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!