Deconstruction of an Advertisement of Subaru
YouTube Subaru puts a new Eastern satirical twist on the tradition Western sexy car wash in their advertisement for the Forrester which in place of Heidi Klum or Jessica Simpson sumo wrestlers scantily washing the new vehicle. This advertisement starts off with a dirty Forrester pulling into the car wash with seductive music playing in the background.
Most audiences expect a group of supermodels in bikinis to come out and wash the car, however the elderly couple and the audience is surprised to see six sumo wrestlers come out in uniform to wash the car. The sumo wrestlers whip their rags and rub their stomachs up against the car to depict a scene of what the average sexy car wash would be like when sumo wrestlers take the place of bikini models. Give credit to Subaru for taking this substance of style approach to advertising, with the humor doing their cause no harm. What social groups is the advertisement aimed and what social groups are represented in the advertisement?
This advertisement by Subaru is aimed at automobile consumers in Canada, as well as an unintentional client base which see the advertisement as an activist-like change to the way car commercials are being produced. Its humorous and non-conformist provocativeness of the ad engages a different kind of audience than the average car purchaser. There is no specific age or gender that this commercial is aimed at, and by replacing supermodels with sumo wrestlers the car is now being advertised more broadly to include women in the target market.
Does the advertisement violate or reinforce social/cultural norms? By using sumo wrestlers the Japanese car company Subaru has put an eastern cultural twist to the advertisement and this contrast is meant to be satirical in nature. In traditional western advertisements particularly in the automobile industry the use of a stereotypical “bombshell” would be used to promote products. This is to give the impression that the sleek new product will help you attain these stereotypical man/women of your dreams.
This ad violates social and cultural norms by replacing beautiful women who normally would advertise cars with sumo wrestlers, a reference to the origin of the cars manufacturer. In an article published in Motor Authority it was quoted that “Unlike the bikini-wearing models in other ads, you’re not left wondering where the car is…If anything your eyes seek out the [car], if only for aesthetic relief. ” (Lienert 2011) In this advertisement Subaru Canada is also portraying a sense of Japanese pride. Sumo wrestlers are honored in Japan and by replacing a Canadian or American supermodel with a symbol of Japanese pride, the sumo wrestler.
This connects viewers with the pride of a Japanese manufactured car that the ad is trying to sell. What else is the ad selling? Subaru Canada is selling a new type of car advertisement which shows deviance to societal norms by changing the image of what people think is sexy. Sex sells is a long-standing phrase that can be used to define the advertising industry and before this commercial was released many manufacturers marketed “sexy” car advertisements using Sports Illustrated swimsuit models or models of a similar stature.
Subaru in lieu of the sexy bikini models has chosen to express their individuality by chosen a cultural representation to poke fun at traditional advertising. Subaru takes a humorous approach to the commercial, selling the attributes of the vehicle. The trend of substance over style is now more apparent as consumers are much more educated especially in regard to the auto industry. Buyers are now more likely to be concerned with mileage, service ability/availability and resale value rather than whether or not their ride can get them a date for Saturday night.
Works Cited
- Hall, S. (2011, 11 30). Retrieved from http://www. adrants. com/2011/11/car-brands-still-using-sex-to-sell. php
- Lienert, A. (2011, 02 17). Subaru lampoons supermodel ads with sexy sumo wrestlers. Retrieved from http://www. insideline. com/subaru/forester/2011/subaru-lampoons-supermodel-ads-with-sexy-sumo-wrestlers. html
- Norm (social) . (2012, 11 10). Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Norm_(social)
- Sexy sumo car wash. (2010, 05). Retrieved from
