Masculinity In Fast Food Advertising Essay

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Professors Carrie Packwood and Debra Merskin, authors of the essay “Having It His Way: The Construction of Masculinity in Fast-Food Advertising”, repudiate the stereotypical macho behaviors that are used in several commercials to build a reputation for men while women are used as objects. Media use this stereotype to sell nearly every product; being fast food, beer, and cars on top of the list. Furthermore, Packwood and Merskin claim that advertisement present men, compared to women, as superior individuals with total freedom who see women as prizes. The perfect macho type is a strong resource to sell beer; the Tui beer commercial “Temptations can be dangerous, stay focused” applied this stereotype, where men are on the spotlight and women …show more content…

As Freeman and Merskin assert, “… commercials that focus on a lone, sexualized woman doing something seductive while also eating a burger, the flesh of both humans and nonhumans become objects of camera’s implied heterosexual gaze” (470). In other words, Freeman and Merskin oppose to the usage of women to make a commercial more interesting in order to bring more customers, specifically male ones. Indeed, this is the role of women in Tui’s commercial. Women are on the sidewalk making seductive gestures that bring the attention of the main character, this “temptations” are what he needs to overcome to achieve his goal, he thinks about the beer he will get and this helps him to keep away from distractions. This is the message that media is bringing to our homes: women are nothing but beautiful objects that need to have a good appearance. Moreover, women are not always present on commercials; according to Freeman and Merskin, “… occasionally women enter the story, typically as decorative objects or as the symbolic ‘other woman’” (461). When women come to scene, they represent a beauty concept; makeup, provocative clothes, a voluptuous body, and silent attitudes are the characteristics that they show to the audience as the perfect woman. Several women appear through Tui’s commercial; however, they do not play any important role, their interpretations barely last five

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