. This disempowers the woman by making her look like more of a sexual object than just a regular person ,which here, is portrayed by the pose she is in. It is also comparing her to a car which symbolizes her to be even more of an object. Probably the worst thing though, is the fact that they are implying that since she is so attractive, she must have had more than one lover.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Satirical AllState commercial

In this AllState commercial, they used 5 out of the 6 possible elements of satire. First, starting with Parody. When the woman is talking (sarcastically) to the man about how men are better drivers an women, she pulls out the check she received from AllState which, soon after, made her voice imitate that of the deep-voiced actor (Dennis Haysbert) who plays in the Classic AllState commercials. This obviously causes this man's eyes to widen. The parody in this commercial also leads to the reversal and incongruity. There is something clearly out of place in this video because, the once semi- high-pitched voice of the woman sitting at the table has now changed to that of a man. Again, since her voice has changed into a mock of a deep, male's, burlesque has now become a part of he commercial because burlesque is the ridiculous exaggeration of language. And once again (don't worry, this is the last time I am saying this), since the lady's voice has turned into that of a guy's, the element: caricature has been introduced as well. Caricature is when a feature or trait (in this case, the voice) has been greatly exaggerated. This commercial was clearly aimed at people who want to save money on car insurance because that is what AllState does. They needed to add some sort of comedic twist or satirical element into it or else it would just be boring.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qQR8rj2BO-8