In the Nando's chicken advertisement shown above, the
advertising company has managed to comment on many ideologies, dominant or
otherwise, involving the way in which people connect on the internet for social
purposes. The Advertisement’s main focus (other than to sell the chicken) is
centralised on the aspect of online dating, however, whether intentionally or
not, the advertisement has also managed to reflect on other aspects of cyber
connectivity such as the ways in which people create identities online, the
anonymity associated with the internet and how the internet is now seen as a
perfectly acceptable place to meet a potential partner, the advertisement
also manages to reinforce and contest a few gender stereotypes that are associated
with online personas and dating.
In the 21st century, where just about everyone has a
Facebook page or a twitter account the process of being self-aware and forming
online identities is a common part of everyday life, and we are part of, what
David Marshall (2010. pp.498) calls, the “specular economy”, where collectively
we are becoming more conscious of how we present ourselves and how others
perceive us. However, while being self-aware and creating identities is nothing
new, “Where the specular economy differs is in its new reconstruction of how the
self is reconstituted through the screens of engagement and interactivity…”
(Marshall 2010. pp. 500). During the Nando’s commercial when the female
character confronts the male character, Tony, and says “I notice you look
nothing like your online dating profile” Tony responds with “oh really?”, as if
he was totally unaware of how much difference there is between the handsome
model with “long blonde hair” who’s in to yoga and surfing, off his dating profile,
and his overweight, bald, train and plane hobby modeller who’s into “Yoda”,
from his non-mediated identity. While it is a slightly exaggerated situation,
it is nonetheless a perfect example of how online profiles and identities can
be manipulated and created in today’s society in order to extend the truth so
that we can display an ideal projection of ourselves for public consumption. We
can pick and choose what images of ourselves to show, what to write about
ourselves and, most importantly, what to exclude about ourselves, therefore,
not really displaying our true selves at all, but an ideal extension of who we
want to be. According to Fornas and Xinaris (2013. pp.12) “online identities are formed both from within and from the
outside, in a complex interplay of mutual recognition and understanding of self
and others” and
Tony, from the Nando’s ad, has done this perfectly, he has taken in to account
how he is going to be perceived by others and has created a suitable identity
for a dating website, so that he can not only be perceived as he wishes, but
how other wish to see him, in order to get a ‘match’.
The concept of identities online also brings about the
concern around the amount of anonymity that can be gained online. While Tony,
from the Nando’s advertisement, unintentionally fooled his date in to thinking
he was an entirely different person, it is possible for people to intentionally
create a false identity online and become a completely different person
altogether, which can lead to people being manipulated, fooled and in some
cases hurt or even worse. Not only is there a threat of being
manipulated by fictional people online, just as Tony did on his dating
profile, but providing too much of your own personal information online
can lead to hackings or even identity theft, where your own persona can become
someone else’s. “The right to control one’s own exposure conditions…is no
longer the default privilege in the cyber society because there is little
control over one’s personal information” (Houn-Gee,
C, Chen, C, Lo, L, & Yang, S 2008. pp.230), meaning while you have a right to post what you want
on the internet, once it is on the internet it is in a public forum and therefore
can be viewed, stolen and used by anyone.
The advertisement also manages to comment on some
gender stereotypes associated with online dating, such as, male online
daters tend to be more deceitful and that all female online daters
are “desperate”, “ugly” and "psychotic". It is a dominant belief that men are
more inclined to lie or “misrepresent” themselves online than women and a study
done by Hall, Park, Hayeon and Michael (2010) confirms this belief, concluding
that men were more likely to misrepresent personal assets, personal interests
and their age online than women are, this claim is further enforced by Cheng,
Chan, and Po Yee who’s study reached the same conclusion that “Men are more
likely to tell lies than women in online interactions”(pp20). Both of these
claims are substantiated by Tony on his date in the Nando’s advertisement,
where Tony was the one lying about personal assets and interests and the female
character was displayed as having told the truth about herself. While the
advertisement reinforces the belief that men lie online, it also contests a
negative stereotype associated with female online daters that they are all
desperate, ugly, psychopaths, and clearly the female displayed in the
advertisement is not ugly, psychotic and does not appear to be desperate.
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Another way this advertisement epitomizes digital media culture and users today, is that fact that is a mainstream commercial involving online dating which “in the past five years…has become progressively more popular and increasingly socially acceptable” (Chalkley, 2012. pp.63). Had an advertisement involving online dating been run 10 years ago it most likely would have been seen as controversial or unacceptable, as online dating was once associated with a negative stereotype seen as something only used by “freaks” or people searching for discrete relationships. The general acceptance of this advertisement, and the fact that it is done in a humorous fashion, reinforces the newly found belief that online and mediated dating is a totally acceptable way to meet new people and begin a new relationship.
So while online dating is now socially acceptable, which is good, the Nando’s Advertisement, while very humorous, ultimately reflects some very negative aspects of digital media and its users. It contest's and reinforces some gender stereotypes associated with digital media and online users, while at the same time showing us how easy it is you can manipulate and be manipulated via new and digital media.
References
Chalkley, 2012, Communication, New Media and Everyday Life, Oxford university press, Victoria, Australia,
Cheng, G, Chan, D, & Po Yee, T 2006, 'Qualities of Online Friendships with Different Gender Compositions and Durations', Cyberpsychology &Behavior, Vol.9, No. 1, pp. 14-21
FORNÄS, J, & XINARIS, C 2013, 'MEDIATED IDENTITY FORMATION', Javnost-The Public, Vol.20, no.2, pp. 11-25
Hall, J, Park, N, Hayeon, S, & Michael J., C 2010, 'Strategic misrepresentation in online dating: The effects of gender, self-monitoring, and personality traits', Journal Of Social & Personal Relationships, Vol.27, No.1, pp. 117-135
Houn-Gee, C, Chen, C, Lo, L, & Yang, S 2008, 'Online privacy control via anonymity and pseudonym: Cross-cultural implications', Behaviour & Information Technology, Vol.27, No.3, pp. 229-242
Marshall D, 2010, the Specular Economy, Society, Vol.47, no.6, pp. 498-502
Nando’s TV Ad – Online Dating 2013, YouTube, NandosAustralia, 25 February, retrieved 8th October 2013, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwmJuY_xHr0>
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