The advertisement I have chosen to analyse is a deal which Virgin Mobile are promoting in which if you sign a friend up to virgin mobile you will get £10 off your phone and a second sim card free with every Virgin Mobile priced over £89.

Analysis of an Advert

Portrayal of people in advertisement:

There is one person in the advertisement I have chosen she is a female aged around 18-25 there is also a plastic doll in the advertisement that’s gender is female the doll seems to be the same age as the woman.

The clothing code in this advert tells you that the woman has is a middle class citizen and she is a very fashionable woman who enjoys shopping. The facial expression the woman holds is a strained expression because she is trying to carry a life size doll done the street that is supposedly meant to be her friend. The woman is leaning the doll on her back to carry it done the street her posture shows us that the doll is heavy because by the expression on her face and her posture she is finding the doll hard to carry. The two woman in the advert including the life like doll’s racial group are white the reason they have chose a white racial group is because the majority of the population in Britain are white. A stereotype that is presented in this particular advert is that woman love to spend money and shop because she is holding lots of shopping bags this could also lead to the stereotype of woman are housewives and that men earn the money and woman shop and supply the needs to the home. The social class represented here is not signified but I would suggest the woman is either middle class or of a wealthy background my reason for this is the woman is dressed very casual and fashionable and does not look poor in anyway judging by her dress code. Other people that could have been included in this advertisement would be a real life friend to get the £10 off your mobile the reason a real person has been excluded is because the advert is showing that the woman will go to any lengths to get £10 off her mobile if that means the friend is a doll she will do it.

Technical Codes

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Technical Codes

The illustration of the advert is in colour the reason for this is because the colour associated with Virgin Mobile and all of virgin’s products the key colour is red so as soon you see you will notice its virgin another reason for the advert being in colour is because colour attracts the reader more than a black and white image would I guess another reason would be that it is in colour to show that the advert is in the present tense because when you see black and white images you can sometimes think that it is an old image or in the past. All of the key elements are in focus the point of the woman carrying a doll for her free £10 off to introduce a friend to Virgin Mobile is shown very clearly by the woman struggling to carry her so called doll friend so that she can gain her £10 off her mobile. The advert is about getting £10 off your mobile if you introduce a friend but an illustration of the mobile is missing the reason for this is because the company are not advertising a new mobile they are making people aware of the deal they have on at the moment. The advert is quite bright this could be to show that the actions in the advertisement are happening in the daytime. The camera is in a landscape angle the reason for this is so that you can see the woman struggling to carry her doll (friend) and how big the doll in the box is, in this angle we can see the whole set what is in the packaging inside the box of this doll.

Text included in the advertisement

The Virgin Mobile slogan is related to the image because the slogan is placed on the box of the doll’s box this is another form of advertising for Virgin Mobile to promote themselves. Other pieces of information we are given to help explain the images is the words “Get a FREE friend!” which are printed in a big font and bold lettering so that it is are eye catching the reason is helps explain the image is because in the advert the woman is carrying a so called friend so the slogan explains the reason the woman is carrying a plastic doll in a box. The advertisement is being addressed to people aged 16 to 25 judging by the woman in the advert I would believe it is aimed at an audience of around her age.

Objects that are included

I believe the advert is set on a street judging by the surrounds that are a paved path and a brick wall the set could be on a high street because the woman is carrying shopping bags so she could be on a street that has a variety of shops. Objects that are included in this advert are the woman and the doll that is meant to be the so-called friend, the reason these objects are included in the advert is to show how determined the woman is to connect the friend to gain £10 off her mobile, a virgin carrier bag is also and object in the advert this is so that Virgin can promote and advertise themselves. The product does appear in the advert but in a different way, we consider a friend to be a human being where as the woman in this advert is using a doll as her friend. The colour codes, which are at work is that, the doll has a red packaging that is associated with virgin and we look at the doll and she has all of the bright colours a girls Barbie doll would so the colours they use are very striking to catch your eye and make you stop and read the advert.

The function of the advertisement as a whole

This advert is promoting a current deal that Virgin Mobile is holding which is if you spend over £89 on a Virgin Mobile you get a free sim card and if you connect a friend using that sim card you get £10 off your mobile. The narrative is “Get a FREE friend!” we make sense of this by looking at the images we are given and reading the details that are below the visual images. We are supposed to identify the woman struggling to carry the doll that is meant to be her friend so that we can see how determined she is and the lengths she will go to, to get £10 off her mobile. In this advert we are being promised that if you connect a friend with the extra sim to Virgin Mobile £10 is taken off your phone (Only if you spend over £89 on a Virgin Mobile). The values that underpin this advert is the big bold letters with the slogan “Get a FREE friend!” this makes you want to find out more and the images you are given are very out of the ordinary such as a woman carrying a life size doll along the street also in a large font £10 off is shown this makes readers want to find out how they can get £10 off this is a value of the advert. The woman is in control of the advert because she is carrying the doll in the box and bringing the friend into the shop to connect to Virgin so that she can gain her £10 off also the woman is in control because she is the only real person in the advert because the other woman is a plastic figurine (doll)

The audience for the advertisement

The advert is aimed at people aged between 16-25 my reason for this is judging by the woman in the advert I would assume that is the intended audience the company was aiming for this is why they chose this woman of this age to be in this advertisement. There is no prior knowledge required to understand the advert because the deal is explained bellow the image I would say the only knowledge required is that you know what a sim card is because that is apart of the deal Virgin Mobile are holding. Publications this advert might appear in would be female glossy stylist magazines because the woman in the advert is very fashionable and the gender’s of the advert is all female so I assumed it is mainly aimed at females, I assume the advert might appear in the accessories area of the female glossy magazine because if they are advertising the latest mobiles when you see this deal it will make you aware and have an interest in the deal and find out further information. I do not believe this advert is any part of a larger campaign apart from the deal that Virgin Mobile are promoting.