Analysis of Arby’s Sports Illustrated Advertisement Essay -- Sexual Im

Sexual imagery has been used in advertising for a long time with a great deal of success. With the ever-increasing difficulty of advertisers to elevate the attention of the media consumer, the use of both effective and ineffective sexual imagery has flourished in recent years. Some products such as perfume and clothing argon relatively easy to sell with sexual imagery. Companies selling products such as fast food, however, must be more creative with their use of sexual imagery. Arbys Roast Beef Restaurant took such a creative approach with its full-page advertisement in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The ad featured two of Arbys soon-to-be released Roastburger sandwiches covered by a models crossed arms. The burgers were positioned side-by-side in the upper third of the ad, with the models arms crossed at the wrists at virtually the center of the ad. The models hands were positioned in such a way that they covered a majority of the two burgers, but left wi ng some of the top and bottom of each burger visible. The models arms extended out of the print area of the ad and no other segment of the models body was visible. In the lower quarter of the ad was a bright red text box that extended from the left acuteness of the ad across to the Arbys logo at the right edge of the ad. The minimal amount of white text in the box contained the headline, Were about to reveal something youll really drool over, (Rovell, 2009). The remaining copy text acknowledged that Arbys was teasing the viewer with a glimpse of the burgers, but that the viewer would conduct to wait until it was released in March 2009 (Rovell, 2009) to see the whole thing. Although anything but a cursory glance at the ad shows nothing more than a braces of... ...eef Restaurant http//www.arbys.com/about/values.phpCNBC. (2010, January 28). The Business Behind the SI Swimsuit Issue. Retrieved January 31, 2010, from CNBC http//www.cnbc.com/id/34828908?slide=2Echo Media. (2 005). Sports Illustrated Magazine. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from Echo Media http//www.echo-media.com/mediadetail.asp?IDNumber=4489Henthorne, T. L., & LaTour, M. S. (1995). A Model to Explore the Ethics of tingling Stimuli in Print Advertising. Retrieved January 30, 2010, from Research Library http//www.springerlink.com/index/10.1007/BF00871984Rovell, D. (2009, February 11). Arbys Scores In Swimsuit Issue. Retrieved January 30, 2010 from CNBC http//www.cnbc.com/id/29139052Sports Illustrated. (2007). MRI National Spring 2007 Fact Sheet. Retrieved January 30, 2007 from Sports Illustrated http//sportsillustrated.cnn.com/adinfo/si/mri2007.html