Advertisement Objectification

Russel Hanson

English 104, Blog Assignment #2

1-26-2011

Advertisement Objectification

            I have chosen an advertisement in a magazine for Maker’s Mark bourbon to demonstrate objectification. The ad has a solid black background with a statement from a consumer with very bold masculine letters that emphasize certain words. “YOUR BOURBON HAS A GREAT BODY AND FINE CHARACTER. I WISH THE SAME COULD BE SAID FOR MY GIRLFRIEND.” the consumer writes. Next to the statement is a bottle of Maker’s Mark bourbon. As if the bottle were setting on top of a very reflective table or a puddle of water, there is a reflection of the bottle at the bottom of the page. However, the reflection shows the bottle shaped like the curves of a sexy woman’s hips and waist, and the indents of a v-zone and belly button. There are a couple ways this ad objectifies women. First off, the text talks about the drink as if it were a woman. The consumer also implies that this drink has a better body than his girlfriend. This reflection of the bottle is shaped like it is to tell men that this drink is better than women, and could be an alternative to them.

            Because of the usage of the word girlfriend, this advertisement is targeting straight men from the age of 21 to about 45. Most men older than 45 are either married, or have given up on dating, and the legal drinking age is 21. The reason for this age span is because men from age 21 to 45 are the most likely to drink this type of alcohol. Although I have not researched this yet, I would say this advertisement is targeting white people, because of the boldness in the text, and general knowledge that the larger number of people that drink alcoholic beverages like whiskey, are not colored. One aspect that Maker’s Mark openly admits is that this beverage is expensive. This fact leads me to believe that this and most of their ads are intended for the middle to upper class people. Maker’s Mark targets these classes because they are admitting that lower class people more than likely aren’t going to be able to afford the drink, and surely because there are more willing consumers in these classes. Another type that Maker’s Mark seems to target from researching the company is rebels! The company openly admits on their website that “We’ve never been much for following the rules”, and this attitude seems to be throughout their company. I would say the reason being that rebellious people are probably the ones buying the most whiskey these days!

Writerly Biography of Russel Hanson

Russel V. Hanson

English 104, Blog Assignment #1

1-22-2011

Writerly Biography



                My name is Russel Hanson. I am 21 years old, and the second youngest of 5 brothers. I am a simple laid back country boy raised in the small town of Hamilton, MO. I played football and wrestled from 6 years old until 18 and loved every second of it. I have three best friends and we were always considered the wild guys, although when adults spoke about us we were always "good kids". I will say it was probably because we were wild, yet respectful. Anyway, the week after I graduated high school I joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Reserves because I wanted to go to college. The week after I graduated boot camp, I started college here at Missouri Western in the Pre-Law program, and played football here also. I guess I felt like I didnt get to experience any of the fun that comes the summer after a person's senior year in high school, so school took a back burner to my "fun times" during freshman year. To make a long story short, I messed around, didn't care about school, and drank a lot of beer. My grades reflected and so did my morale for attending school. I went through 2 semesters, failed some classes, and decided that I needed a break. So I went active duty in the Marine Corps, and had many different types of experiences. I deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and did many things over the course of 3 years. Now that part of my life is behind me and I am very excited and ready to be back in school learning again. I feel like the break was very efficient for me.

               Now, as far as writing I feel like I am decent. I think when it comes to the over all story I am pretty good, but for some of the details and smaller aspects I have trouble with. When I start writing about something that I honestly care about, I could write pages and pages non-stop. When I get an idea in my head it just flows out of me. As for reading, I would say I am a little slower paced reader than some, because I like to fully understand and visualize what im reading as I read it. If the literature is about something I feel strongly about, or something that is really gaining my attention, then I will speed up, which happens often. I would say though that I am a better than average reader because I look deeper into the meaning of literature than most people do. I can normally understand or comprehend something an author is trying to point out faster than most people.