Does That Teen Burger Come With Gay Subtext?
April 15th, 2008, 12 Comments »
I just saw this unremarkable A&W ad entitled “Lose Yourself in the Teen Burger” on TV. It’s on (in?) Facebook, so I can’t embed it, but you don’t have to log in to see it.
Maybe I’m imagining things, but there seems to be some cheeky gay subtext (or maybe just text?) here. The dude isn’t hot for Julia or his teen burger. He wants the fetching older gentlemen in the yellow shirt.
I couldn’t decide whether this was intentional or accidental. A & W and their ad agency could easily deny it if they wanted to, but the ad seems otherwise so utterly ordinary. Imagine if the two male actors’ roles were reversed. That might amplify the effect (especially given the whole ‘teen burger’ schtick).
Do you think they intentionally created this ambiguity, or am I over-thinking my television again?