Why McDonald’s?

I want to research McDonald’s because it is probably the most well known out of the fastfood chains in America, or the world.  I think it would be interesting to see how they have progressed from 10 cent hamburgers to salads and a wide variety of foods that the original owner could have never seen happening. I want to see not only how the physical place changed but how they promoted themself and why they did things the way they did.

I expect to discover a lot of new information about the transitions they made and the rationale behind them.  Why bring chicken into the restaurant, then salads, and promote these over the core items that built McD’s to what it is today.  I also hope to learn about the expansion of the chain across the country and the world.  What role did this play in advertising and what products are marketed and how.

I  plan in using magazines and newspapers that discuss these issues and how America is becoming increasingly healthier.  Also, general encylcopedias that talk about the restaurant itself and its heritage.  Understanding where it has been will be vital to understanding where it is headed.  Also, there have been books published about McDonald’s that I feel will have necessary information to achieve all of my goals.

McDonald’s Ad tracing

How is this for a more specific thesis statement/research topic:  The changing culture of McDonald’s ads and how they are changing the food they serve and promoting the healthy on tv, but know people still come for the burgers/fries.  Rarely do you see an ad for a burger, now they are all about the new salads and how they have milk in Happy Meals.

Tracing of an Advertisement

I wouldlike to trace the history of McDonald’s advertising.  The company has changed so much in its time being what it is that I think watching how its ads progressed with it would be very interesting.  Also, some McDonald’s are going back to their original design of restaurants.  Everyone knows McDonald’s and to see how they attract people throughout the years could contain lots of information.

Bordo Question #4

This ad shows Taye Diggs.  While it isn’t necessarily an advertisement for clothing, it advertises him.  He has his shirt open showing off his chest and an earring.  He has a softness that challenges the viewer to look away but at the same time is saying it’s ok to look.

This ad is very animal print underwear.   This man is incredibly buff.  Bordo would enjoy looking at this and the different type of underwear that are shown instead of the typical briefs.  The man is very detailed and the eyes and smile are asking the reader to come talk to him almost.  A very seductive ad…..

Bordo Question #3

Bordo explains the difference in gazes that exist and how a certain type of person can be perceived.  Some people feel people are looking at them because they are different and stand out of the crowd, forcing them to be noticed.  Others take it as a compliment.  This is reflected in advertisements.  If the ad has the person staring you on it shows confidence and challenges the reader.  By averting their eyes the person in the ad is inviting the reader to bask in their beauty but doesn’t want to show they know how beautiful they are.  Which ad people decide to put on depends on their sexual orientation most of the time, she also implies.  Heterosexual men do not like to be gazed at.  They wear clothes because they have to and are made to work.  Homosexual men are more in touch with their feminine side and enjoy putting on clothes that makepeople look at them and want to be in the spotlight.  Ads are customized to appeal to type of men.

Bordo Question #2

Bordo seems to start off each of her subsections with talk about sexuality or how men of a certain culture dress.  Then she goes on to dicuss the certain style or line that section is supposed to focus on.  They seem to go in an order that moves more towards the actual body then the clothing of the body and how to accentuate this.  By the end she is discussing the man’s workout and the ways things try to influence men to sculpt their bodies a certain way.  She starts the essay off with a fairly long section, introducing the reader to what is to come and the general topics that will be discussed.  She follows that with a few shorter sections before talking about male decorativeness.  This is a very indepth section that seems to stretch out for quite a while and leaves nothing to question.  Bordo gets her point across and then some.  This is the slowest piece of the work.  The ending is another long part but seems to be the “loudest” because it draws on all the knowledge and brings things together.  It talks about the part that everyone else wants to talk about: the body itself.  This is a very appropriate ending because it keeps the reader reading.

Bordo Question #1

Bordo’s organization within her essay, making some discussions very long and others quite short, keeps the reader in tune. Personally, I like the strategy. Sometimes she keeps the argument short and you’re stuck with a feeling of wanting more from her and having to draw your own conclusions. But other times, she over does it. The discussion drags out for what seems like forever and it is wrung dry and with nothing left to say. You ask yourself why some of this time could not have been devoted to developing the other pieces of the argument more in depth. She does this not only because some parts require it, but to draw the reader in and sometimes make them think for themselves and other times take away this same ability. The freedom is taken away, which captures the reader and makes them read on.

I feel like this is a strategy that is only useful for certain types of essays and on certain subjects. It would be tough to coordinate this into an essay and would really take some thought and planning to make sure it is useful. Anyone can probably incorporate it, but it has to be effective or it could ruin an essay.

Timely Advertising

The 1940’s advertisement is advertising sanitary over all else. It wants to promote women being clean and worthy of going into public view without being embarrassed or having a problem. By the time the 1970’s come about the focus has moved away from cleanliness and more towards sexuality. While cleanliness is still a focus of the ad, now the woman is the sole person being shown, and in a very suggestive pose, with her feet up close and blocking parts of her body. A little of her breast is showing too, which in the 1940’s would be stepping over the line.  Now notice the dress of the other ad.  The 1940’s clothes are very covering and proper.  The 1940’s ad barely focuses on the female body at all. It focuses on circumstances that the female might encounter and must be clean to succeed in. The 1970’s showed that if you were sexy you could succeed, so use Kotex and be clean and sexy.  And smell great.  Both ads promote confident womanhood and being comfortable around men and in public situations, but go about this from two different angles.

I chose to compare ads for cigarettes from the 80’s and 90’s.  The Camel ad shows the company’s signature character at a race track smoking a cigarette with a girl in the background and he seems very content smoking his cigarette.  This ad shows that if you smoke cigarettes you will be happy.  There is nothing negative about the ad except for the government enforced warning at the bottom.  The colors are bright and vibrant and everything is going well.  The slogan “smooth character” says that not only is the cigarette smooth to smoke but it helps the person smoking it be smooth in all aspects of their life.  The 90’s ad takes a different approach.  Instead of promoting how happy you will be now the advertiser has decided to sell based on price.  Lots of negative media is coming out against cigarettes at this time so they can no longer sell using old principles, they need to make them cheap so people will forget about the health concerns and spend their money on patches or gum and buy the cigarettes they are addicted to instead.  People have been taught to see through the fake advertising and are looking for facts.

Douglas Question #2

Douglas blames the media for creating the image, but also the woman for listening to them and not thinking for themselves and creating their own ideas of what they should look like.  Woman never want to look old so they constantly buy the newest products to keep a young look and feel.  The media does a good job of this by getting the skinniest and best looking woman there are and making them even more beautiful by putting their products on them and using lighting and camera effects to enhance their beauty even more.  In her essay Douglas is criticizing the media for portraying such an image and not giving all the facts about their products.  She also feels the women should be smart enough to decipher the messages.  Full blame does not lie on either party.

Douglas Question #1

Douglas talks about having a toned body over a beautiful one that all the ads try to persuade people to have.  Instead of going for the perfect body that is projected all over the different media sources they should go for their own style and something that fits them and is practical.  Forget the toned butt and wrinkle free skin, and go for overall fitness and take care of your face but do not overload it with chemicals and other substances that could cause wrinkles later or are only a temporary fix.  Womanly is not an image, it is an idea.  Ads try to portray the womanly image when in reality it is impossible because people are thought to be womanly based on how they look, but do not look womanly.