Excerpt via Term Newspaper:
Pop Culture Artifact: Bacardi’s Unsightly Friend Ad Campaign
Alcohol advertisements are noted for their misogyny, from basic objectification to actively implying violence toward women. Yet , these ads are generally geared towards male audiences, designed to participate the male look. The Bacardi Breezers “Ugly Friend” ad-campaign targeted women, specifically could insecurities about their physical appearance, applying stereotypes of behavior to trade product. Released on the web last year, the ad-campaign featured an interactive web page that allowed women to decide on their “ugly friend” intended for various circumstances, read stats about the friend, and in many cases comment on Website traffic created for these people. It was located through searching for alcohol advertisements, because of the highly sexist and frequently questionable nature of alcohol advertisements. Given the prevalence of alcohol use in American traditions, the way in which it truly is sold is extremely telling as to the ways in which advertising target their very own markets. This kind of ad campaign is definitely a clear sort of the ways in which sexism and gender position are strong in everyday life.
Encouraging women to receive an “ugly friend” functions on the idea that women will be inherently insecure about their looks. It highlights the fact that ladies continually require and want to improve n themselves, to look better, thinner, and even more stylish. The “friends” every single play on a certain insecurity, several major, a lot of incredibly slight from Lucy, who is over weight, to Daisy, who has poor eyebrows. Not any flaw is actually small to become commented on, implying the smallest flaw vastly devalues a women’s worth. Females are advised they should be unconfident. In addition , there is the unspoken implication that if a woman can be not bodily perfect, she’ll become the unattractive friend. Girls that have physical flaws happen to be being a lot more than critiqued, they are really being embarrassed.
The advertisement also performs into stereotypes, specifically the concept women will be continually in competition with one another. The implication in these ads is that women will use one other for their own gain, and may betray various other women for own benefit. This is a clearly misogynistic, and remarkably gendered assumption. An ad target at men may not encourage guys to get a much less virile good friend, because guys, in promoting at least, are all friends. A similar advertisement targeted at males might play on the “wing man” idea, of men seducing females with the help of their very own friends. On the other hand, female relationships are devalued, turned into ones of expedience without depth or genuine affection.
Additionally , these ads show ladies as simply useful in relation to their appears. Oddly, it is the lack of beauty in the “friends” that most strongly emphasizes that worth equals appearance. Females deemed ugly are being used for his or her looks, though their appears are lacking. In their descriptions in the ads, they may be described only in terms of appears, with no mention of personality. They are reduced to physical contact form, broken down to their appearance only. The “ugly” girl is valuable
