مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - A CRITICAL APPROACH TO SEXUAL APPEALS IN ADVERTISEMENT

Abstract :

As part of the advertising strategy, sexual appeals attract consumers’ attention and lead them to buy the product. In this paper, the sexual appeals in two poultry product advertisements have been analyzed in the context of human-animal relationship and particularly from an ecofeminist perspective which focuses on “the sexual politics of meat”. This paper also aims to bring together two different points of view, one of which defines advertisement as a handy tool for customer and company whereas the other critically analyzes advertisement texts, and focuses on the ideology behind the advertisement. Adopting critical discourse analysis method, this study focuses on two Turkish TV ads, i.e. Şenpiliç advertisement feauturing Saba Tümer and Zuhal Topal, and Burger King advertisement featuring Esra and Ceyda Ersoy. These ads are interpreted via textual analysis technique which divides the meaning into three layers: Surface Meaning, Intended Meaning and Cultural or Ideological Meaning. The findings reveal that gender stereotypes combine with sexual appeals in these advertisements. These appeals seem to become the basis for making woman s body more appealing, and turn the animal s body into an ‘absent referent’. Finally, these ads contribute to and lay the ground for the silent approval of sexual exploitation of woman and animal in consumers’ minds and everyday life.