Assvertising

by Shaker Scott Madin

One of the Feminist Law Professors writes about yet another entry in the depressingly long series of fast-food chain ads relying on the "women as food" theme. This time it's not Carl's Jr., though, it's White Castle. The copy of the ad embedded at FLP isn't great quality, but you can see it at White Castle's website, and below is a better-quality YouTube video.

[Shot of dudes sitting at tables in dimly lit club. Shot of dancer, hips down, silhouetted in front of bright backdrop; dancer cocks hips. Shot of full stage; dancer turns, revealing self to be wearing plush pig costume, and begins stereotypical stripper dance routine, minus removal of clothing. Shot of two scruffy, hoodie-wearing dudebros sitting at table; occupant of third chair is outsized White Castle brown paper bag; all three turn to look at camera (i.e. in direction of stage). Dancer sits "sexily" in chair on stage, performs stereotypical stripper-in-chair moves while sultry-woman-voiceover begins.]

VO: Introducing tempting pulled pork... [dancer reaches up, pulls dangling chain; brown liquid splashes down from above stage; crowd cheers] ...in barbecue sauce.

[Dancer throws head forward as though flipping long hair; sauce splashes on two dudebros and outsized White Castle bag. Dancer gets up from chair and continues dance, to cheers; cut to shot of three pulled-pork sandwiches.]

VO: Shredded pork in a come-hither barbecue sauce. Sweet. Saucy! Oh-so-naughty. [shot of dudebros and bag; dudebro swipes finger through sauce on bag, licks finger; dancer's "hooves" seen in foreground; applause continues] White Castle: What you crave.

So: We've got woman = pig; we've got woman = food; we've got an animal cheerful about its own slaughter and consumption; we've got food = sex; we've got the strip club as a metaphor for all this, which one might argue is apt in ways White Castle never intended, but which they pretty clearly think is harmless, sexy fun for everyone involved.

As I told Liss in email, I'm honestly kind of at a loss for anything else to say about this. It's so layered with blatant awfulness that I feel like comment on my part would be superfluous.

At WhiteCastle.com, there's a generic "Contact Us" form, but you're probably better off using the corporate contact information here.

[Assvertising: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One.]