In the magazine advert the photograph is in colour, but the interior of the car is black contrasting with the brightly coloured teddy bears and the clothes of the girl and her mum.
The first shot is of a man looking through a pair of hairdressing scissors. After that he talks about himself a little, and how is angry. He starts talking about the car, and mentions all the extra bits (air conditioning etc.) in a bad sort of way, almost putting the car down and making it look bad. Then, at the end of the advert he gets his tie stuck in the door as he shuts it, and says "Gordon Bennett." All the time he speaks, he talks in an exaggerated French accent.
Humour is used throughout the advert. As soon as the advert starts, the Frenchman is talking in his exaggerated French accent and acts like a 'typical' French person, with spiky hair and an angry mood. He makes fun of the car and obviously doesn't like it, but at the end of the advert, as he shuts the door of the car, he gets his tie stuck in it, as if the car is getting its own back on him, and making fun of him. The accent and what the Frenchman says is also a humour point. He uses his accent all the time, speaking in English, but very French sounding, and mixing the odd French word in here and there, but at the end, when he gets his tie stuck, he says "Gordon Bennett!" which is a typical English phrase. This is funny because of the 'frenchness' in what he says and how he says it is completely thrown away, so to speak, and he becomes a typical old Englishman instead of French.
The advert is filmed in different ways for the two main parts of it. Black and white is used when the Frenchman is in view, and changes to colour to show off the red, sporty car, this may be to show that the car is better than the Frenchman, because it is in colour. The camera moves a lot, and is a little shaky when it is filming the Frenchman, and is backing off because of his anger, and is a lot stiller when it is filming the car, like it is soothing and steady. There are a lot of close ups and different camera angles during the part without the car, which also exaggerates the Frenchman's anger and jumpiness but only a few simple shots are used elsewhere, as the car is more important, and clearer views are needed. The Frenchman is in a room full of clutter at first, but then it cuts to the car in a simple white area with the lights visible, as if it were looking at a photo shoot for a beautiful model from a distance. There are a lot of short rapid cuts during the first part, and fewer in the second because of the presence of the car. All of this is trying to tell the viewer that the car is better.
After the curse at the end by the Frenchman, and the madness, a smooth English male voice comes in and sums up what they are trying to say, and is a contrast to the previous 'mad' Frenchman. This is said over the ending scene / frame of the advert with the writing about the car on it.
Over all, I think that Citroen have made a successful and appealing advertisement for their Xsara model, which would make the car more memorable, and therefore more profitable car / sale.
