Part One: Original Ad Analysis

The above advertisement is for the Daihatsu Hijet MPV. It shows a small compact van with five white women inside with one white man driving the vehicle. All of the women are laughing, dancing and look like they are having a lot of fun, while the man is smiling and sticking his hand out of the window in a humbs up position. The first problem with this ad is the main title which states “Picks up five times more women than a Lamborghini.” This statement implies that women can be ‘bought’ with the promise of expensive items such as cars. This subtly tells consumers that because women can be bought, they can be treated as objects and people (men) can have ownership over them. The fact that a man is driving a car with five women implies that through this van, this man can “buy” the women, thus “owning” them. This is a problem because it adds to rape culture, where men feel entitled to a women’s body simply because they are female. This ad further contributes to rape culture with the small blurb at the bottom which states “Two sun roofs for when things get hot.” This further implies that women can be bought like an object, and by buying a woman in this manner you are then entitled to her body and sex with her

Part Two: Culture Jamming

Above is my culture jammed version of the original ad from above. In my changes, I got rid of the original headline, “Pick up five times more women than a Lamborghini” to “Hot Deal!! Buy one car, get five women free!” I believe my headline prominently announces the subtle message that the original ad was making, that women can be wooed by cars and are thus objectified. My headline demonstrates how this idea of using an object to “get” women is demeaning as if women can be easily bought and sold. I also added my own blurb to the bottom of the ad, which ties in how this assumption of women being bought adds to rape culture. The bottom line reads, “I offered you a ride and you accepted, so we’re having sex later, right?” This draws attention to the fact that with rape culture, it is assumed that by doing women a favour (ie. buying them in some way) you are thus entitled to using her body and have a right to be angry and call her “ungrateful” if she doesn’t agree to sleep with you. Women cannot be bought, and doing her a favour/buying her something does not give anyone the right to touch you if you don’t want to be touched.