Carl's Jr. is famous for trying to persuade young men and women to buy their products by utilizing commercials in which young sexy women in bathing suits or bikinis are eating their burgers. The company tends to use famous and sexy models or social figures like Paris Hilton in order to accomplish that. However, having Ronda Rousey as the feature endorser offer a nice change from the usual Carl Jr. commercials.
If you did not know, Ronda Rousey is supposedly the greatest UFC Women fighter in the world (well maybe not anymore since she lost). So why did they use Rousey in their commercials? Obviously Rousey's likeness is not yet uniformly known because the commercial introduces her by name which is not the case with other Carl's Jr. commercials. The negative implication is that her likeness is not yet fully engrained in the minds of viewers.
The commercial begins by showing Rousey holding her title belt. The advertisement is trying to associate eating Carl's Jr. breakfast with winning. Rousey is not your typical feminized endorser. She looks strong and powerful in the ad. This raises the question of whether the ad is trying to appeal to the fantasies of men or to the empowerment that many woman are now looking for. I would suggest Rousey is an effective endorser because she can appeal to the fantasies of men and to women who are searching for representations of female empowerment rather than stereotypical depictions of gender.
It may be that the advertising firm is not quite sure how to portray Rousey or at least are concerned not to take her female empowerment depiction too far. The ad ends with Rousey smiling for the first time and the words "with a sweet side." She is depicted to be somewhat more demure and traditionally sexy at the end of the ad. This sweeter and softer looking Rousey is what lingers in the minds of the viewer.
Link for the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI2YwwTDr5w
I was really happy to see your media blog topic because I think that it is absolutely wonderful that Carl's Jr. may finally be changing their direction with advertising. It is extremely refreshing to see that they are finally trying to show a more powerful and strong approach instead of having girls in bikinis eat burgers. They use a very powerful and famous woman and I found it very empowering. Instead of associating half-naked women with their commercials, they seem to be gearing more towards words like champion and triumphant. I guess that means Carl's Jr. = Strength now? Good blog Danny, I agree with your points :)
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