I came across this advertisement for the Texican Whopper from Burger King while searching through adage.com for my advertising design class. I decided to chose this ad because it has created much controversy as soon it was released to the public in Europe. Along with this advertisement, agencies have also used Burger King to degrade women and most recently offended the Hindu religion.
This advertisement has greatly offended Mexicans and their culture and lifestyle. WIthin both the commercial and the print ad, Burger King shows the Mexican flag, but portrays it as an outfit that includes red/white/green cape, pants, mask and necklace. This ad seems to be making fun of Mexican pride and love for their country by making their national flag into a cape or a poncho. Another stereotype of Mexicans is that they are a lot shorter than Americans. In the commercial advertisement, the Texan Man helps the Mexican clean part of the window that he cannot reach and physically lifts him up to put a statue of a horse on a shelf that he cannot reach by himself. The statue of a horse is also a symbol that many people refer to when they think of the Mexican heritage, once again stereotyping that all Mexicans ride horses.
Not only is this advertisement poking fun of the Mexican culture, it is also stereotyping the typical outfit of a Texan. The Texan is portrayed with a cowboy hat, a typical checkered button down shirt with a handkerchief around his neck and chaps with jeans. I personally know people from Texas and I know that is not how they dress. Yes, maybe some people from Texas do dress like that, but that is certainly stereotyping the average Texan, which does not apply to everyone from Texas. In the commercial, you also get a quick glimpse of a real horse, making the viewer think as if the Texan man came to the house by horse.
