Burger King Analysis

Technique advert uses

In the advert we see a man in a posh, high class restaurant eating what he calls ‘chick’ food. He doesn’t seem comfortable in the restaurant and is unimpressed with minimal food. He belongs to a lower social class. He decides to leave the restaurant and goes to the fast food company Burger King where he can have big meaty and messy meals. He thinks that these meals are what ‘real’ ‘powerful’ mean eat.

The advert has used humour the men in the advert are doing silly things, The stereotype of men being powerful is exaggerated. The demographic group it seem to appeal to is C2 (e.g. plumbers). It appeals to them because it makes them look strong. The psychographic group is the ‘resigned’ group. They believe in being traditional. They think men should be powerful and eat manly meaty foods.

Social Class

When the man is in the restaurant he doesn’t seem to belong there. His clothing is more casual and informal. Everyone else in the restaurant is dressed smartly and he looks underdressed. He has his sleeved rolled up which suggests to the audience that he is ready to eat a big messy meal. When his food arrives, the food is minimal and is considered a delicacy. Despite how expensive the food is he is unsatisfied. His expression shows he is bored with the ‘chick’ food. The fact the man is out of place shows he is from a different class.  He wants to have basic easy food from somewhere like Burger King. This shows he is working class. Later on in the ad we see other men, like him they want the big meaty meals. Most of them are builders and plumbers. All the men look like they’re joining together to find the perfect burger. They are protesting against the ‘chick’ food.

Representation of Women

The women in the advert are shown as being supportive of the men. The females wear cheerleading outfits and pink tracksuits. They stereotype women as being eye candy for men, that females are girly and weak, making men again look bigger and more powerful. The women in the advert represent the men's reward for their hard work and temptation. Woman are in the background and not important. This could make women angry because they are being side-lined and being shown as not important and not powerful. However, this advert can also appeal to women because it makes them think that if they have a burger from burger king they can be strong like men.

Representation of Men

Men are shown as dominant in the advert. The song used in the ad is originally a female song but the advert changes it to make it about men. The men in the advert seem to be protesting about the fact they want real food, they don’t want ‘chick’ food. They want traditional big  meals.

In the advert the men are featured in a crowd. The purpose of this is to show that if you go to burger king you will find other men who are powerful and want real food.

The soundtrack in the advert is called ‘manthem’. The two words that make up this word is man and anthem. Anthems are traditionally known to be songs that represent the country. This tells us that if men eat the burger they will be a type of king. The song representing them.

The song is sexist because it makes men look more powerful to women. The mood the song has is enthusiastic and positive which attracts people to it. This shows the target audience is men.

The use of the Soundtrack

The song used in the ad is called manthem. The original song is about women and is called ‘I am Woman’ by Helen Reddy. The original song is about women having power. But the song in the Burger King advert is changed to be about men, and men having power. The first line of the ‘Manthem’ says: ‘I am man, hear me roar’ compared to the original which says; ‘I am woman, hear me roar’. The purpose of the original was to show that women are as powerful as men. Yet the changing of the lyrics for the advert suggests that maybe they are trying to take the mick out of the original song. That its silly to think that women can be powerful. The changing of the lyrics would appeal to men because they may agree and think that men are the only ones to have power and they don’t want that taken away.

Exploring Interests, Lifestyle, Costume

The men in the advert are wearing casual informal clothes. This tells us they are from a lower social class and have a skilled manual occupation e.g. electrician or builder. This shows that they don’t care about how they look and maybe have a lazy lifestyle. The men in the advert are copying the stereotype of how a man is meant to behave, this tells me that the target audience are the psychographic group ‘aspirer’ because they are driven by others peoples perception of them rather than their own values. Their core in life is status. It is important to see men in these casual clothes and working class clothes to show there social class but it is also done so that when people see the advert they can see normal working men because if the men wore smart suites it may make the audience feel they aren’t able to get the product because they aren’t in a high social class.

Young and Rubicam psychographic profiles targeted.

In the advert men want traditional male food. The want the manly burger. This may show that the men are in the ‘aspirer’ psychographic group. They prefer to be a traditional man, the way other people see them as. They live off their stereotype. The advert is promoting the idea that if you eat the burger you will be strong. The target audience want status in life. Even men from different backgrounds want the same thing. They all want power.  I think that advert is against stereotypes because the advert is mocking the stereotype of men and who they are. This may tell us that the psychographic profile of the audience doesn’t matter and that you don’t have to want status and power to have a burger.

Conclusion

In conclusion the advert is designed for both men and women, men because they traditionally want big meaty meals that fill them up. Women because they would want to prove that they can be powerful and can have big messy meals. Its not only men that have the power. The advert is designed to attract people from the working class background that wear informal and casual clothes.

By Katie King