Alix Earle Carl's Junior Commercial

     As an Advertising major, I found the partnership between Alix Earle and Carl's Junior interesting, to say the least. Looking at it from an advertising professional's point of view, Alix Earle is a very popular celebrity at the moment online. Carl's Junior has always set itself apart from other countless burger restaurants by using attractive models in provocative ways, and all advertisements during the Super Bowl are made for one reason: set the brand apart and catch people's attention. 

In these aspects, it was most definitely eye-catching, it was on-brand for the company and got the message across, and sparked a lot of talk about the ad and in correlation the brand. I would go as far as to say, twenty years ago it would have been a show stopper, but despite what many may believe, Advertisers are not evil.

At the very least, we are not supposed to be. Advertising, like any other form of mass media, has a code of ethics that is crucial for these very reasons. Being aware of what you are putting out into the world, how it will be received, and what consequences for real people it will have are absolutely essential questions. 

Even above plain morality, when you create something nowadays, consumers have a never-before capability with interacting directly with the media because of the two-way system that is social media. When you do a poor job at representing people, they will call you out for it, and all press is not necessarily good press. 

We have a responsibility to the companies we create for to represent their brand in an authentic and positive way, but we have a responsibility towards consumers to not show unrealistic bodies, sexualize human beings, and objectify women. Advertising does not need to rely on "sex sells". It is cheap and lazy when there is a world full of inspiration and plenty of ways of representing people with dignity to uplift others rather than feed into oppressive norms.