BLOG QUESTION: Analyze an instance of food porn. Why is it food porn?
In class we discussed food porn specific to television shows. However, we get many short clips of porn on commercials all the time. I have attached three You Tube clips. All of which debuted during a Super Bowl.
Have a look at the first…Oh yeah; please don’t click on this link unless you are 18 or older…J
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfImhHfE-uIFriday night, hanging out, playing video games with the boyz. Nothing wrong with that. Right? Wrong! Let’s make these guys look really desperate… One has his hands wrapped around his joystick and the other is playing with his Rubik’s cube. They are so hopeless that they have to create imaginary women by eating Doritos. The first guy gets a moaning, porn star type. The second guy gets a twosome; and the third not to be outdone by the first two, gets an orgy going. No one (in their right mind) believes that Doritos can make women magically appear. Is this ad going to make you run out and buy Doritos? It might, if you were sitting there thinking, ‘I want a snack.’ One more thing…the dog? HMMM can you say bestiality? This clip is a example of, “…the glorification of food as a substitute for sex” (Bourdaine, 2001)
Let’s have a look at the next ad…
“…the best food porn depicts beautiful objects arranged in ways one might never have previously considered” (Bourdaine, 2001). We have foreplay – getting the bed ready for her salad. We have, ‘the act’ Kim interacting with her lover, the salad. She begins to eat her salad, she grabs at the blanket as if she is in the throes of passion. She comments, “…and while the best things in life are messy…” at that exact moment a drop of semen colored dressing drips from her mouth, past her breasts and then off screen. Yes, we even have the image of bodily fluids. Kim K. then gives us a sly slide glance. Seemingly looking right into our eyes. After getting dirty with her salad, Kim K. takes a bath with her salad. Well you gotta cuddle, right?
If you are a salad lover, the salad alone in the commercial might be enough to make you go out and buy one. It looks great. But, of course, the focus is really not on the actual salad. It is about Kim eating the salad.
Yup, each one is getting a little dirtier… are you ready for the last ad?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gby0zfCYiAThis commercial ran for about 60 seconds. We see Paris Hilton in a swimsuit. She is writhing atop an expensive car, getting herself all wet and soapy. The first 38 seconds of the clip could be an automobile ad or a bathing suit add, even an ad for soap. At 38 seconds we finally see a burger. Maybe all of that rolling around on the car got her hungry. But there is nothing to indicate that it is a Carl’s Jr. Burger. The burger was on screen for 4 seconds!!! Paris kept her fingers in her mouth longer than the burger. The commercial culminates with Paris taking an orgasmic roll around the car. Oh yeah, the burger came back for 2 seconds. Right before Paris aimed her hose at us and fired away with a simulated money shot. What was she selling again? Six out of 60 seconds in the clip focused on the burger; 10% of this ad was about the food.
On the food network show, Nigella Feasts, the sexual innuendo is coy and covered in double-entendre (Patterson, 2006). The sexual implication in Kim K.’s and Paris Hilton’s clips are obvious and in your face.
In my opinion, if the sexual nature of these commercials makes you want to go out a buy a burger, chips or a salad you are not really hungry; at least not for food. You may want to step away from the TV and start interacting with a real person rather than a 2 dimensional fantasy. I think it is safe to assume that the orgy aint gonna happen if you buy some Doritos and Paris and Kim are not waiting for your at Carl’s Jr. So get a life.
Sites Referenced
Patterson, T. (2006, Oct). "Oral Pleasures, The Food Network Gets Dirty with Nigella Feasts and Paula's Party"
You Tube, "Doritos Super Bowl Commercial - Boys Night In - 2011 Ad ". (2011)
You Tube, "Kim Kardashian Carl's Jr. Commercial - Social Media Endorsement". (nd.)
You Tube, "Paris Hilton Carls Jr Burger Ad Extended Directors Cut Banned Commercials" (nd). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gby0zfCYiA
How do you feel about commercials like that being shown on television to people of all ages? Do you think that there should be some type of restriction on ads that aren't suitable for children?
ReplyDeleteDo you think ads like you mentioned will be getting even more popular or do you think that companies will soon turn their marketing strategies to something other than sex?
ReplyDelete@Kearsten22 - I think that there are some restrictions to what type of commercials can be shown during childrens programming. I also dont think that the companies would not show the commercials to groups of people who are not in their target group. That being said, These three commercials were shown during Super Bowls. The target groups were watching with thier children. I am sure that the companies' answer to the problem would be, turn the channel if you ahve kids in the room.
ReplyDelete@Brianna - I think that the companies will use whatever means necessary to get thier products sold. Sex sells so i dont think that it will ever go away. Women dont wear super short skirts or high heals or belly shirts or low cut tops or sexy dresses because they are comfortable. We dont show off what we think is our best asset because we dont have anything else to wear. We wear this type of clothing because it is sexy and it attracts attention. We are selling sex. if it works for us why not for the companies trying to sell a product. My point in this blog is that the product was not the focus. THese ads promoted sex, nothing else.
ReplyDeleteI feel that you are right about this food porn. Because in real life we don't eat food like this or suggest that this is how we should eat our foods. This make me never wanting to eat here because of what they are promoting. Do you think by making this commercial, this food branch became very popular or do you think this also hurt them at the same time.
ReplyDeleteDo you feel that since the last two clips used popular stars, that it made the food more popular than if they used regular women?
ReplyDelete@Kelsey and Kimmy - I dont think that the commercials harmed the company. I have never been to Carl's jr. but the salad looked good. So the commercials wouldnt deter me from eating there. I do think that they are in bad taste and treat their audience like adolescence. However the commercials made people talk. As we learned in class, mass media is also word of mouth. Even if the commercials were in bad taste, someone was talking about them therefore advertising for them. The commercials would have had an impact with regular women, but not as much. Kim K and Paris H each had personal porn out there, (personal sex tapes that just happened to get released to the public when they needed publicity). Since they are portrayed as being famous for just being famous, this worked for the company. If you think about it, both of these women are famous because they come from wealthy families and have made stupid choices which embarrassed their families. What do they have to lose by creating soft porn for a fast food place.
ReplyDelete