Your Body is Your Most Important Asset

Advertisements attempt (somewhat successfully) to sell us what we don't need.  After we finish observing or watching the ad, their goal is for their audience to want whatever they're trying to sell.  By motivation, or conjuring irrational emotions and feelings, the media and advertisers will do anything to make you buy their item.

Take this advertisement for Hunky Dorys for example

The demographic for this advertisement is obviously geared towards heterosexual men.  The suggestive comment, along with having the woman's breasts as the main selling point for the chips.  This is encouraging women to be viewed as objects, and leads women to think that if they don't have breasts, men won't look at them.  The women in these advertisements are wearing nothing more than cropped tops and bikini bottoms, showing off their midriff.  In the class video, "Culture of Cool," it was explained that the midriff is representative of sexual empowerment, but it is also giving off the message that "your body is your most important asset."  It is only giving the message that women only exist to satisfy and support the "role" of the man.  

What did the CEO say about these ads? 

"We have to attract attention one way or another."

Objectifying the women and having a suggestive sexual undertone while selling the chips pretty much relegates the role of the women as objects.  This relates to Berger's Ways of Seeing, "Men act, Women appear."  While these women appear as they're "acting," their role is just to look pretty and sexy for the advertisement.  It's quote demeaning towards the female athletes of Rugby, which is like football without the padding.  This is advertisement is building upon what men learn about being "male."     

In Bell Hook's Feminist Manhood she states, "...That they become disloyal to patriarchal masculinity in order to find a place for the masculine that doesn't make it synonymous with domination or the will to do violence."  What does it mean when women are playing a traditionally male sport?  Does playing Rugby enhance their masculinity or domination?  Not really.  Because the images were taken and placed in this context, they've lost all meaning as human beings and they are more akin to objects.  Alternatively, the advertisers could of shown women playing Rugby in actual uniforms, with real mud and grass stains on their clothes and bodies.  But that wouldn't garnish attention from their audience, there's no sex appeal in that.

Now look at this advertisement for Popchips.  Do you see any similarities?

To achieve their objective they use a popular figure in pop culture, Katy Perry to sell their chips.  While their demographic for this advertisement is young women, men would also pay attention since the advertisers are trying to making Katy Perry look sexually attractive while "lifting" chips.  Again just like the advertisement of the women playing Rugby, Perry is showing off her midriff; enhancing the idea of "your body is your most important asset."  

In Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky and Edward B.  The idea of irrational emotions and feelings from an advertisement causes the viewer to spend money and buy the item.  In this advertisement, the advertiser uses guilt to influence the viewer.  Making people feel bad about themselves is one of the easiest ways to make someone buy things, and advertisers know that.  

The effects that this image may have on those who view it are those of negativity of themselves.  Most women are probably thinking, why don't I look like that?  Maybe I should hit the gym and eat some popchips.  They didn't need to put Katy Perry in a sports bra and spandex to sell popchips, she could of been holding them in her pajamas and people would of bought the chips just because she was in the advertisement.