For this Cultural Jamming assignment I selected an advertisement distributed by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) back in 2013, displaying Patricia De Leon sprawled across a larger-than-life piece of broccoli. In unpacking the ad, I will address and analyze two critical problems; first, the sexualization of a female body, and second, cultural scapegoating.
The greatest problem of this ad is the sexualization of the female body. The message conveyed by PETA here with text “Eat Your Veggies”, is very direct and doesn’t really leave any room open for interpretation. What is almost comical (but a very serious issue) is the fact that PETA believes they need to sexualize a female body to promote the tag line of this ad. This is certainly not the first time PETA has done this, but it may be one of their most absurd combinations; the only relative fact linking this specific female in the image to the tag line is her journey of turning vegetarian in fighting health problems, but they could have represented her in a much more tasteful manner. The companies weak justification for exposing a naked Patricia De Leon is “she shows off her veggie-made physique all in the name of helping animals and encouraging others to switch to a plant-based diet.” (PETA Latino)
Moreover, to isolate the Latino culture not only hinders the effect of this ad world-wide, but it also a bold move for such a big company to make. Latinos make up only a fraction of the world’s population, meaning that this ad targets a very small and specific group of people in the grand scheme of things. How effective can an ad be when it only targets one culture? Constantini argues that this is PETA’s way to multiculturalize their brand, but in all honesty this ad only serves as a way to isolate the Latino culture and objectify their women.
By altering PETAs original ad, I have successful reproduced the ad by keeping its tag line “Eat Your Veggies”, while eliminating the sexualized female and cultural scapegoating that follows. Further, I kept the brands logo (moved it in to the top right corner) and added some text beneath it while removing the the text “Patricia De Leon” and “Dressing Optional”, then added some deer in the background of the ad.
Primarily, removing Patricia De Leon from the reproduced image is the greatest difference between the two. One will realize when comparing both ads that the message can be conveyed just as effectively without her even being apart of the image. In the reproduced ad one does not have to fighting between opposing text and images; in the reproduced ad the images merely support the text.
For copyright purposes, incorporating PETA’s logo is not optional so I relocated it to the top right hand corner and added in what the acronym of the company actually stands for. In this case, just by breaking down the acronym it allows readers to understand what PETA stands for (literally) and read in to the ad from a greater perspective. In addition, the text “Patricia De Leon” and “Dressing Optional” were both removed as they no longer associated with anything in the reproduced ad.
Finally, the addition of deer in the background of the ad gives it more context. Including deer in ad shows that plants and animals inevitably coexist, and the choice is ours on what we consume. With broccoli at the forefront and deer fading in to the back, I have presented both options but give more emphasis on the broccoli and towards a vegetarian style diet.
________________
References:
PETA Latino – http://www.petalatino.com/en/features/patricia-de-leon-wants-you-to-eat-your-veggies/
Cristina Costantini – http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Opinion/analysis-peta-latino-make-sense/story?id=19067100