Kate Upton and Her New Boyfriend

Carl’s Jr. has had a series of advertisement campaigns that include 2 things: a women and food being eaten incredibly sensually. One of these commercials from their campaign includes Kate Upton on a date to the drive-in movies, and her date for the night is the new Carl’s Jr. Spicy SouthWestern Patty Melt. The commercial is practically a sex scene between Kate Upton and the patty melt, with close-ups of her cleavage, the Carl’s Jr. bag strategically placed between her legs, and her rolling around and sweating in the back seat of her convertible. By using Kate Upton’s attractiveness as a means of selling their new product, Carl’s Jr. sexual objectifies her, which can harshly affect how women view themselves and how they are viewed by others. 

    The commercial tries to align an idea of a date night at a drive-in movie with a man, but replaces the man with a patty melt. The commercial opens up on a sign that says, “Saturday Movie Night.” This innocent sign at a drive-in then pans to a glamorous 50’s styled Kate Upton by herself in her convertible. When she takes a bite from her burger she puts her hair down and moves to the backseat. The letting loose of Kate once she bites into the burger is supposed to play at the idea of when a guy makes moves on a girl in a car and they go to the back seat to fool around. As the sensual music plays in background and Kate gets settled into the car, she takes off her pink jacket and the camera zooms in on a close-up of her cleavage. The music intensifies as the camera shows close-ups of her sweating body while she flashes her lingerie and grabs at her short polka-dot dress. As she rolls around the back seat of the car eating her patty melt it is supposed to simulate her having sex with the patty melt because it is that incredibly delicious. This highly sensualized moment of enjoying the burger has her touching her body, moaning, and exposing her cleavage and bra. This fifty-six second commercial is trying to get across the point that their patty melt is so good Kate Upton wants to have sex with it. It is a blatant message that is Kate Upton + Patty Melt = sex, but the negative effects are more than just 1+1=2.

    The objectification of Kate Upton is obvious in this commercial. Sexual objectification is defined as the reduction of women to their sexual appeal in terms of their outer appearance and focus on their body parts. Carl’s Jr. uses sex as a way to market their product by having Kate Upton simulate sex with a patty melt. By having close ups of her cleavage, lingerie, and her sweating body, the advertisement is trying to use her sexuality as a means to sell their product. The Southwest Patty melt is spicy, and therefore hot which is why during the commercial Kate Upton is sweating as though she just had a major workout, a workout usually done within the bedroom. This was how Carl’s Jr. decided they wanted to get the idea across that their new patty melt was spicy, by having a sexual encounter between Kate Upton and their patty melt. Representations of women in such a sexual manner exemplify how females are more likely to be scantily clad, nude, dressed in a sexual manner, and posed in a sexual exploitative and submissive manner in media (Ward, 358). Because women are more likely to be represented in a sexual manner, there is a reinforced schema that women exploit their body in order to attract a suitor. One aspect that this commercial emphasizes is that women are valued by their appearance. This commercial directly draws on Kate Upton's sexiness and Carl's Jr. uses it in order to sell their patty melt. If advertisements such as these are frequently encountered, schemas related to women are activated that reinforce the idea that women are sexual objects. The commercial used Kate Upton's sex appeal to sell their patty melt, but in all honestly the first time I watched the commercial I had no idea what they were even advertising. 

Ward, L. M. (2003). Understanding the role of entertainment media in the sexual socialization of American youth: A review of empirical research. Developmental Review, 23(3), 347-388. doi: 10.1016/s0273-2297(03)00013-3

Carl's Jr. (2012) "Kate Upton Carl's Jr. Commercial" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AdViveJYD0. Retrieved October 10, 2015.