With this advertisement the first thing that I noticed was that the light was shining from behind the woman’s head. This was the photographers’ paradigm choice. The photographer could have had the model standing in any other place but I feel that with the light shining behind her gives an actual meaning to the message. This is seen with the text saying, “WASH YOUR HAIR IN SUNSHINE”. Now when you look at the whole print product you can see that the text anchors down the image. This is because the light behind the head actual looks like sunshine and gives the impression that the models hair has actually been washed in the sun. This is actually an oxymoron because wash and sunshine are two contradicting words but I felt this text works extremely well with the image. Again from the anchorage of the text the reader discovers that it is actually a shampoo that the sender is talking about.
I would now like to actually look at the layout of the piece. There is hardly any text at all and the main focus is the woman and we are drawn to look at the woman by the light surrounding her. It makes her the main focus. The text at the bottom is in a small font this is because this is not what the advertisers want us to look at. They want us to look at the effects of the shampoo. A picture of what the shampoo looks like is seen in the bottom right hand corner of the page. Again this is not what the advertisers want us to look at this is why it is only a small picture. However the advertisers do want us to know what the product looks like so we will recognise it and buy it. The text at the top is in bold capital letters; this is where they want our eyes to focus on as well. The colours that are used in the whole piece are very natural warming colours. This is also seen in the text. I believe that this is used to make the reader feel all summery and then go out and buy “Timotei” shampoo because everyone wants great hair for summer.
The language is very chatty. This is the case when it says, “proven to naturally enhance the highlights of blond to light brown hair.” This sounds like it is a big sister or a friend talking to you. Therefore it makes the reader feel that someone is out there helping them and being friendly at the same time. Poetic language is used frequently and for instance there is the use of a metaphor when the advertisers say, “Wash Your hair in sunshine.” After the reader has read this it will make them think that the shampoo, like sunshine, will wake them up and refresh them for the new day ahead. In addition this statement makes the reader believe that the shampoo gives you more energy and finally it makes the shampoo more appealing. The use of a hyphenated word such as “Sun-kissed” gives the impression of uniqueness and force to the reader. It makes the reader want to buy the product. The fact that the advertisement uses scientific words to describe the product, such as, “proven” makes the reader believe that the product actually works when really it is a biased point and in the long run helps to actually sell the goods.
The narrative viewpoint is from the point of view of the manufacturer. This is because they want to sell as many products as possible so they will make their product sound fantastic when in reality it is useless. The advertisement is written in closed narrative because all ends have been tied up giving the piece closure. This makes the piece sound final. In addition it is a single stand narrative because only one product is on the page. If there was more than one product being advertised on the same page the readers full attention may not be focused fully on all of them therefore none of the products may be bought by the reader. Finally there is the use of the paradox, which I mentioned earlier, where the words contradict each other. It gives the reader the impression that something doesn’t quite make sense so they read and study the advertisement for longer.
The myth of this advertisement says that beautiful hair is easy to get and will make you feel happier if hair is clean and fresh. In reality hair is just a part of the body that keeps you warm. It may boost your confidence and make you feel better but it isn’t the end of the World not to have perfect gorgeous hair.
I feel that this product is very well advertised and that it draws the reader into the advertisement with many different techniques from the colour to the size of the font to the language that is used. I do feel however that the actual product needed to be seen a lot more and not placed at the bottom of the page in the corner.
