Bacardi and Burger King Ads - Did You Really Think We'd Buy That?
#1: The Ugly Girlfriend Campaign
To promote their fruity Bacardi Breezer beverages to a female audience, readers are told to get their hands on "the hotness-boosting accessory now: An Ugly Girlfriend!" This multi-page ad spread featuring various average-looking (though larger-sized) women implies that these women are so unattractive that if you stand next to them, you'll look better in comparison.
Wow.
How do I offend thee? Let me count the ways:
- Dissing the importance of female relationshipss by suggesting that's how we choose friends
- Humiliating the women depicted with nasty ad copy about them
- Mocking heavier females (and let's face it, making fun of the fatties remains a culturally acceptable form of discrimination)
Update: Bacardi immediately responded with an email and a post in the Comments section. Here's an excerpt: "[W]e are also angered and dismayed that such a campaign was ever created and we have taken immediate action to stop it as it violated our stringent global marketing principles....Bacardi never sponsored nor developed this promotion....We are also embarrassed that we didn't catch this breach sooner. We have been urgently looking into this matter to make sure this type of activity is never repeated." The full text can be read under Comments.
#2: The Porno Sandwich Campaign
To sell their meaty burger sandwich, Burger King describes it as a "super seven-incher" and positions it in front of a woman with her mouth open in a photo that could double as a freeze frame from a highly stylized porno. On top of that, she's made up to look exactly like an inflatable sex doll.
Wow again. Makes me want to take it all in in one gulp.
Fourth Wave Feminism has that mouth-watering visual.
Our Own Campaign: Just Say No
Women possess the power and the clout to let advertisers know this isn't acceptable. Moms alone control $1.6 trillion in the marketplace. Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin got Dunkin' Donuts to pull an innocuous ad featuring Rachael Ray and a "controversial" scarf by advocating a boycott.
We can do the same.
Pass this along to every female on your email list. Urge them to spread the word. We have the ability and the numbers to stop these types of demeaning, misogynistic ads. All we have to do is exercise that power.
If you see more ads of this type, send a link to me. Thanks to Jennifer Roche for her heads-up on "The Ugly Girlfriend."
Comments
Thanks, Linda. I noticed last week that NOW has a media campaign to focus attention on misogamy that has become so pervasive that we’ve become numb to it.
Thanks so much for covering this. Both ads are appalling. I do think they get away with it because they think women aren’t watching or we don’t care. I really appreciate your pointing out how offensive it is, and I also appreciate the reminder of how much traction Rachel Ray’s scarf got. I think part of the problem is that women don’t have leaders who speaking for them regularly, but the conservative and progressive movements do. That’s another reason I’m so glad your site exists.
Interesting counter-campaign, with unfortunately no compliment ever considered or even justified on the other side of the xy equation. In the end, after all the boycotts are ended and we are all equal and free, it will still be ok to laugh at ugly fat guys, relegate them to the category of stereotyped jokes who of course no one would ever want in good jobs, let alone the laughable area of love and are relegated in the retail arena to the one rack in the back of K-mart that sells those specially-designed clown-wear Hawaiian print shirts the thin world believes they should dress in.
These are both really offensive. Also, have you seen this Burger King commercial, where they equate masculinity with eating large amounts of meat?
We wish to thank you for posting your story about the past promotional campaign for Bacardi Breezer.
As a Company and as individuals we are also angered and dismayed that such a campaign was ever created and we have taken immediate action to stop it as it violated our stringent global marketing principles that we firmly support.
By way of explanation, but by no means an excuse, Bacardi never sponsored nor developed this promotion. But we understand it is our brand and our reputation and you are our consumers. We are also embarrassed that we didn’t catch this breach sooner. We have been urgently looking into this matter to make sure this type of activity is never repeated.
What we do know is that a third-party developed and activated this brief campaign in one small market more than a year ago without our clearance. When we discovered this promotion, we instructed our distributor to shut it down as it did not comply with our global marketing standards. We are now urgently looking into the reasons why this program was recently reposted on the internet. In markets where Bacardi does not have a corporate presence, we are represented by third parties; in this case a distributor and its advertising agency, but they must adhere to our stringent marketing principles, which clearly this campaign did not.
When Bacardi found out about this recent reposting, we immediately notified the agency and distributor to shutdown the website.
Bacardi proudly celebrates diversity and we do not endorse the views of this site or the campaign, as it is offensive and completely inappropriate. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this campaign and thank you, our consumers for bringing it to our attention.
Sincerely,
Bacardi Limited
Well, well, well. Maybe sometimes it pays to, as they say back home, “pitch a fit.”
I vote for all of us to get more “uppity” more often.
And, thanks WhiteKnyght for once again adding levity. . .how about posting a photo of yourself wearing one of those Hawaiian shirts? LOL ~ you could include a glass of Barcardi just to make it ever so tropical.
Wow, it never fails that women will laugh at man-bashing commercials and call it innocent fun but as soon as a a similar commercial is released about women you all take to the streets in protest. How about a little equality ladies? Unfortunately, equality is the last thing women want. Equality would not allow your sense of entitlement.
Caroline -
That would start a boycott of a different sort, and I wouldn’t want Linda’s readership to bottom out!
and even the pose in the second ad is enough to make anything from BK that desirable.
I meant isn’t enough…