Analysing The Range of Visual and Linguistic Devices Included In Advertisements.

Analysing The Range of Visual and
Linguistic Devices Included In Advertisements

The advertisement featured in this essay sells lighters. The products in this advertisement are the Zippo lighters. The products are placed on the right-hand side of the frame. This is because there is text in the centre of the frame. Although the lighters are placed on the far right, they are still conspicuous, as they are brighter than the other elements of the advertisement. The background is fairly dark, but the text is quite striking. The images of the lighters are quite small, considering that there aren’t that many of them. The rest of the advertisement is quite dominant; this might be to draw the reader’s attention to the text first, to explain the product, then the illustrations to help sell the product.

This particular advertisement was situated at the backside of the magazine. As you turn to the last two pages, the advertisement is on the right-hand side. This is probably because the reader tends to look at the right page first, as it is the first page that is revealed as the page is turned. The company must have had to pay more to have the commercial on that certain side of the magazine, although it is at the back. As it is at the back, the advertisement may be more likely to be seen, as commercials in magazines tend to be in the front and back.

The advertisement covers the whole page, but it is not A4; the magazine measures 21 x 27.2 cm, as opposed to A4; 21 x 29.7 cm. Having the commercial covering the whole page assists the reader to focus wholly on it. However, if the advertisement only occupied half the page, the readers attention would be dispersed; the commercial wouldn’t be as effective.

The first element of the advertisement that my attention is drawn to, is the text at the top of the page. This is because it is a lot larger compared to the other wording. The font also seems to be different when put side by side to the other block of text. The Zippo company might have intended for this content to be viewed primarily; outstanding appearance. None of the images or any other aspects are cropped. In the advertisement, all elements are in focus. This is most probably for general ease of reading and so forth. There is great contrast between different parts of the advertisement; the lighters, which are the focus of the advertisement, are much brighter than the background. This makes the lighters more of a visual target as they are easier to see and identify. There is one part of the commercial which is enlarged, that is an image of a lighter. The other lighters are shown without any casing, but the enlarged lighter is shown in a presentation pack; a Zippo lighter tin. The size makes the illustration conspicuous; the viewer can see what they get if they purchase the product. The images are well associated with the rest of the advertisement, more specifically, the background. The background is an enlarged picture of a flame. The font is quite rough and jagged. This feature can be related with the aggressive properties of fire. The text occupies the left-hand side of the page and the centre. There is the image of the enlarged lighter at the bottom-left, and the other lighters are in a slightly uneven, vertical line on the right-hand side of the page. The images only take up ¼ of the page. The designers must have intended the text to be one of the main focal points.

There are no people in the advertisement, but the target age of the commercial is evident. This is obvious from the fact that lighters are connected with smoking, and the legal age for smoking is 16; the target age of the audience is 16 and above. The commercial isn’t set in any location. The background is fire; this is heavily connected with the concept of lighters, flames and the like. It helps set the idea of fire in to the mind of the reader; facilitate the sale of the product.

There aren’t any cold or harsh colours; the ...

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There aren’t any cold or harsh colours; the background is a warm red and orange, the lighters are red, bright silver, lime green and so on. This is quite the opposite to the rough image conveyed by other elements. For example, the text is coarse and jagged. There are no evident links between the colours of the products and the remainder of the advertisement. There is quite a contrast between three parts of the commercial; the background, the text and the pictures. The background is quite dark, so it isn’t noticed a significant amount. The text is white and therefore more noticeable; more so because it is on a dim background. The lighters are also very prominent as they contain brighter colours than the background, so consequently the lighters are more observable, even though they are quite small.

The font and size of the text varies. The sentence ‘ZIPPO with “ATTITUDE” uses a large and intense font. The word ‘with’ is in a smaller font. The font is quite rough and coarse. This is to fit in with the whole concept of the lighters and the wrestlers. The two words ‘Zippo’ and ‘attitude’ are shown in a larger size to help sell the product. This is so, because the designers have enlarged the company name, and the word ‘attitude’ which is often associated with wrestling. The other text is in the same type of font, but it is a lot smaller. This continues the image produced by the wording explained above, but is noticed after the slogan. At the bottom of the page, where the Zippo logo is shown, along with their slogan, the text is quite plain and small; it can still be noticed, while the image of Zippo is shown; a lighter for all people. The copyrighting at the bottom is very small, so clear and unadorned is used for legibility. The text used is quite unique and original. The text is not noble and is therefore ‘serif’; no tails on the ends of letters, and so forth.

The tone of the language is very intense and ‘loud’. Especially the slogan, ‘ZIPPO with “ATTITUDE”. This sentence expresses the tone of the advertisement; ATTITUDE. The language is quite simple; it can be read by almost anyone. The content contains a small list of the names featured on the lighter. They have also managed to incorporate two quotes from two well-known wrestlers; ‘It will never, e..e..e..ever happen again!’, this quote follows a message informing the reader that they ‘won’t want to miss out’. ‘And that is the bottom line, ‘cause Stone Cold said so!’ This quote doesn’t connect very well with the forerunning text. There are no particular techniques used in the advertisement. To convey the quality of the product, there is a short line commencing the main block of text, ‘When you want to get real, get a genuine Zippo lighter.’ This tries to advise the reader that only this company produces a quality lighter, so if you want a first-class product, go to Zippo. The brand name doesn’t actually suggest anything; it doesn’t even exist in a dictionary. The slogan ‘Can you take the heat?’ is well linked to both the lighters and the wrestling. Heat is obviously related to lighters, flames and the like. As with wrestling, wrestlers often use that phrase to tease an opponent; ‘Are you good enough to challenge me?’. It combines both aspects to make the advertisement more appealing. This advertisement hasn’t been shown anywhere else in the UK, more specifically on billboards, TV, and so forth. Although the advertisement can be aimed at anyone who is 16 or above, explicitly, it is aimed at the younger range of consumers. This can be seen by the language and the general appearance of the commercial; loud, intense – not something generally enjoyed by older people. The advertisement is in a wrestling magazine; people who like wrestling are going to view this commercial and will find the product more appealing.

There is no message as such in the advertisement, it just attempts to sell the product featured. However, integrated in the commercial, there is a statement that Zippo is the best lighter company, ‘When you want to get a real, genuine Zippo lighter.’ This acts sub-consciously as it is not displayed in large, bold text, but it is perceived and memorized. This just tells the reader it is a genuine and quality product.

I haven’t seen this specific advertisement before; it is not part of a larger campaign. However, Zippo is an American company, and so is the WWE; the featured company. Therefore, this commercial might be a portion of a larger campaign in the USA.

I personally think that the advertisement has some cunning features which help sell the product. For example, slogans, which combine both lighters and wrestling. The colour scheme fits in quite well. Overall, this commercial is well produced and well aimed at the certain audience; 16 and above, possibly males – wrestling is associated more with the male society. By completing this analysis, I can conclude that this advertisement is very effective and sells the product well. However, there are some elements of the commercial which could have been improved to achieve a better effect. More specifically, different colours could have been used in the text to create more contrast and to get more attention. To assist selling the product, a picture of a wrestler using the merchandise could have been used to endorse the lighter. Except for these attributes, the advertisement is successful and is practical to sell the goods.

By Surjeet Mann