The chosen characters in this advert are all being used as role models for the audience. The first woman in particular seems to be the perfect housewife. Her kitchen is spotlessly clean, and her hair and make-up is done beautifully, even though she has only been cooking the dinner. When she washes the plate, it requires no effort for them to become brilliantly clean and sparkling. She has the kind of stereotypical television lifestyle that many people would love to have. As people want to be like her, they will also want the things she has, like the washing up liquid. When she washes the plate, the light focuses on this rather than her, as it shows the wonderful result the product has achieved, and draws your attention to it. Throughout the shots she appears in, her facial expression always shows confidence and relaxation. When she falls back on to the flower she closes her eyes and her body language is open as her arms are held out away from her body. This shows her confidence, and also shows she is relaxed in this situation. Her expression also shows hints of luxury as she falls on to the petals. In this shot the light is focused on her face so these feelings are conveyed to the audience. The next shot, the close up on her face, helps to reinforce these messages.
The next character, the man, also shows an expression of confidence and happiness. Again, his body language is open as he holds his arms up and out to the sides as he slides down the apple with the camera tracking him. As the shot changes from the first woman to him, the music also changes slightly, but not dramatically. A guitar is added into the instruments already used, which gives it a slightly more masculine sound to the melody. It also adds a more fresh sound to the music as the focus changes from the floral fragrance to the apple one. It is subtle but helps the scenes flow smoothly from one to another.
To make the next transition smooth, a cube rotation is used to link to the next scene of the woman bathing under the lemon half. The camera starts focused on the lemon, but then tilts down to a medium shot of the woman’s face. She appears relaxed and refreshed as she massages her hair under the shower, and the light focuses on her face. The camera then cuts to a shot looking up at her from below. This makes her seem like a role model, as she appears higher up than the audience and you are looking up to her example and how relaxed and happy she looks from buying this product.
All three of the characters appear happy to be associated with the washing up liquid. The bright, modern colours used in the advert, with the young characters make the advert appealing to the younger audience. The advert attempts to make washing up seem ‘cool’ at a time when there is so much competition with dishwashers.
You do not immediately realise that this is an advert for washing up liquid, as first impressions suggest that it is for some kind of toiletry. It is not until the third shot, where the camera cuts to a close up of the product briefly that you find out what it is for. The beginning of the advert uses the typical rich colours used for a perfume advert, and the image of luxury when the woman fall back on to the flower is quite stereotypical of what you expect from a classic perfume advert. The dialogue of the voice over also leads you to believe that this is a perfume advert, as it says, “Indulge yourself in a refreshing floral fragrance that you can only get…” and then it does not say the name of the product until we see the close up on the bottle. This part of the advert also helps it appeal to slightly older women, as this is the type of perfume advert that you usually see for more mature fragrances rather than younger perfumes like Calvin Klein or Tommy Girl.
By using a parody of a perfume commercial in the advertisement, it increases the effectiveness of the advert. Once you have seen this advert, every time you see a perfume advert that is similar, you will think of the washing up liquid. Fairy are using piggy back advertising to promote their product and get the most out of the advert possible without having to show it too many times, and therefore spend too much money. The fact that the product is emphasised most at the beginning of the advert, right after the woman falling back into the flower, and while the pink and red colour scheme is still being used makes the link between the perfume advert and the washing up liquid stronger in your mind.
At the end of the advert we hear the slogan, “a fresh approach to washing up” and also see in it superimposed along the bottom of the screen for the last two shots. The voice we hear for this, as well as the rest of the voice over during the advert is Amanda Burton. She is a popular TV character, who always plays the role of strong woman in dramas, like Silent Witness. Her voice is quite distinctive and she is a role model for many people, so by having her associated with the product it helps to make it more popular. She is also thought of as being quite attractive to many men who like the ‘strong’ woman. Associating her with the product also makes the product appeal to more men, who are a new group in Fairy’s target audience. Another advantage to using a TV character as the voice over is the same as using a parody of a perfume advert. When you hear Amanda Burton’s voice or see her in programs you will think of the Fairy advert as you relate her voice to it.
The slogan is quite effective as it is short and memorable. You would know immediately what it is for even if you didn’t hear it as part of the advert, as it contains the purpose of the product it advertises within it. This means it is better than some of the other popular slogans around today, such as Nike for example, “Just Do It”. This slogan does not seem to relate to the product in anyway, so it would be difficult to remember what it was for if it had not been around for so long.
This advert has clearly been aimed at a different target audience to the old Fairy adverts that preceded it. This advert is aimed more at younger people that may be single rather than part of a family, as all the characters we see are alone, rather than in the old adverts where we typically saw a woman with a young child. Also the characters we see are much younger than before, so they represent the generation Fairy are trying to appeal to more. This advert is also being aimed more at men now as well as women, as we now see a man featured when previously there has not been.
The advert is trying to target quite a wide range of people, so it would most probably be shown on prime time television in the evenings, in the breaks of soap operas at dinnertime when a lot of people will be watching. It would also probably be shown later on between about eight and nine o’ clock when there are quite a lot of TV dramas and other popular programmes with large audiences. This would help make sure as many people in the target audience as possible see the advert. It would be unlikely to be shown in the early afternoon, between about three and four o’ clock when the children’s programmes are on, as not many people interested in the product would be watching. Also a lot of people in the target audience would still be at work at this time so it would not be worth showing it then.
