Good examples of advertising techniques would be the Levi adverts. They surround images to sell the product and use subliminal messages.
One Levi advert features a young man in a city apartment who wears the jeans. The man is what could be described as “conventionally good looking,” and is tanned, at the start wearing just boxer shorts. At this time many people thought that tanned meant you were healthy, and seeing a good looking healthy man wearing the jeans would convince many teenagers to wear them.
The man does some exercises, showing off his body before slipping the jeans on. Whilst he is doing this focus is upon the ‘crotch shot’ of the jeans. The man then looks in the mirror at himself, with a satisfied expression, as if he is thinking that he looks good, before picking up a picture of a woman who may be his girlfriend, or a woman that he is preparing to meet.
You can faintly hear sirens in the distance, which are usually heard when there is an emergency. These may be indicating warning, or danger. There is excitement in the air. The next shot shows the man lowering himself into the bath, with the cooling water in this scene being a dramatic contrast to the heat and excitement previously. At the end of this commercial the text “Now available pre-shrunk” is displayed.
In this advert the image of a typical single male seems to be portrayed. The man is conventionally good looking, with a good and fit body, and we are led to believe that he is meeting a girl. This is how a lot of young men at that time would wish to be, meaning that many viewers would aspire to wear the jeans which would make them more good looking, and more likely to get a woman.
Another Levi advert is set in the middle of nowhere, and begins with a man and woman standing next to their broken down car on a road which is surrounded by open space. The man is not what would be described as conventionally good looking, wearing a suit and thick glasses. Could be known as a ‘Clark Kent’ figure. A good-looking man stops and gets out of his car to help the couple. This man is again confident and well groomed, along with wearing Levi’s jeans. He is attempting to fix the couples car, whilst doing so he spills hot oil on the other mans foot, which is also in keeping with the theme of heat. The man begins to remove his jeans. The woman looks over at him admiringly, with the man she is with, looking shocked and stepping in front of her as if he is trying to shield her from the other man. This man is obviously not admiring the Levi’s, and by showing the less attractive of the two men not admiring the jeans, audiences may feel that by not wearing the Levi’s they may be looked upon as this man is. Once the man removes his jeans, he proceeds to tie the two cars together using his jeans. He then gets into his van and beckons the woman to him. Glancing once at the man she was with, she goes to the car with the man who was wearing the jeans. This is another example of how people in these advertisements are much more attracted to those who wear the jeans than those who don’t.
They then drive away, with the jeans helping to tow the broken down car. Whilst driving up a hill, the man who was wearing the jeans thrusts the gear stick sharply, meaning the bumper then falls off the car and the other man is left behind. We notice that the bumper falls off and not the Levi’s, which is showing how strong they must be.
This advert depicts the man wearing the jeans getting the girl, while the other man is left behind in more ways than one. The man wearing the jeans being admired by the woman seems to be a pattern throughout these commercials, as it has not yet been the woman who wears the jeans and attracts the man to her.
Throughout these adverts the men are all conventionally good looking, the woman are usually fairly attractive also. They all appear to have confidence. Also others always admire the men that are wearing the Levi’s for their jeans, and they always get the woman, as opposed to the men who aren’t wearing Levi’s which in one advert one such man got his woman taken away. Overall there is the portrayal of people that wear Levi’s being better looking, admired by others, and being attractive to others. This would convince many people to purchase the jeans.
