(Ir)religiosity

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Whopper Virgins?

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I don’t know what to make of Burger King’s latest ad campaign.  It’s abductive, that’s for sure.  But I can’t help but find it at least a bit arrogant and maybe even culturally imperialistic.  Here’s one of the original commercial that aired a few weeks ago.

It sure got my attention when I first saw it.  Another ad with basically the same format wonders if other “Whopper Virgins,” this time Transylvanian farmers, will chose, as have Americans, the Whopper over the Big Mac.  Even more interesting  is the mini-documentary that Burger King has released on its new “Whopper Virgins” website.

They tried pretty hard to make it seems pure and innocent there toward the end, but I’m not convinced.  The way the whole thing has been marketed, starting with the name — Whopper Virgins, conjuring up sexual imagery that unnecessarily marginalizes those it is applied to  — seems to suggest that these people are just another means to the larger end of promoting Burger King around the globe and raking in more cash that will ultimately be bequeathed to the new transnational empire of consumer capitalism.  And I don’t for a second think that benefits the Transylvanian farmer or the Thai peasant.  It just uses and abuses them — making them the punchline for yet another cutthroat marketing scheme.  Sure, it’s ingenious, but it’s also, in my opinion, immoral.

Maybe I’m way off base here, but I just think that the resources used to fund, manage, and implement this project could be put to much better use in way that doesn’t orientalize or exoticize persons in other cultures.  We don’t need more people in service to American hegemony, transnational corporations, or global consumer capitalism; we need more people to actually take the time to learn about other cultures and communities and intentionally look for creative ways to help local economies.

What do you think?  Does this cross the line, or is just another harmless ad campaign?

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Written by Blake Huggins

December 15th, 2008 at 7:00 am

Posted in Uncategorized

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  • If we're trowing out good Veggie books: The Ethics of What We Eat by Peter Singer (really anything by him...) and The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan

    And BTW- If you're still a veggie my utmost congratulations to you sir, I failed after a month.
  • i've read some of singer's stuff and i've been meaning to pick up the omnivore's dilemma for a while now. it's on the list.

    i've managed to stay veggie. it's been almost 9 months. really, it wasn't as tough as i thought. and i was a pretty big meat eater. i've had some weak moments (i actually had a bit of salmon today) but hasn't been too bad so far. i made through thanksgiving, that was a big step. next will be going to the fam's for christmas. we'll see how that goes...
  • Becky and I saw that commercial a few weeks back, we both looked at each other and asked if that really just happened. It is indeed colonialism resurfaced, and a great example of American arrogance and ability to ignore the ramifications of an act. One can only imagine how sick the "testees" felt when removed from what likely a healthier diet and given the culminating symbol the American Obesity... the Hamburger. Or maybe that's the coke... oh well.
  • yeah, i'd like to see a mini-documentary of the side-effects after the burger king "saviors" left!
  • I just thought it was pandering and stupid. To sexualize your own name doesn't make sense in the long term from a marketing perspective. I thought the King guy was creepy but this is just stupid. The Whopper is okay by itself but with the word virgin after it, it immediately becomes a symbol of a penis. So we get large penis and virgin.

    Sex usually sells but not when it makes me want to throw up.
  • yeah, i'm with you there jonathan. the sexual imagery is, to me ( a while male mind you!) offensive. not just in the connection to cultural imperialism, but also in the act of eating itself and the selling of a "product." the King (perhaps an apt name in this case) not only legitimizes american hegemony but perpetuates sexual exploitation.

    i don't eat meat anymore. when i did i was actually a fan of burger king. were i still doing that i'd probably reevaluate my decisions.
  • Caitlin Redding
    I would greatly suggest that you read The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams. She is a vegan feminist philosopher with the some incredibly insightful things to say. I'm currently working on a paper about her work and how it works with Marx's ideas of the exploitation of women in bourgeois families. She was one of the very first people to ever write about how women are treated like meat, how meat is commonly advertised as a feminine, sexy object for male's consumption, and all the implications that come with that. Incredible stuff.
  • brooke
    Hi, Caitlin-- your paper sounds amazing. Any way I could read it once you've finished? Thanks!
  • thanks caitlin. i added it to my list. it looks like she has a new out as well, "the pornography of meat." i'll have to check that out too.
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