Project 3

Was Carl's Jr. actually presenting the product or the woman in the commercial?

Introduction

Back in 2010, Kim Kardashian West promoted the new Cranberry Apple Walnut chicken salad for Carl's Jr. in a very seductive commercial. The advertisement begins with her walking into a bedroom while wearing a transparent lingerie robe leaving little to the imagination. She then continues and places a towel over the bed saying she is a "neat freak" and this is where she will be lying down to "eat" the salad. Leading towards the end of the commercial, she is seen in a tub with her back facing the camera with suds all around her as if she will be taking a bath. If Kilbourne was to react to this video, oh the things she would say.

Camera angles

Throughout the commercial, most of the camera angles were fixated on Kim and her body instead of the actual salad. In figure 1, the camera is fixated on her breasts to emphasize a feature of her body without putting a face to it. More than once throughout the video, her curves are presented most. It is no secret and accident that common advertisements do this specifically to women more than men. Seeming as though without the face it's just an object to look at. Kilborurne states, "Sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially women, and because it products, imbues them with erotic charge" (Kilbourne pg. 489, para. 3). Within this shot, the thought of the salad goes out the window and makes the viewer think of nothing other than what is in their eye of sight. She is being objectified because only her physical features are being noticed and drawn to attention rather than her internal personality and feelings.

Figure 1: Showing off Kim's assets.

Figure 2: Kim making a grand entrance walking into the bedroom.

Setting

This advertisement has two primary places throughout the entire video in where it is filmed: the bedroom and the bathroom tub. Mostly more in the bedroom. Both places in which some pornographic videos happen to take place. But why in a bedroom or bathroom would a salad commercial be filmed here? The main audience this commercial appeals to is men. With this being said, they secretly disguise that they are more or less hiding the message of if you eat this you'll always think of this commercial so they will buy it more frequently. Not to mention, the background music also adds to the setting and mood of the video too for effect in the scenes it takes place. It lures the listener and viewer in as it sets for a racy tone throughout the majority of the video.

Lack of Clothing

Kim in the advertisement when she is in the bathroom tub, is seen with no piece of upper clothing on with her back to the camera. As Kilbourne has stated, "The poses and postures of advertising are often borrowed from pornography..." (Kilbourne pg. 489, para. 3). In figure 3, who is she trying to look at so seductively? The people behind the camera? Or the men watching the commercial and drooling over her? Whoever it may be, she is enticing the attention of the viewer at hand to get them to want to get the product shown. The only way they felt they could do this is by not having her in any clothes to capture that attention from others. This objectifies Kim and other women because more often than not, women are mostly seen in commercials with little to no clothes on to complete that task, attract the audience and seduce the viewer into what is being shown.

Figure 3: Looking seductively into the camera while eating an apple slice.

Conclusion

In the end, there were many areas where sexual representations and suggestions were shown. The main concept I feel of the commercial was to try and show a healthy option as opposed to a burger like what is normally presented in these types of commercials . Due to that, Carl's Jr decided to use a very well-known woman in today's society to try and accomplish that goal to attract the majority of the male population. You can tell this is directed to mostly men because she portrays her as seeking male dominance in her positions and actions throughout the video. And it must have been a success because the salad was put back on the menu in 2013 and made the commercial with Jenny McCarthy, another well-known woman in today's society.

There is also a secret message hidden behind the advertisement basically showing what men like in a woman and what attracts them most: skinny, attractive, and plenty of curves. This is therefore downplaying every other woman who doesn't meet those body type standards. The action of objectifying women has become more and more common over the years and it sadly doesn't seem to be slowing down. This commercial, was definitely not the last of them.

References

Kilbourne, Jean "Three Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt" Reading America. Eds. Colombo, Cullen, Lisle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's P.2013.
Kim Kardashian Carl's Jr. Commercial 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzmFrcuwuuo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2020.

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