haven’t you heard? oral sex (between men and women) IS ok in singapore…parliament changed the law a while back already.

The movie “Thank you for smoking” is a good depiction of the ills of this trade when taken to the extreme.

McDonald’s is still targeting their junk food at kids, ensuring the kids acquires the taste of these junk food at an early age. And now riding the health bandwagon,they are now smoking us further by their “open kitchen” policy, to give an impression that the food is actually healthy.

Agree. You are correct that every ad uses this process.
My point?
Just jesting and poking fun at the industry and we comsumers.
Apologies if it was bad taste to you.

The fact that you are aware makes you a consumer that is not easily swayed by the clever ads and their sometimes insedious ways to push their sales.

Our ever materialistic lifestyle has elevated consumerism and advertising into almost an artform, and ads are using indirect messages to sell their wares, sometimes ingenious and refreshing, sometimes just blantanly crude, as in this BK fiasco.

Another crude ad, which was taken off as fast as in came on the double deckers buses was that with the huge letters FCUK.

And BTW, the PETA’s photographs of near-naked celebrities is also in the same line of using sex to sell a message.

And other times, the link is so remote, it looks desperate. Like the Samsung handphones ads.

The ad with everyone walking around on big inflated balls, for the umpteenth time I watched, I still cannot see the association.

ingenious and refreshing- The H1N1 campaign with the poster of the hideous creatures making up the shape of a human hand is creative and gets the message across quite well.

It is debatable if this ad agency is indeed pushing the boundaries, but like all ads that use sex to sell, the agencies knows that with each push, each gentle repetitive stroke of the airing of the ad, it’s suggestive motives penetrates the subliminal mind of the consumer, arousing the strong irresistible desire to buy the item advertised (whether needed or not), and the ad campaign finally achieved its objective, when the consumer reached climax in his buying decision (wise or flawed) and ejaculate his cash from his wallet into the cash register.

Ka-ching !!!

1. This advertisement is seen as offensive NOT BECAUSE OF THE SEX. Sex is used all the time to sell products, and while it is often controversial, it is not always deemed as offensive at this BK ad. Take Carls’ Jr, BK’s close competitor and probably its “inspiration”. It uses sex to sell its burgers, with slogans such as “some like it long but most like it thick”. To the average informed adult this is a clear analogue to a man’s penis. That means the patty is a metaphor for the penis. It is naughty, rude, even lewd and some might say tasteless, but it does not offend particular groups the way this BK ad does. Why is that? Let us look beneath the surface, as not all sexual themes are the same.

2. The BK ad is a crude reference to oral sex, as we all know. As in the Carls’ ad the burger is equated with the phallus. Yes, the Carls’ ad also reflects a phallocentric culture, but while it is more open to interpretation, the BK ad takes it one step further by implicating a woman. A comically, stereotypically pornographic woman with blunt blonde wig and lurid red mouth is depicted simulating fellatio on the phallic burger. This puts her in a position of SUBSERVIENCE to the phallus. Let us examine why it makes this impression:

3. “Wait a minute! A woman giving oral sex to a man is not subservience, it is an act of LOVE! And men give oral sex to women too, so they are even! There is equality for both sexes so women should stop complaining!”

This would be many people’s automatic response to the previous point, but it isn’t very clever. Advertising works by playing on known symbols, meanings and associations. The margin for error and room for interpretation is part of the art of advertising, but there is no denying that when and advertiser uses a particular image, it is DELIBERATE and MEANINGFUL. Certainly, giving oral sex can be a genuine expression of love between two (or more) people. However, the way this ad portrays oral sex explicitly refers to an established legacy of pornography. The woman in the advertisement is dressed in a way that recalls the stereotypical porn star: blonde wig and willing wet mouth. Such films have been argued to be degrading to women because:
i. the man’s pleasure matters more than the woman’s. it is obvious that many porn films are directed for men and by men because the average woman would not derive personal enjoyment from giving a man oral sex. it’s a favour, not Deepthroat.
ii. the woman is often a caricature of femininity, something that panders to men’s fantasies. the woman is often vapid and stupid and without a personality. they tend to look a certain way, and the woman in the BK ad coincidentally looks that way. Or COULD be interpreted to.
iii. when a woman gives a man oral sex in a pornographic film, it is not usually portrayed as an act of love, so much as the man’s conquest in getting a woman to satisfy him.

4. “You know all this because you watched PORN! This proves that you have a dirty sick mind and that is why you think the ad is negative. If you were more ‘clean’ you wouldn’t take so much offence!”

Thus go the protests of people like ABC:

22) ABC on July 3rd, 2009 12.22 pm

It mean dirty if ur mind is corrupted, for niave or non-creative ppl it mean another normal advertisement. [sic]

Well ABC, as I mentioned, advertisements work precisely by playing on associations an symbols, with leeway for interpretation. A child, indeed, would not understand it. However, ABC’s self-righteous disapproval of people who find this ad offensive is not warranted. The pornographic references are NOT obscure, and many adults would understand it immediately. Advertising is an industry where every little detail is deliberately placed, do you think that the advertisers would have missed this? This is a MASS MARKET advertisement, and they would not have chosen this pornographic-reference if it were esoteric. The fact is, it is not. You don’t have to watch porn to understand its culture, because it is referenced a lot in mainstream culture. Furthermore, ABC’s moral indignation is also unfounded because being clean cut does not mean being ignorant. You don’t have to use the F word to understand what it is when you hear it, and condemn its use. To illustrate, ABC’s point is like saying, “people who complain about the frequent use of bad words on TV are dirty minded because if they were really innocent and naive those words would just be meaningless sounds.”

That is actually true, but unfortunately, most people DO know what those words are. Therefore it is the onus of the users of those words to be careful about what they are communicating and what people understand by it.

////5. Neither can it be likened to sex-centric articles in magazines!…. Again, it’s all about context. Sex-discourse is one thing; gratuitously using sex to sell a food product is another.////

i know my point was “a little” way off the mark.

-.-”

////4. This ad cannot possibly be compared to PETA’s photographs of near-naked celebrities. Nudity does not equate to sexual explicitness – you need to consider their posturing. It’s one thing to place a scantily-clad woman on a beer ad, versus a scantily-clad woman with a phallic object angled towards her crotch.

Whatever. Point is, it’s a tasteless, witless cop-out that disrespects women *unnecessarily* (the operative term), and won’t be winning awards anytime soon.////

i agree with your points totally!! ;)

1. Should this agency be lauded for pushing the boundaries? I doubt it. Sexual innuendo has been used in Singapore before, just not in this crude manner.

2. Any publicity is good publicity – what a fallacy.

3. This ad is only dirty to dirty minds? Well, I don’t have a particularly dirty mind but I know sexual suggestion when I see it. How about – this ad is only non-sexual to ignorant, naive minds. All the same, it’s certainly not “filthy porn” – it’s an ambiguous image nonetheless presented with a particular intention.

4. This ad cannot possibly be compared to PETA’s photographs of near-naked celebrities. Nudity does not equate to sexual explicitness – you need to consider their posturing. It’s one thing to place a scantily-clad woman on a beer ad, versus a scantily-clad woman with a phallic object angled towards her crotch.

5. Neither can it be likened to sex-centric articles in magazines! Sex is an important part of human lifestyles and it’s natural to want to read about it, especially in magazines targeted specifically at one gender. I’m not against this ad because I think oral sex is morally reprehensible in any way. Again, it’s all about context. Sex-discourse is one thing; gratuitously using sex to sell a food product is another.

6. What’s with the racism? I hate this ad too (it’s quite clearly a terrible ad), I’m willing to engage in debate about it, and I’m not American.

hey, guess what? we’re on the same page on this issue! :)

////not only men’s mag
Female and Her World mag
every issue the word “sex” is on the cover////

hmmm, looks like women these days are equal with men on that… :P

////In the real world , there is only one place, (other than washrooms), where men and women are segregated. Prisons.////

hahaa, you have a good sense of humour. ;)

////. the problem is some “concerned” parents can really go overboard to & say this-&-that is also not suitable for the young. for example, womens’ lingerie cannot be displayed openly, headache anot? /////

Yes, it’s hard to strike a happy balance.
For the same reason some parents send their kids to boys only or girls only schools. A outmoded concept, in my personal opinion.
In the real world , there is only one place, (other than washrooms), where men and women are segregated. Prisons.

not only men’s mag
Female and Her World mag
every issue the word “sex” is on the cover

///hi everyone, apologise for slight “expension” of the topic. i do think advertisers who often use sex to sell their wares are really short on novel ideas. ////

they have abundance in below the navel ides though : )

to be fair the person/company’s A&P department who approved that type advert has to shoulder part of the blame, the supply-demand equation.

////mags not suitable for young are seal-wrapped at mag stands, and comes warning sticker “Unsuitable for the young”
I think this is self regulated by the mag distributors////

true, but you are refering to magazines that are clearly not intended for the young. the problem is some “concerned” parents can really go overboard to & say this-&-that is also not suitable for the young. for example, womens’ lingerie cannot be displayed openly, headache anot?

////but generally, I thnik many mags, in the bid to survive plummeting readership, are degenerating into soft porn, almost every issue the word “sex” will appear on the cover////

judging by the number of men’s magazine vs women’s magazine, can i conclude that men’s mag is relatively smaller in market share? also, i think local men’s mags tend to overuse sex to sell.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

hi everyone, apologise for slight “expension” of the topic. i do think advertisers who often use sex to sell their wares are really short on novel ideas.

that is the bone of contention of this article, isn’t it?

//// those who complain about the ad should go & complain about beer ads with scantily clad babes as well. ooh, wait, how about those men’s magazine? how come men’s magazine oftenhave babes on the front cover (women’s magazine dun have hunks on their front cover ler…//////

mags not suitable for young are seal-wrapped at mag stands, and comes warning sticker “Unsuitable for the young”
I think this is self regulated by the mag distributors

but generally, I thnik many mags, in the bid to survive plummeting readership, are degenerating into soft porn, almost every issue the word “sex” will appear on the cover

/// The ad is not effective as not too many men think
about putting something like that in their mouths.///////

Yaks!! Lost my appetite for burgers liao.
I stick to my kaya bread and kopi-O

thank you