Polished paper #2:

Laura Combs

English 101

Begert

Nov. 5th, 2015

Ad Analysis

For this paper, I chose to do an analysis on the objectification of women in ads for alcohol. Alcohol has been popular for a long time and has been many people's go-to drink after a long day at work, at a party, or even along with a meal. Specifically, men are known to drink more alcohol than women. According to the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse in 2013, a reported 16.6 million Americans 18 and older have an AUD, (alcohol use disorder.) and 10.8 of those million are Men. This is just a statistic of alcohol abuse, not counting the number of deaths from alcohol of that year. With these studies in mind, some companies selling alcohol have geared their audience toward men, and in the process...have objectified women.  

In these advertisements, you’ll see that they all have a female in them. Two of them, you can’t even see their eyes, but their bodies are what is targeted for these ads. Not only are their bodies being shown off with minimal clothing, but they don’t look happy. These women have little to no expression, being another aspect to seeing these people as objects, not people.

In relation to alcohol, One of these ads shows an overjoyed man wrapped around two ladies’ legs with a drink in each hand. The setting seems to be a crazy party-scene, filled with drunk people and some bright lights. This aspect may be appealing to those that love to party and have a good time. And with partying sometimes comes alcohol. The ladies’ faces aren’t even shown, suggesting that they don’t matter. This ad is trying to showcase that with this product, you can get any girl you want. And in this case, girls plural.

With this happy expression on the man’s face, this will suppesedly get men to buy their product, not even thinking twice about the misogynistic, inappropriate aspect in the first place.

In the second ad, there are two women on either side of a vodka bottle, only focusing on their open mouths. Again, there are not one but two women in this advertisement, possibly suggesting that they come a dime a dozen to men. These women are expressionless and look like mannequins, possibly suggesting that with this bottle of vodka, you will receive the “perfect” woman you deserve. With the infamous cherry red lips and flawless complexion, this product is bringing more attention to the ironic statement at the bottom to “Go Natural.”

In the third ad, there are not one, not two, but three women posing for a budweiser advertisement. They are all laying down on a towel appearing to be living perfect and relaxed lives. Although somewhat dated, this picture still speaks a thousand words. These women are the same size, same skin color, and nearly same hair color and texture. This Budweiser ad from the 80’s was released in the summertime, appealing to the satisfaction of an ice cold beer on a hot summer day. And in this satisfaction comes every man’s dream; the perfect woman! With no question, this picture has been photoshopped, showing no flaws. These women have been sexualized to be more appealing to the buyers of this product, including the idea that if women get this product, they may look the same as the women in this picture!

All of these advertisements relate in the visual and verbal content of objectifying women for alcohol. With the fact of alcoholic beverages being loved around the world, companies have used this to their advantage to get men, specifically to buy their products.