In this essay I will be examining how powerful a poster can be in many different ways.

Authors Avatar

Coursework: Power of the Poster

In this essay I will be examining how powerful a poster can be in many different ways. A poster's purpose is to draw public attention to, or to promote, direct or indirect, an organisation, a product etc…

Sex appeal is frequently used in advertising. Everyone or almost everyone is attracted to the idea of sexy people although often the sex appeal used has nothing to do with the product itself.

'The One and Only Wonderbra' 1994, Playtex

It is an image of the model Eva Herzigova in her underwear advertising the bra, with the slogan "Hello Boys" in bold capital and fairly big writing. The poster stopped traffic due to being pasted on billboards showing Eva Herzigova looking down on her breasts and that caused national controversy, calling it "the poster image of the 90s". Campaign's editor, Stefano Hatfield said "the idea had caused little fuss in women's magazines" proving that the media and the controversy was a key to Wonderbra's success. The poster could seem to be aimed at both women and men. Women might study the poster and think that their breast could look like Eva Herzigova, a desirable supermodel if they buy the Wonderbra. Men will study the poster and think that their girlfriend/wife's breast could look similar to Eva Herzigova if they buy the Wonderbra for them. Even if you don't have a girlfriend/wife you will still look at the poster. In my opinion I think the poster is a clever way of advertising Wonderbra's.

Join now!

Both posters are used to promote "beliefs" or "causes of action".

Propaganda is frequently used in posters to advertise wars and protests to get people thinking and convince people of whatever the poster is advertising.

The poster by Savile Lumley - "Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?" [UK 1915]

This is a good example; the poster has an image of a father with two kids. His daughter is sitting on the arm of her father's chair. The son is situated on the floor in front of the chair, playing with army figures. The girl asks ...

This is a preview of the whole essay