Sponge Bob Sex Pants?

As a public relations major, the one concept drilled into me from my first day of communications classes was simple: always remember your target audience. The classic example given to students is that laundry detergent ads featuring scantily-clad women mud wrestling will not sell laundry detergent, because detergent's target audience are the wives and mothers who purchase it for their homes. I always thought the concept fairly simple. I laugh, sometimes, at the different groups that get outraged at certain commercial content, always feeling that there is something more to life than finding things to be angry about. Unfortunately though, I now find myself aligned with the people I've never understood. I am furious over a commercial.

Children are targeted through advertisement today as never before. Commercials for sugar cereals, toys, technology, fast food, and even vacation destinations air during the hours that children may watch television. Burger King, however, has sunk to an all-new low. The fast-food giant is now marketing their kid's meals using Sir Mix-A-Lot's old song "Baby got Back," in reference to a woman's posterior. That's right, a kid's meal, marketed to the tune of "Baby got Back." Are you appalled? You should be. Burger King tried some creative marketing with this one. They changed the lyrics of the song from "I like big butts and I cannot lie," to "I like square butts and I cannot lie." Rather than show women with large derrières dancing provocatively, as in the original rap video, they show women with square-shaped bottoms, or with phone books attached to their bottoms, dancing around. All of this is supposed to be accepted, because Burger King has partnered with the cartoon Sponge Bob Square Pants. Apparently, if Sponge Bob has square pants, by Burger King's (lack of) logic, so should attractive women. The majority of the camera angles in this commercial focus on the female square-shaped behind. Square-shaped or not, how does this sell hamburgers?

I am aghast. I have no problem with fast-food commercials targeted towards children. I believe it is a parent's responsibility to turn off the television. I believe it is a parent's responsibility to feed their child a nutritious meal. But a commercial targeted towards children that ends with two women sitting on a couch with a rap artist, who utters the line "Booty is booty?" This is wildly inappropriate, and never should have been aired in the first place. I cannot believe that any public relations company would not only pitch this, but receive compensation for this kind of sexualized drivel.

If you know that the target audience for a commercial about a fast-food kid's meal is a child typically under the age of 10, how does "Sponge Bob I wanna get with ya," speak to that child? I am starting to long for the good old days, in which fast food companies pitched just the happy meal toys, and that was enough to make a child beg their parents for a trip to have that meal, so they could have that toy. This kind of marketing does everyone a disservice. It's hard enough raising a child these days. Burger King is not helping. Parent's groups are up in arms, and I salute them for it. Women gyrating with phone books attached to their bottoms are not the way to sell a child a hamburger.

It is important to note that Burger King recently came under fire for an advertisement that many felt was derogatory to both Mexican heritage and culture. It featured a small Mexican man, draped in the Mexican flag, standing next to a markedly taller American cowboy. The image of the Mexican gentleman, referred to as "Little Mexican Man," was deemed insulting, and the display of the Mexican flag also considered inappropriate, as its image is protected under the national law. Burger King has apologized and discontinued the ad campaign. I wonder how much time before they pull this one, too.

Public relations groups take heed, you must remember your target audience. Burger King, it is time for a long, hard look at your advertising. These cannot be the messages you truly wish to communicate. Sex may sell a lot of things, but it should never sell a kid's meal.