Everyone wants a Piece...of what?

Georgia – Here’s a Dentyne Tango gum ad featuring a man reaching into the back pocket of a woman in order to take out some gum. The caption, “Everyone wants a piece” is somewhat clever while at the same time demeaning towards woman. Once again woman are seen as sexual objects that everyone wants a piece of…a piece of ass that is. At the same time the advertiser is relating a piece of gum to a piece of (a woman’s) ass, which is clever. Do women need to be exploited to sell gum?

George – At the same time as women are so called “exploited”, the man in this ad can be seen as desperate and needing a woman. The woman holds the power because she holds the gum. Without women, men can not become complete and satisfied. This is the message that comes across to me. Do you think the advertisers are depicting real people?

Georgia – I have noticed that in both this ad and the last one, that none of the people depicted are real. By this I mean that the advertiser uses the models to sell the product the way they want to sell it. They create a picture or scene and manipulate the picture with lighting, air-brushing it, changing the colours, cropping, and many other ways.

George – I agree that no real person can be seen through the last two advertisements that we’ve looked at. Switching gears to semiotics, what are the main signifiers you see within the ad and what do they signify?

Georgia – The woman is holding on to the man. This signifies a woman’s desire and need for a man. The man is reaching for the gum. This signifies a man’s need to be satisfied even at the expense of using a woman. “Everyone wants a piece”…of ass, or gum? Looks like the advertiser meant both! If a man wants ass, a man wants and needs gum!

George – The signified can change by interpretation! The signifiers you have stated are all permanent visual signifiers on the ad themselves. The signified – what the signifier means can change. For example, to me the man reaching for the gum signifies a man’s desire and need for a woman. He needs the gum to get the woman and he needs it just as much as he needs a woman! “Everyone wants a piece” is just clever because you can switch that line to imply men or women who are sexual beings and all desire sex (a piece of ass) as well as like gum. Even though the picture is of a woman’s ass, this line is interchangeable and the ad could feature a man’s ass. It goes both ways.

Georgia – I guess that makes sense since the ad was found in Maxim, which is mostly read by males. I’d like to see the same ad, of a man’s butt in Cosmo!

Alright, Cosmo Ad next time!