Monday, April 26, 2010

The Gaze




Have you seen advertisements for this new heart attack sandwich? Last week in class we were discussing "The Gaze". I began to think about how I gaze at advertisements and what stances I take on certain issues because of the specific gaze I have.

Before class on Monday, I had been watching television and I saw this new sandwich at KFC. It was called the "Double Down". I continued to watch and found out that they've created a sandwich that is made of two deep fried chicken breast(replacing the bun) with bacon and cheese(look at top photo). In the advertisement, there are a bunch of quick shots with men describing their dissatisfaction with regular chicken sandwiches while enjoying their new "Double Down"! After looking at the five different kinds of gazes one can have, I would argue that the men in this ad have an exhibition gaze while looking at the KFC "Double Down." The sandwich's beauty is attractive to these men and the men's gaze at the sandwich simultaneously attracts other men, outside of the ad. The ad makes the viewer have an identification gaze, where he can see himself enjoying a "Double Down" just like all the guys in the ad he just saw.
I think it's interesting that when I look at this ad I am disgusted and want to vomit. I picture myself holding one of those sandwiches and being nauseous of the smell of fryer oil, bacon and cheese. I can only imagine that the sandwich has to be dripping grease into my hands while I'm eating it which also makes me want to stay from away from it. I am definitely a spectator looking at this ad. I don't even like looking at it. There's something intriguing about the ad because I never expected to see anybody replace the bread of a sandwich with a piece of fried chicken.

After spending sometime reflecting on how different people look at KFC's "Double Down", I think its really interesting how some people crave this sandwich, while others aren't only horrified, but can't believe enough people eat this sandwich that it stays on KFC's menu. I hadn't really thought too much of it before our classroom discussion, but its very revealing to know how a person's gaze can tell you so much about someone( political views, moral/ethical views, sex/gender,etc)

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