Journal Entry Number 1: Burger King Ad

Who created this media message? Why?

Burger King created this message to announce the new Spicy Chicken Crisp sandwich that's available on their value menu. They also remind us that there is other items available on the value menu like the Jr. Whopper. This is noted when the Big Whopper tells the Jr. Whopper his friend(the Spicy Chicken Crisp sandwich) is a menace in which the Jr. Whopper responds by saying, "Why because he's a buck like me?"

Who is the target audience? What text, images or sounds suggest this?

I would say the target audience is people who like the value menu's at fast food restaurants. From personal experience it seems that teenage to college aged people take advantage of the value menus especially thus this commercial in particular is speaking to them. The biggest give away is the fact that the two sandwiches featured in the commercial are portrayed as rebellious youths to the rest of the burger king cause. The big "parents out of town" kind of party is another sign that the audience is late teens to early adults. People around that age connect to that so the aim is to lure people to view it by making that connection then realize that the product being advertised in well with-in their budget Also the other non burger people in the commercial were clearly between high school and college aged.

What is the text(literal) meaning of the message?

The obvious message presented here is that the Spicy Chicken Sandwich is available for a buck at Burger king. That's the whole reason the commercial was created. The young actors portraying the sandwiches hint that they are proud to be a value and imply that they are part of a value menu.

What is the subtext(hidden message)?

The hidden message here is that the value menu is ideal for young adults. Most young children who are eating Burger King are getting it from their parents. Therefore most likely they aren't on a budget. However once kids get to the age where they have cars and jobs, a lot of times they have to pay for their food. In turn they are looking to get the most delicious meal without spending too much cash. The reason kids this age are probably trying to save their spending cash is because chances are they want to buy other things with their money such as supplies for when they go to their friends party whose parents are out of town. Obviously Burger King won't make a commercial that says "Eat great and still have money to get trashed". That would be a public relations nightmare waiting to happen. However by showing that people who eat off the Burger King value menu can still "entertain with their boy Spicy Chicken Crisp" they are delivering the message that it's affordable for you to be a raucous youth.

What kind of lifestyle is presented? Is it glamorized? How?

I feel the lifestyle that is portrayed in many of these teen movies like American Pie and Eurotrip. This life style shows a lot of young people at someones house in a suburban neighborhood having an out of control party. They aren't directly showing kids with alcoholic beverages but the scene, red plastic cups and police car in the beginning are implying laws are being broken. However this commercial glamorizes that by making the father(Whopper) look like a buffoon trying to catch Spicy Chicken with his daughter. Also the lackadaisical attitude of the fathers son(Whopper Jr.) in regards to being busted. He didn't have any sense of urgency to explain himself, instead he basically said, "I'm kicking it with my homies, stop being a drag". Overall the sign that this rebellious partying lifestyle is being glamorized is the fact that I'm laughing at the Dad/Whopper the whole commercial even though he clearly is a victim.

What values are expressed

I think the value expressed is it's good to be young. Part of being young is not having a whole lot of money thus the incentive to eat off Burger Kings dollar/value menu. The party and the kids attitudes were also give aways to me. Notice how right into the commercial the Jr. Whopper feels he's being oppressed and judged by his dad because he only costs a buck. I think every teenager has felt that way from their parents only it's because they chose to do something else rebellious like wear certain clothes. However by showing the young sandwiches that they don't care what "the man" thinks it expresses the value that be young, be free and eat off the value menu.

What techniques of persuasion are being used?

The biggest technique is humor. The message is pretty clear that these sandwiches are available for a dollar. I also think because these products have been around for a long time they don't need to be hypes because there is already a market for it. Therefore Burger King in my opinion planted this ad to make all consumers laugh. By us laughing and thinking of those big burger people, if we crave fast food burgers the thoughts of that commercial may make us giggle thus influence our decision. I think symbolism is a big part to this ad and the series of ads this spawned from. The more expensive burger(Whopper) is viewed as the father and he's feels his son the Jr. Whopper is selling himself short for a buck. The use of making a son that's a Jr. Whopper whose dad is having trouble with him selling himself short, shoots the message, "it's smaller the original whopper but it's cheaper and really yummy." I think in this commercial the Spicy Chicken Sandwich being the bad influence friend is more symbolic because it shoots another message that there is variety of food at Burger King that will cost a buck. I think repetition has helped this ad campaign because these burger king people have been around for about a year now, so we are familiar with them and used to them marketing Burger King to us.


What healthy and unhealthy messages are being communicated

The only healthy message I am seeing communicated is that good things can come at a bargain. However aside from that I kind of feel that the message of Burger King value food is for people who have been out tearing up the town is unhealthy. I don't think this will dramatically cause a spike increase in teens breaking laws but the "we're on your side" message can be counter productive. I have also heard of people getting excited about ending the night with Burger King and things like that. They know people go out get wasted, then get hungry. I feel that they are saying, "we're a haven for you to satisfy your hunger needs when you go partying". I also think the fact that it is so cheap draws people to the conclusion ,"why spend money on something better for the body when something just as tasty is a fraction of the cost?"

What part of the story is not being told?

The part of the story not being told is that Burger King isn't exactly the most healthy thing nor why they can charge a dollar for it when some sandwiches are triple the cost. I think while it looks really good on TV, it's kind of like the clearance rack of food. I don't know if these are made with lesser quality meat or day old cheese.