Sexual Dancers, Slang, and Cheap Junk Food Essay -- Gender Discriminat

In 2009, Burger King unleashed a new commercial for its collection of bizarre fast food advertisements. Before this one, most of their sexually appealing takes were intended for an older audience. The â€Å"Spongebob Got Back† commercial, however, advertised the 99 cent kids’ meal. The commercial aired on television has a longer version on YouTube. It begins with the screen centered on the burger king, with three females behind him in brown shorts, a white shirt, and socks to match Spongebob’s attire. They break into a remix of Sir-Mix-a-Lot’s â€Å"Baby got Back,† that begins, â€Å"I like square butts and I cannot lie.† Soon enough, the three female dancers have their backs to the camera with what looks like phonebooks in their pants, wiggling their behinds. A female in a red short dress appears and her hindquarters are quickly measured, as are those of the other females in later scenes. The rest of the commercial consists of the females da ncing in a sexual manner, and even bending down with their behinds to the camera. Meanwhile, the king walks around mimicking a rapper and attempting different dance moves and Spongebob and his underwater characters dance inside a television in the background. In several cases, he pokes at a female’s rear end or points at it. At the end of the satire, the king holds up a paper bag with smiling Spongebob and Patrick on it, and the 99 cent kids’ meal is announced. Although the short version of the commercial was debuted in a men’s basketball game, it later sneaked its way in between cartoon shows on Nickelodeon. The â€Å"Spongebob got Back† commercial objectifies women by promoting sexual behavior, which leads to desensitizing youth to physicality and street slang. The commercial taps into men’s need for dominanc... ...g junk food with dancing women is inappropriate enough, and advertising a kids’ meal in a sexist manner that evokes sexual behavior is the main reason this commercial was banned, yet it is still available for view by anyone on the internet. Although inappropriate, this commercial says a lot about how society views women as objects, by overturning the image of a children’s cartoon. Works Cited "Urban Dictionary: Rumpleforeskin." Urban Dictionary. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. . "SpongeBob Got Back with Burger King + Sir Mix-a-Lot - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. "Square Butts Burger King Music Video with SpongeBob Square Pants - YouTube."YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. .