Of course, there are the requisite angry feminists from the National Organization for Women who are protesting the ad campaign’s outright objectification of women. Who cares? If this is selling out, girls must have prostituted themselves a long time ago by buying “PINK” sweatpants. Back then, we were the ones shelling out money to use our butts as walking advertisements, so how is getting paid to do exactly the same thing any different? Or any worse?  If you paid me $500 to pass out flyers while wearing sweatpants, you could print whatever the hell you want on my butt.

Even though the Double Down is a Frankenstein creation straight out of the pages of ThisIsWhyYouAreFat.com, KFC can call me to advertise for them any day.

—Margaret Yau
Associate Opinion Editor

Clever Marketing Ploys Win Out

KFC’s objective is to sell some bunless burgers, not to lead a feminist movement. With the company’s brand awareness down, KFC is having a go at an old and proven strategy: the female form.

With this campaign, KFC is looking to reach its 18- to 25-year-old demographic, many of whom are girls who already find it cute to wear brands such as “Juicy” or “Pink” across their buns. Other companies have been taking advantage of this fact for years; KFC is simply embracing the practice of writing on the backside of women’s apparel.

If KFC were putting “double down” on men’s behinds, no one would care — though the chain would probably be ridiculed for launching such an ineffective campaign.

KFC’s advertisers had the right idea about men when they figured that the best way to make a guy read something is to write it on a girl’s behind. The average American is exposed to over 3,000 advertisements a day, and KFC is just trying to stand out from the rest.

Marketing is all about attempting to break through the pack and increasing name recognition, and the Double Down is getting more attention than any other sandwich. Whether it is good press or bad press, people know about the Double Down, and that makes KFC pretty damn successful.

— Madeline Mann
Staff Writer

Nothing More than Objectification

Though college women can do what they choose with their bodies — including proudly declaring their butts “Juicy”— using them as a billboard to appeal to young men is still problematic.

The $500 paycheck KFC is offering college girls just to wear the words “double down” across their butts may be hard to pass up, but it still counts as exploitation.

KFC executives are clearly taking advantage of the fact that most college co-eds are strapped for cash and would not turn down easy money.

They get a profiteering twofer: not only are they playing to the financial needs of students, but they’re doing so in a way that blatantly objectifies women.

By advertising their products in this way, KFC is essentially using women — and their butts — as merchandise, encouraging customers to openly oogle in the name of brand recognition.

This would be different if both male and female students were hired to wear advertising slogans across their butts, but KFC is only recruiting females.

Just what we need: more confirmation that women are worth little beyond their ability to get men to reach for their wallets.

—Anqi Chen
Staff Writer