At this year’s Superbowl, fast food chain Carl’s Jr made jaws drop with their ad featuring Charlotte McKinney. The ad depicts the model almost naked with the implied message that she is all natural, just like their 100% natural, antibiotic, and hormone free burgers. She is surrounded by men in a local farmer’s market staring at her and all of her assets (particularly the burger). The first reason this advertisement seems shocking is that there is an obvious taboo of there being a woman without a shirt, representing the general gender inequality, and further implying that it is more shocking to have a slim woman mostly naked. The next message is the fact that she is holding a burger. Women are often portrayed as gentle and eat salads to stay in shape. There is an abundance of media (including entire magazines) targeted towards women’s diets and fitness, discouraging women specifically from eating fast food. This makes it shocking to see a supermodel eating such foods. It is also controversial due to obesity of the United States, which can be seen as an epidemic: portraying role models eating unhealthily is always a questionable move for media. The next issue is the looks from the surrounding men. The fact that they look absolutely stunned by the mostly naked McKinney and the burger says how inappropriate it is to show skin while eating a burger. The looks they give her are stares that would be given to a murderer or a giant, not a woman. America thrives on entertainment and fast food, and this ad gives the best of both worlds, and further encourages stereotypes.

With my new version of this advertisement, I attempted to address issues with fat shaming, the acceptance of killing animals for meat but controversy of a gun, and a public reaction to obesity. There has been media controversy surrounding plus sized women showing off their bodies in public. For example, Meghan Trainor has been in the news for “skinny shaming” without recognizing the fact that often smaller sized women are healthier. There is also media against eating disorders, but being “fat” has become more and more acceptable in a society where fast food is so popular. It is almost not shocking to see an obese woman in a bikini—the looks on the mens faces are still judging her just as they did in the original. A person holding a gun can be compared to a good-looking woman holding a burger. In many countries with conscription, people wouldn’t look twice at someone walking down the street with a gun. For many people, the issue in this image is that skinny or fat, the woman was not escorted by a male or covered head to toe, which could result in a death penalty. In some cultures, even eating meat is so unacceptable. There is almost no difference in holding a gun to kill a person and a burger while killed an animal for some advocates of vegan and vegetarian lifestyles. This advertisement says that in American culture being obese is ok, women are stared at and judged no matter what, and the target market may be smaller than Carl’s Jr had anticipated.