Compare two similar advertisements.

Media Studies Essay – Compare two similar advertisements

All advertisements essentially have one purpose – to manipulate the way we think in order to persuade us to do something that they promote. In this essay, I will be comparing the way in which two different advertisements, both promoting similar products, do this. The first advertisement is from the ‘Breitling’ company and advertises its brand of watches; the second advertisement however advertises ‘Accutron’ watches.

Firstly, both advertisements are similar in that they both make use of an aeronautical theme to promote their watches. Breitling uses the fact that its hot-air balloon was the first balloon ever to complete a “non-stop round-the-world” flight, to establish to the reader that its products are reliable and to provide an incentive for the reader to buy. Accutron on the other hand uses the fact that NASA chose to utilize its “timekeeping technology for America’s first trip to the moon” as a persuasive factor. In an expedition of such a great scale such as the trip to the moon, only the best, most reliable equipment would be used and so Accutron highlights this in order to emphasise on the quality of its watches.

When looking at both the Breitling and the Accutron adverts it is instantly clear who the advertiser is. The name ‘Breitling’ appears in several places such as the hot-air balloon, the text and the watch itself in the Breitling advert, and there is also a logo, a slogan, a mail address, an e-mail address, a telephone number and a fax number present. As with most Breitling adverts, it also has a distinctive image used only by Breitling. This clearly establishes Breitling’s identity as the advertiser and helps us to remember its name. It is also convenient for the customer if for any reason he/she needed to contact the company. In the Accutron advert it is similar, with the name ‘Accutron’ occurring on the watches and also many times throughout the text. Again there is a logo, which also mentions ‘The Bulova Corporation’, as well as a telephone number, an e-mail address and although there is no address of the actual company, there are the locations of several retail outlets selling their watches.

The layout of both the advertisements are similar to most typical watch advertisements where there is always a dominant, striking image of the watch/watches of a particular brand, which catches the reader’s eye. The Breitling advert is no exception with most of the left side of the page taken up by images of a watch and of a balloon and the remaining right side containing text. I think that yellow is used as the background to the main body of text to contrast against the light, bland silver, white and black colours of the picture, so that the reader is encouraged to read the text once his/her attention has been caught. The bland colours however have a different purpose of making the scenery in the image seem serene, peaceful and calm, therefore making us feel relaxed. In the Accutron advert on the other hand, the colours are very different. Black is the major colour present and is the colour of the background from which the text and images stand out. The advert is also much simpler and has more empty areas, most probably to resemble outer space, which is its main theme. In this advert the colour of the text is white, the opposite colour to the background, so that it stands out and is easier to read. Conversely, the text in the Breitling advert is written is black and because it is on a yellow background, it too stands out. In both the adverts there is also variation in the sizes of different parts of the text. The size of text used most commonly throughout is quite small and neat and this makes the adverts classy because they don’t try to be flashy. Advertisements, which use big, flashy fonts of many different colours, can be seen as cheap and these two adverts are very different. However there are some parts which are larger than the rest, for example the Accutron advert has a phrase saying: “PERHAPS IT’S WORTHY OF YOUR WRIST.” This phrase is written in a font much larger than that of the surrounding text and is also in bold to stand out and to encourage the reader to read it. Similarly, if we imagine the advert as speech, that phrase would be stressed and emphasised so that we take notice of it. In the Breitling advert there are three strings of text that stand out from the rest. The main slogan, “INSTRUMENTS FOR PROFESSIONALS”, is one and the two headings of the two sections of text, “THE SOUL OF FLIGHT” and, “THE ESSENCE OF BREITLING” are the other two. The slogan is important and needs to stand out because it differentiates Breitling from other companies; the two headings however use impact language to capture the reader’s attention.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Images in both the advertisements are used for numerous reasons: to capture the reader’s attention, to make the advert more attractive and to help the advert in promoting its product. This is truer of the Breitling advert, which incorporates more images, than of the Accutron advert, which depends mainly on persuasive language. The main striking image in Breitling’s case is the image of the ‘Breitling Orbiter 3’ flying over snowy mountains. Used in conjunction with the language, this image has a large, almost emotional impact on the reader because it makes the reader feel free and adventurous and makes him/her want to perform the mentioned trip around the world. It could even cause the reader to imagine himself or herself flying on the balloon and to fantasize about what it would be like. In the Accutron advert, images are used to a lesser extent, but the main striking image is that of the two watches. Both the images of the two brands of watches in both adverts are made to look more attractive in the same way. A light is shone on them and they are placed at an angle so that the light reflects off their surfaces and enhances their appearances, making the watches look shiny, modern and high-tech. In the case of the Accutron advert, there is also a white glow around the watches, making them stand out and seem special. Another striking, less obvious image in the Accutron advert is the image at the bottom of the page, which is ambiguous and could be interpreted as a number of things. Could it be a space rocket taking off? Or is it some sort of laser beam or ray of light? It is unclear what it is but what is does is help lay emphasis on the space theme of the advert by making it seem more modern and space age.

Language plays an essential role in both advertisements and is as important as, if not more than, the images. The Breitling advert in particular, uses extremely persuasive, effective language, which is quite formal in tone, whereas the Accutron advert uses fairly informal language, which is mainly centred on their watches. In the opening paragraph of the Breitling advert, the language immediately has a large impact on the reader. It arouses the adventurous spirit within us and stimulates our imaginations in order to connect with us. The opening lines consist of several short, striking sentences and the way in which they are set out implies a small pause in between each one where the reader can envision what the sentences insinuate. For example the opening sentence, “Flying to the ends of the earth.”, paints an audacious image of flying to the extreme ends of the globe and seeing and feeling new things. Sentences like those are fairly unambiguous, but sentences like, “Fulfilling a dream.”, are open to different views of what the “dream” is and encourages the reader to think about his/her dreams, which are different for each person. In doing this, the advert establishes a connection between peoples’ dreams and Breitling’s watches and thus suggests that their watches can make dreams come true without directly stating it. The entire first paragraph is similar because by saying that their products “played a premier role” in helping Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones achieve great things, the advert indirectly suggests that by buying their products, we too could achieve great things. Basically the language puts across a feeling of achievement, success and triumph and in a way, links these features with their watches in order to make them more appealing and to persuade readers to buy. Striking phrases like “recapturing the very soul of”, “noble challenge”, “triumph of daring and perseverance” and “conquest of the skies”, are further examples of the exceptionally effective language incorporated in the advert. In the case of the Accutron advert, the language persuades in a different way altogether. The effect it pushes for is much more simple and what it does is talk about Accutron’s achievements in attracting important people to buy its products. When it says “Accutron has travelled to the moon”, it could mean that a space shuttle or an astronaut utilized Accutron’s timekeeping technology, when it says “been presented to royalty”, it could mean that their watches were presented as a gift to someone of royal status, and when it says “flown on Air Force One”, it could mean that the President or someone connected with him, used their watches. These opening few sentences are basically the basis for the next line, which sarcastically suggests that ‘perhaps’ the watches are worthy of our wrist. It is sarcastic because by comparing the important people who bought Accutron’s watches with the reader, the advert is implying that if the watches was good enough for them, it should definitely be good enough for us; the ordinary people. So in reality the advert is actually saying that Accutron’s watches are more than worthy of our wrists because they are so good.

The second section of text in the Breitling advert has a main purpose of promoting Breitling’s new ‘Emergency’ watch. It advertises the watch’s features, and makes it seem special and unique with the use of words such as “first ever” and “limited series”. The advert also uses another means of further persuading people to buy its products in this section, in the form of a donation to a charity called the ‘Winds of Hope Foundation’ for every watch sold. A similar feature is not present on the Accutron advert and this gives Breitling an edge in terms of reputation with its customers. When readers see that part of their money is going to a worthwhile cause, there is an added incentive to buy because it makes us feel like we are doing something good for society. However the reader isn’t informed by the advert of what the charity is, what it does or what the money donated is going to be used for. Instead of a charitable cause, the Accutron advert further persuades people to buy its watches by offering a “25 year limited warranty”. This shows that they are confident of their watches and also gives a sense of security to the reader because we feel that we can get something back for our money if we are not satisfied. There is also the fact that the watch is “Swiss made” and since Swiss made products are usually seen as being of high quality, it adds to the reader’s confidence of the product.

In both the advertisements there is a striking, ending sentence, which aims to leave an impact on the reader and also leave the reader with something to remember once he/she has finished going through the adverts. This sentence comes in the form of “One simply does not become an aviation supplier by chance.” in Breitling’s case and suggests that Breitling became an aviation supplier not by chance but by something else, the something else is not specified but readers are expected to interpret it as things such as quality of products and reliability. This is because in the world of aviation, equipment of a high standard and reliability is essential. In the Accutron advert however the ending sentence is “Accutron is the watch whose time has come.” Its desired effect and meaning is quite different to that of Breitling’s and it basically implies that Accutron is the ‘watch of now’, ‘the watch of today’ or in other words it is the watch to buy at this moment in time because it is better and stands out from the competition.

In conclusion, both advertisements do a good job of fulfilling their purposes of persuading readers to buy their watches and effectively convincing readers that their watches are better than the competition. However if I were to choose which one advert had most influence in convincing me, I would definitely pick the Breitling advert. Although the Accutron advert did persuade me to some extent, it is still relatively simple and not very eye catching or attractive. The advertising technique of using sarcasm is adequate but could have been done much better, as could have the text on the whole in persuading the reader. The Breitling advert on the other hand is extremely effective in standing out from other adverts and is very successful in making the reader, including me, remember it. It incorporates striking, effectual images that in addition to playing with the readers feelings and imagination, also makes the advert look attractive and eye catching. The language used is powerful and has a large impact on the reader, and the choice of vocabulary is excellent, leaving the reader feeling exactly the way the advert aims for. Lastly, the idea of donating money to charity for every watch sold is very clever and as well as providing a further incentive for the reader to buy, also enhances Breitling’s reputation with the public and manipulates the reader into trusting and feeling more comfortable buying from them.