
Carl’s Jr. is a fast food chain which prides itself on serving great tasting burgers and advertises with attractive women eating delicious burgers. In their advertisement they use their typical technique of pairing juicy burgers with attractive models in revealing clothing. The advertisement it certainly aimed to attract men to the fast food chain due to the fact that there is a model in front of what seems like a big truck. Carl’s Jr. is attempting to target men and pressure them into choosing to get a burger at Carl’s Jr. just to prove they are manly. In other words, Carl’s Jr. is targeting the masculinity of men to make them buy burgers at Carl’s Jr. 

The main idea of the advertisement is that guys aren’t truly men unless they get their burgers at Carl’s Jr. This idea is put into the light when the text in the advertisement is examined. It says, “She’ll tell you size doesn’t matter. She’s lying,” with a clear message saying that when it comes to burgers, size does really matter. However, this could also be referring to the euphemism of the male genitalia.

Carl’s Jr. is a well-established fast food franchise that is popular in the southwest and has been around for years. Their ethos in their advertisements is definitely apparent when their power in the fast food world is looked at. They are certainly on the scale of other fast food chains such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King. They certainly have authority due to the fact that they are able to get their messages out on TV, online, in papers, and in magazines. Their credibility is certainly validated when you look at how popular they are and how they could be considered high contenders for biggest fast food chain in America. Their logos is that their burger in the advertisement looks appealing to those in search of a juicy and flavorful burger. They also say in the advertisement that, “It’s gonna get messy.” They are telling the audience that their burgers are packed with delicious toppings and mouth-watering meat. Finally, Carl’s Jr’s pathos is seen when the emotions on the model’s face are examined. She appears to be very pleased to have a Carl’s Jr burger in her hand and seems blown away by the deliciousness of the burger.

Looking back at the main idea of the targeting of the masculinity of men in the advertisement, the primary purpose of the advertisement is to tempt men into buying a burger from Carl’s Jr. They achieve this with those eight words at the top of the picture. “She’ll tell you size doesn’t matter. She’s lying,” has more to its meaning than just talking about a burger. In retrospect, it’s saying that the size of the burger doesn’t matter, but there is an underlying idea to this saying. It’s referring to the euphemism of the male genitalia. In other words, it is telling men that if they eat Carl’s Jr’s burgers, they will be seen as having “larger” genitalia. The image of the model helps to solidify this by giving men the idea that they are going to be able to swoon women who look like the individual in the advertisement. There is certainly a sexual correlation to this advertisement. The way that Carl’s Jr. integrates the comments they do makes it seem like they intended to make it so men felt inferior before eating a Carl’s Jr. burger. 

Another major factor about this advertisement is the pop in the choice of colors and the attractiveness of the model. Both draw the attention of men to it since most women will look at either the burger or not pay any mind to the model. However, it may also make women look at the model and believe that they will look like her when they eat burgers at Carl’s Jr, and if they don’t look like that, they’ll at least draw the attention of men the same way the model does. 

The colors on the ad also draw the eye not only to the burger but also to the attractive model, which happens to be Paris Hilton. The colors of the burger are vibrant and were picked to make mouths water. The fact that Paris Hilton is the model picked for the advertisement correlates to how the burger is named “Super Star with cheese,” because Paris Hilton is a star in Hollywood. The ad makes it seem like the individuals who eat the burger are stars. However, the major point is that the ad challenges men to think about how manly they are if they don’t get a Carl’s Jr burger. The fact that Carl’s Jr is trying to do so shows how the company prides themselves on catering to the needs of the alpha male. 

To conclude, the advertisement Carl’s Jr put forth targets men for their masculinity and makes them feel inferior to a burger. The overall message of the advertisement is that Carl’s Jr’s burgers will make you more of a man than you’ll ever be. 

