Original Advertisement: Jose Cuervo
The image which I have chosen to use for the purpose of this cultural jamming assignment is that of a Jose Cuervo advertisement. Jose Cuervo is a globally known brand of tequila, an alcoholic drink company. Tequila is a popular drink of choice for many, and Jose Cuervo is by far one of the most popular choices for tequila enthusiasts with Fortune Magazine claiming that Jose Cuervo makes up for 30% of the total global tequila market (Bukhari, 2017)
There are several issues which I found with this advertisement. The main thing which is noticed with the advertisement, is the sexist and objectifying image which it depicts. The advertisement depicts five people, a man and four women at the beach. The man is laying down shirtless in the middle of the four women, as they seem to be admiring him, with all the women expressing emotions of joy on their faces. The main text which the advertisement conveys in the foreground of the image is “assemble your fantasy team”.
One could assume that the advertisement is targeted towards the male demographic, and perhaps suggesting that if one were to buy Jose Cuervo Tequila, one would be able to assemble a fantasy team of women of their own. Suggesting that the male has power over women and that women are simply subjects which can be “assembled”. The notion that there is even a team to be assembled suggests that women are objects which a man can recruit to his “team”. This advertisement in my opinion is the definition of “sex sells” style marketing which objectifies women. The reality is however, that unfortunately, this type of marketing strategy is quite common in today’s society.
Moreover, the words “Vive Cuervo” is written in Spanish in the bottom right corner of the image, “Vive Cuervo” translates to “Live Cuervo” in English. Through their advertisement, Jose Cuervo is promoting a lifestyle of alcohol consumption, with the insinuation that anyone could live like the male that is depicted in the image. The advertisement glorifies a male figure by objectifying women, and highlights that there is a patriarchal power which controls much of global media portrayal. In my jammed version of the advertisement, I aim to remove this sense of patriarchy and gender objectification which is present in the original Jose Cuervo advertisement.
Jammed advertisement: celebrate with friends
In my altered jammed version of the original Jose Cuervo advertisement, I focused on removing the notion that “sex sells”, by removing the sexism and objectification which was previously present . I first replaced the image of the man with the four women surrounding him on the beach, with an image of a group of friends whom are celebrating with each other, presumably at a bar. I aimed to invoke a sense of inclusiveness with the image that I chose. I wanted an image in which men and women were represented as equally as possible. I also wanted a variety of ethnic backgrounds to be featured in order to appeal to a wider more inclusive demographic of people.
Another aspect which I thought important to address with my jammed version of the advertisement, was the main body text of the original image. I removed the original “assemble your fantasy team”, and replaced it with “celebrate with friends”. With the new text I had aimed to further highlight the main image that was now in place. With “celebrate with friends” I wanted to create a text that was free of sexual suggestion, and free of gender objectification. Furthermore, I added in the bottom of the image “Enjoy Responsibly”. The intention was that the combination of “celebrate with friends” and “enjoy responsibly” highlights that alcohol consumption can be done in an enjoyable and responsible way.
I chose to keep the original “Vive Cuervo” text, and much of the original image which included the two bottles of tequila. I chose to keep these, because I felt that the message portrayed has changed significantly, when looking at the jammed advertisement holistically. My jammed advertisement shows that alcohol companies do not need to use a “sex sells” marketing campaign. The combination of the original “Vive Cuervo” text with the new image and added texts promote a “Live Cuervo” lifestyle that is inclusive, and free of objectification.
Reference List
Bukhari, J. (2017, February 8). Should you Take a Shot of Jose Cuervo’s IPO? Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/02/08/should-you-take-a-shot-of-jose-cuervos-ipo/