I found a Korean Air advertisement whose central element is a picture presenting a female flight attendant in a slave-like attitude. The reason I used this add is because it takes advantage of the cultural nuances of submission between the traditional Asian culture and the Western society to invoke emotional appeals.
The ad is very tricky and it clearly appeals to the need of sex through sexual imagery, using a female figure with high heeled pointed shoes and tight outfits that is showing a portion of the leg. This degrading use of women as consumables objects is seasoned with language might be interpreted as an in-flight brothel sexual experience based on the mental association of a flight attendant with the written message “[…] our delicate service with a smile remains constant […] until you reach […]” (Korean Air 2010). This is in line with the need to dominate and control one’s environment, which is often thought of as being masculine (Fowles 8). The obedient attitude of a flight attendant not staring at the passenger keeps a relationship based on two hierarchical levels of dominance (Korean Air 2010). By doing this, the airline uses the cultural meaning of submission to confer attributes of power normally associated to the Western society.
Finally, the only appeal that worked on me was the appeal to the physiological needs: a glass of champagne brings the connotation of relax and pleasure, accompanied by the bottom statement in which the airline believes that “when you land, you should be in the same good condition as you were during take-off” (Korean Air 2010). As an user of a long haul flights, it is important for me to have a comfortable journey and arrive rested to my destination.
Because of the sexist use of the female figure, I wouldn't purchase any flight with this airline unless they offered a really cheap deal.
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