I Have a Problem with Burger King
MAN, do i have a problem.
it's not that i see burger king as competition to Taco Bell. it's not that i have been to a burger king in at least five years because i hate it so much. actually, i thought it one of the more benign burger fast food joints--you know, alongside wendy's (even though it doesn't have frosties).
but it has jumped to the top of the list of companies i will boycott. right up there with block "we love family values" buster.
i don't think a commercial as ever infuriated me as much as burger king's I AM MAN commercial.
there are SO many things wrong with it that i had to rewatch it a few times to take it all in.
here are my issues:
1. women don't eat hamburgers? (okay i don't but...)
2. women are not STRONG?
3. only real men eat approximately 10 pounds of meat in a sitting.
4. what is with throwing the van over the bridge?
5. burger king is portraying men as modernistic cavemen (which is not completely untrue but...).
6. the men in this ad have no heart, no seeming intelligence, no concern for their ladyfriends or someone's van.
7. women apparently want to eat at fancy restaurants that serve approx 1 ounce of food in a very modernistic way. oh excuse me, they call this CHICK FOOD.
8. men want to roar apparently...you know, because they are MEN.
9. if you "eat this meat", you will be able to crush cinder blocks.
10. i am confused at the scene with the cheerleaders. you know, the one where dude takes underwear (from where is unclear) and throws it into a trashcan fire. what?
11. texas double whopper. OF COURSE IT HAS TEXAS IN THE NAME.
i know this ad is supposed to be a satire on the "masculine" persona but i find it insulting. there are men who really believe eating LOTS of meat makes a man a man and that there is such thing as chick food. and the bitch of it is these "men" want women to continue to eat "chick food" while they chide them for it because they want their women skinny. i know sometimes i like to tear about various things all in good fun, but that is not the intent of this post. like cheney's interview on cnn last week, i had to write about this because it is so insulting in that it represents the prevalence of sexism in our society.
it's not that i see burger king as competition to Taco Bell. it's not that i have been to a burger king in at least five years because i hate it so much. actually, i thought it one of the more benign burger fast food joints--you know, alongside wendy's (even though it doesn't have frosties).
but it has jumped to the top of the list of companies i will boycott. right up there with block "we love family values" buster.
i don't think a commercial as ever infuriated me as much as burger king's I AM MAN commercial.
there are SO many things wrong with it that i had to rewatch it a few times to take it all in.
here are my issues:
1. women don't eat hamburgers? (okay i don't but...)
2. women are not STRONG?
3. only real men eat approximately 10 pounds of meat in a sitting.
4. what is with throwing the van over the bridge?
5. burger king is portraying men as modernistic cavemen (which is not completely untrue but...).
6. the men in this ad have no heart, no seeming intelligence, no concern for their ladyfriends or someone's van.
7. women apparently want to eat at fancy restaurants that serve approx 1 ounce of food in a very modernistic way. oh excuse me, they call this CHICK FOOD.
8. men want to roar apparently...you know, because they are MEN.
9. if you "eat this meat", you will be able to crush cinder blocks.
10. i am confused at the scene with the cheerleaders. you know, the one where dude takes underwear (from where is unclear) and throws it into a trashcan fire. what?
11. texas double whopper. OF COURSE IT HAS TEXAS IN THE NAME.
i know this ad is supposed to be a satire on the "masculine" persona but i find it insulting. there are men who really believe eating LOTS of meat makes a man a man and that there is such thing as chick food. and the bitch of it is these "men" want women to continue to eat "chick food" while they chide them for it because they want their women skinny. i know sometimes i like to tear about various things all in good fun, but that is not the intent of this post. like cheney's interview on cnn last week, i had to write about this because it is so insulting in that it represents the prevalence of sexism in our society.
posted by Elizabeth at 9:42 AM
11 Comments:
ugh. are they the same people who had the horrible angus beef commercial where the annoying guy tells people to sit when they eat it or some crap like that? that's another terrible campaign. gross. it'd be one thing if "men eat meat, they are strong, they are manly" because they are catching and killing their own prey, but they're driving their fat asses up to the place, shouting their requests into a squawk box, and eating machine-killed meat in the comfort of their cars in the parking lot...
gross.
yeah, that was pretty bad. i gotta go think about it now.
exactly anne!!
wow, you have $4 for a burger. you are so SPECIAL AND MANLY. I wish i wasn't a woman. eating one chickpea three times a day is so boring.
What? You don't love the sight of the mini-van getting pitched over the side of the bridge or the men lined up for their underwear burning? Personally, I thought the ad was mildly amusing because it did play on those very stereotypes that have caused some consternation in these parts (as well as showed some guys with beer-bellies, the true BK demographic). It's not as though you have the dudes strutting around with women in bikinis and drinking beer. Will I rush out to BK as a result of this ad? Nope. Shouldn't your anger also be aimed at those lean cuisine ads that target women, subtly indicating that the ultimate feminine goal is to always be losing weight?
well i can direct anger there too. i guess i see those ads as being more apt, like it or not. at least there aren't an idiot men involved. maybe that is my problem: men acting like idiots and getting away with it. as they have all these year. it's just not fair. those fools have more power in our society, economically and influentially, than women. women are too busy eating their lean cuisanes (chick food) while their husbands pick up some bk and vans on the way to the bar to watch espn after work.
So...
You're saying women don't have spending power? Or that there shouldn't be ads which show men to be idiots, which you seem to suggest there are plenty of men who are idiots? Or that only men go to bars to watch sports? I understand and sympathize with you regarding ads that can quite simply make one angry. I just don't see it with this one.
i hate men.
how's that, mm?
I too disliked this commercial. I think it was poorly made and the people in the ad department were very confused. First, I think it would have been much better if it was an ad for some steak and potato place because at least that is the stereotypical "man food", not Burger King. Secondly, eating a big fat Burger King Texas hamburger will not make you a man, just fat. Also, it annoys me that these men act like the women "make" them eat the "chick food". I know a lot of guys who watch what the eat more than I do and they chose to eat that way. If you don't want to eat the salads, don't eat the salads, but don't blame us! Also, I'm assuming the minivan was another thing the women force upon the men. Well again, I know plenty of men who chose to drive minivans. I say, if you want to be a man, stop blaming us for your own decisions that make you feel insecrure. Stop your whining and be a man for shits sake!
michelle!! you nailed it. i didnt even think about the minivan analogy in my rage. throw the wife and kids over the bridge and all their "chick food" with it so you can go back to your bachelor days of cheap beer and lots of meat.
this commercial is so pre-women's suffrage.
this commercial, which i saw last night, made me want to shout FAG but then that's a setback for homosexual rights and then i'd have to send myself to rehab.
at any rate, it's horrible.
I have an idea...why don't you all get the sand out of your vaginas and make me a sandwich?
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