The first magazine advertisement I have chosen to analyse is for a perfume body spray called SO...?.The advertisement has been taken from a teenage magazine for girls
called BLISS which leads me to think that it is aimed at this genre. From the first impression of the advertisement I can tell that this is an accurate assumption as bright, bold and prominent colours and a young, attractive female model have been used. Bright colours wold attract a person of this age as they usually have or desire lively and outgoing personalities.
The model chosen for the advertisement is young, perhaps in her late teens or
early twenties. The advertiser has chosen a model so young to appeal to the target audience, female teenagers, so as they can identify more with the image, making the product seem more obtainable. Her long hair has been worn down as it represents freedom and enjoying yourself as opposed to tight, drawn back hair representing strict, mundane life. The untidiness of her hair denotes that she is rebellious, confident and at ease with herself. Although she does not have ‘perfect hair’, her posture; with her chin high, shoulders back and bust out suggests that she is at ease with her ‘image’; an attitude that other girls her age may crave for. The camera has been angled to make us look slightly up at the model, forming her as an idol. The darkness of her hair contrasts with the pallor of her face, making it the most prominent feature of the advert, due also to the heavy make up and lighting. This has been purposely done as the attitude the advertiser is trying to sell is summed up in the model’s assured and confident face.
Her bold and different make-up suggests that she is just that: bold and different, and proud of her strength and individuality. Her arched eyebrows, and tilted head connote that she is presenting herself to you, and anticipating your reaction, although she doesn’t care if your thoughts differ to her own as she knows she is beautiful, and doesn’t need re-assurance. These things also connote that she is confident and rebellious, and her tight, low-cut top re-inforces this idea.
This is what the advertiser is trying to sell: a dream of self-confidence that cannot be changed by anybody’s opinion, good or bad.
The scene is set in an urban alleyway, which sports graffiti on the wall, setting an atmosphere of danger, as it suggests that the model shouldn’t really be there. This, again indicates a teenage target audience as rebellion is an issue in teenage years. The end of the alleyway seems to darken, creating a bigger atmosphere of danger but also creating intrigue.
The advert is mainly red and black which mirrors the product packaging. These colours suggest danger, power and rebellion and an ‘in-your-face’ attitude of ‘This is me, take me or leave me’. Selected parts of the advert are bright and bold, splashed with striking patches of red suggesting a lively, fun and rebellious appeal but other parts of the advert are dark and intense, suggesting a more seedy, dangerous but intriguing world. This fusion of colours is eye-catching but also realistic as the target audiences of teenage girls are people who want these things that they represent in their lives.
The caption of SO...? has been chosen as it is a bold slang phrase, usually spoken in a rude and abrasive manner, and by people of the target audience. It is accurate, as it completely corresponds with the attitude that the model reflects with her posture and expression. The font of the caption suggests that it has been doodled in a classroom manner, which the target audience would be familiar with.
The actual product is situated at the top right of the page as this side is most visible when flicking though a magazine, and it will be seen easier. It only takes up about 5% of the page, re-inforcing the idea that the advertiser is not selling the product, but an image of self-confidence in the customer that the product will give.
As the SO...? advertisement focused so much on image, for my second advertisement I have chosen an advert that used different techniques to sell the product.
The second advertisement I have chosen to analyse is for Clinique lipstick. The advertisement has been taken from COMPANY, a magazine for single, affluent working women in their twenties or early thirties. First impressions mirror this idea as the advertisement has a clean, sleek and modern look. This is probably a concept familiar to these women as ofices and homes in which these women would be working or living in would probably be modern in decor, with plain and clean looking colours: such as silver and white.
It is very clear what the advertisement is trying to sell at first glance as the graphic of numerous lipsticks takes up approximately 70% of the page.
The graphic resembles the skyline of a city, and the lipsticks each resemble buildings and towers. This connotes a target audience of working women as it is a scene they could easily identify with, and it would catch their attention. Comparing the lipsticks to buildings in industrial cities suggests a feeling of feminine power and this would appeal to independent, single women. The comparison also suggests that the lipsticks are so good that they could compete with ‘the best’. The ‘city image also suggests cutting edge style, buisness success and the centre of attention.
The background of the product is white to enhance the extensive range of shades of lipstick shown so as the different shades appeal to a wider range of people. The diverse range of colours implys that there is a colour to suit everyone in the Clinique range. The white background has been chosen also as it symbolizes purity and cleanliness. Pinks, reds and browns are the most prominent colours in the advert and they are used to depict femininity and are eye-catching tones.
The advert has a classy appearance due to the crisp, white background and silver bodies of the lipsticks. The silver bodies of the lipsticks are very modern which would appeal to the modern day woman and the actual lipsticks are all shiny which connotes sheer luxury and wealth.
The name of the company also adds to this effect as the French language is usually associated with classic timelessness and romanticism. The font used for the name of the company is very modern and crisp also, adding to the appeal to an affluent, modern woman. In total, the name of the company is shown fifteen times on the advert, and this is clever and the repetition of the name ‘Clinique’ is a form of brainwashing.
The caption ‘Lipstick City.’ is very effective because, again it incorporates a vibe of feminine power. It also suggests that Clinique are experts in lipsticks, and therefore, the best.
In the paragraph at the bottom of the page, a ‘no-nonsense’ approach is taken with short, snappy and effective sentences. The first sentence, ‘Destination: Clinique.’ suggests a Mission: Impossible theme. This is ironic as, Mission: Impossible was a very male domineering movie, both in the audience it attracted and on screen. Contrasting the concept of the slogan in a lipstick advertisement for women, suggests a very ‘girl power’ and independent, assertive image.
Emotive language is used to persuade the reader to buy the product in the paragraph at the bottom. Repetition of the words ‘you’ and ‘your’ personalise the advert to the reader and make the product seem more obtainable. Other persuasive language such as ‘100%’ and ‘everything you want’ also does this as a positive tone can persuade the reader to spend money on the product
The paragraph has been written in small text as to not clutter the advertisement. It has a very optimistic tone and gives ‘vital’ information to the reader about the lipstick such as ‘100% Fragrance Free’. This information has been added to the paragraph as it is a further sales technique. As the print is so small, only a person who was interested in buying the product would be reading it, so the information included must have an optimistic tone and persuasive language to persuade the reader to actually go out and buy the product. The font used in the paragraph has Sans; this makes it particularly feminine. Although the lipstick is selling an image of a strong, independant and assertive woman, she will still be concerned about her looks and femininity, so this must be included in the advert also.
This advertisement is mainly aimed at independent, assertive working women who like to treat themselves once in a while.
In my own opinion, the Clinique advertisement works best. This is because it has a higher degree of honesty, and in this case, it works. In the SO...? advertisement, an image was being sold to the extent where it is not clear what the actual product is, and it wouldn’t be recognised in a shop. Whereas with the Clinique product, due to the repetition and numerous pictures of the product, it would be recognised in a shop, and therefore, have a better chance at being sold.
The two companies used different techniques to advertise their products (selling an idyllic image and brainwashing), and in this case, the brainwashing technique was more effective, although maybe not as eye-catching.
The SO...? advertisement used a model to sell their product. This gives a direct link to the target audience, and as she is pretty, it creates desires to be pretty also. Teenage girls who would be looking at this advertisement would probably be self-conscious and using a pretty model is a cunning way to try to create an unobtainable image. The Clinique advert is a smarter way to sell a product. They haven’t just used a model’s face to sell an image, but used their product itself to sell an image.
Both advertisements excluded the price of their product, but stated where to find it. This is a devious tactic used by advertisers to intrigue the reader to look for the product and attach themselves to it before they know the actual ‘damage to the pocket’.
As the advertisements were catering for different target audiences, they both used different ranges and amounts of colour. The SO...? advertisement had an abundance of bold colour to attract a more outgoing audience and the Clinique advertisement used colour simply but effectively to craete a clean cut and modern appeal therefore attracting a more mature audience.
This is also shown in the amont of space used by the advertiser. Clinique left aproxiamtely 1/3 of the page white and one main graphic in the centre of the page to create a modern clean look but SO...? used every inch of the page to create an abrasive and outgoing look.
Advertising is a booming business in today’s society and magazine advertising is one of the most effective genres as it can persuade people to buy products through the power of manipulation.
In my own opinion, magazine advertising will never die out as it is so effective. Whether the advertiser is using a model, music, ‘bending the truth’ or excluding key information, it can easily be used to manipulate the public to buy unessential products either to look better or to make us feel sexier. At the end of the day, everybody wants to look and feel better and sexier, and as long as this need exists, advertising will continue to boom as it manipulates the public.
It is just a case of waiting, as, in a world of advertising where lying and manipulating the public is a growing trend, when will honesty die out?
