Stripping Down Bacon

Where is the fine line between an ad being offensive, or accepting? When I first saw this advertisement of Bacon Lube, I was thoroughly disgusted by both the idea of bacon being erotic and how this may be socially unjust. I thought it was trying to portray a woman as an animal, thereby wrongly reinforcing mans' dominant gender role in society. I also thought that because media has made meat a symbol of manliness, it was discriminating its non-meat loving audience. Though that is not the case at all. Through this ad  not appealing visually to many audiences for both its sexual humor, and meaty scent, this ad is encouraging and accepting a meat loving audience.

This product was made by J&D Foods, a company that was created only five years ago. Their slogan literally is: "everything should taste like bacon" and they have carried this out in many silly products such as bacon lipbalm, bacconaise, bacon popcorn. Considering such a silly prowess for a company, I had to ask myself, 'who would actually want to buy this?' For this ad, it wasn’t about it’s main audience: the American people, but primarily it’s meat loving demographic. In order to sell this product, this ad relies on couples who are goofy, and kinky, and are craving for a meaty night together. Just because this lube has a bacon scent does not mean it is creating stereotypes about men and meat. Likewise, seeing a woman with a pig snout doesn’t mean that she is suddenly an animal that the man intends to subordinate. This advertisement is made primarily to put a new, silly spin on sex.

I believe that this ad, no matter how disgusting, is actually encouraging equality. With a lot of media nowadays, it creates unfair stereotypes of men and women through advertisements discriminating their opposite audiences. This media works at the self-esteem of us individuals who aren’t the correct shape, or aren’t pretty enough, in order to get us to buy their products. However, with this product, it wouldn’t be affective to encourage such discrimination because it is such a bizarre product. It also shows equality through this picture's choice in colors. Through making the picture black and white for everything except the bacon, race isn't a focus within this advertisement, but only the product is. Similarly, this advertisement effectively attracts it's audience through showing how sexually appealing a pig can be. Through the man looking so overwhelmed with just the scent of bacon, shows how effective and alluring the smell of bacon can be.

This product also is a subtle statement in the progression of accepting others in society. Although at first glance it is a joke, American people can observe that there are meat lovers who would buy this product. Whether it be “manly men” who enjoy the scent of bacon, or an erotic couple, putting this product on the market makes anyone who sees it, aware of how liberal America is in terms of its censorship.  Having such liberties in selling erotic products improves society because then society can learn of the many cultures and demographics that are constantly forming throughout the world. Because America is a melting pot of many cultures and sub-cultures, allowing media to showcase controversial products spreads awareness and acceptance of these many demographics. 

In essence, Bacon Lube is a step in the right direction to a more culturally accepting society. Through not discriminating genders, and spreading awareness of many cultures, the media is in the right direction for equality. Just because a product looks controversial in that it has sexual connotations, and possible gender roles, doesn't mean that it is socially unjust.