Look at that HUGE SUPER BURGER.......

Burger King advertisement, published on ALternet.org, June 24, 2009

 Denotation:

This ad was released by Burger King to Promote their new "BK SUPER SEVEN INCHER"; the advertisement portrays a blonde woman (wearing eyeliner and dark red lipstick) with her mouth open, that  is also looking straight. A burger is placed in front of the woman's mouth, with the words "IT'LL BLOW YOUR MIND AWAY" right under it. These words are written in all capital letters with the words "IT'LL BLOW" being scaled in a more prominent manner. Next to the miniature model of the burger are images of a medium sized  Coca Cola Drink and medium sized french fries, as well as a price of six dollars and twenty five cents for the entire meal. A description written in fine print is under the price, it states " Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled" as well as a basic description of what is in the burger. On the very top the Burger King icon resides  along with a slogan of " IT JUST TASTES BETTER."

Connotation: 

This advertisement seems to emphasize a message related with both lust and gluttony. The fact that the advertisement begins with the words " IT'LL BLOW" with letters that are larger than the ones following them, and since they are placed above all the letters, poses the phrase as a double entendre, or a phrase with two meanings; one being that the sandwich possesses an astounding effect on ones taste buds, and the other can be interpreted in a sexualized manner. The fact that the woman is staring straight in an unusual fashion may suggest her being astonished due to  the size of the sandwich; however, upon further examination it would seem to the audience that the woman is staring directly above the sandwich thus, suggesting that the woman possesses characteristics similar to those of inanimate objects. The woman is also wearing makeup, specifically red lipstick, this in itself might suggest that, since red is usually associated with love and sex, the woman is progressing the suggested lustful message, that was already made clear by the double entendre. The fact that the image of the sandwich appears twice in the advertisement in itself might seem to the audience as a gluttony promoting message. The words " SUPER SEVEN INCHER" indicate the size and length of the sandwich; both of these, when compared to a generic three hundred to four hundred calorie burger, might seem overly exaggerated to the observer, and might possess an excess amount of nutrients thus again portraying the aspect of  gluttony. The advertisement portrays small images of french fries and a Coca Cola drink with an even smaller print that states their sizes. This inclusion could quite possibly be seen as a promotion for the consumption of an even greater content of food beyond that of the BK Super Seven Incher, thus this intern promotes the concept of gluttony. In the fine print the advertisement states that it wants you to  "Fill your desire"  which can be seen as a double entendre by the audience since it can mean that one can satisfy one's appetite and hunger with something tasty or it could refer to a more sexualy oriented meaning; these two possible meanings could represent gluttony and lust respectively. the finer print goes on to describe the contents of the sandwich while using a lot of imagery; words such as "mind-blowing", "crispy" and "thick an hearty", these words ultimately seem to suggest a gluttony affiliated message.

Audience:

Since this advertisement was published in two-thousand and nine, and since it possesses obvious suggestive themes, it could likely be that the intended audience were middle aged men who are quite possibly on their lunch break, yet due to the manner in which society portrays sexuality, this image might have been more appealing to younger males, and to some extant younger females. The reason that this advertisement might be directed at males could quite possibly be related to the sexualy suggestive nature of this message, in which the message is portrayed in a manner where the male is the one seemingly staying true to the " Fill your desire", while the female is, quite possibly, being portrayed in an objectifying manner, as well as wearing a certain combination of makeup that suggests complying with male sexual desires. The audience might be in the lower to middle class and is probably neither well endowed with money nor very poor , this is probably so due to the manner in which this add might be transmitted to people; those who generally live in lower earning residencies tend to see more billboard advertisements that portray various fast foods, and since the price of six dollars and twenty five cents is to some extent very affordable and offers a lot of food for what what you are paying for, generally economically restrained and middle class people tend to purchase food from the Burger King franchise. The audience might, to some extent, be familiar with ambiguous phrases such as " IT'LL BLOW" and be mature enough to have knowledge of the sexual implications that it may carry; they also may possess knowledge of certain food ingredients such as " "American Cheese" and "A.1. Thick and Hearty steak sauce". Since the targeted audience is likely in the lower or middle class , they might be knowledgeable of the advertising tactics used to lure in the consumer, due to possible frequent exposure to a multitude of desire appealing advertisements, in which desire can refer to gluttony or lust.          

Citation:

              McEwan, Melissa. "Burger King: Burgers, Blow Jobs -- What's the Difference?" Alternet. ALterNet, 24 June 2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. <http://www.alternet.org/story/140893/burger_king%253A_burgers%2C_blow_jobs_--

_what%27s_the_difference>.