Super Bowl Advertising

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Sex has been used to sell cars, fragrances, and even hamburgers, but cashews? Not quite the common association to make, to which the 2008 Planters Super Bowl ad exactly did. A fashionably “outrageous,” redheaded woman is shown with a unibrow, mole, gaudy makeup, casually making her way through town. “Can't Take My Eyes off You” plays as men are placing themselves in accidental danger for they cannot take their eyes off her. She is completely irresistible to men despite her ungroomed appearance. When she makes her way back to her place, her big secret is revealed: she dabs a Planters cashew on her wrist, neck, and cleavage which are all seductive areas. This ad is the flip side of your classic fragrance commercial let alone what is not to be …show more content…

The first thing shown are a woman’s legs in pink plasticy boots stepping foot in an elevator. After that we see the woman’s face standing next to a man, but the first thing noticed is a unibrow and mole. The man looks at her flirtatiously and she smiles back. As she does so, her rotten teeth are exposed guiding our eyes to her red lipstick and light blue eyeshadow as she blinks her eyes( 0:03 ). She is shown marching confidently through the city, like she knows she is beautiful and smart. At ( 0:38 ) She is back at her place applying her makeup and the camera gives us close ups of her unique appearances (teeth, eyebrow, and eyes). The advertising industry is filled with subliminal messages, often seeding a common taste for superficial possessions. There is a standard of beauty projected through ads. Women with flawless skin, shiny hair, groomed eyebrows, and a flat tummy are physical qualities our culture accepts to be beautiful. These are the women ads want to sell their product. Conversely, Planters humorously defies this tradition. They are covertly saying “look at this hideous woman. You see her right?” and so we cannot help but to laugh, because of her very cartoonish appearance. But, the next thing Planters shows us is the massive attention and effect she has on men by just herself existing alone. This leads us to wonder why men are falling head over heels for

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