The advert began with music which becomes slightly heroic as the advert went on. Then a woman narrator opens to say, ‘Life is full of decisions, some of the head, some of the heart. Take your next car; will it have a catalytic converter that removes 95% of pollutions?’ This clever technique as it makes the viewers feel that it will protect the next generation. ‘Will it be cleans but loses nothing in performance? Will it have this at no extra cost? In short will it be one of the new generations of Audi’s? Vorsprung Durch Technik as both your head and heart would say.’ This means that the car is wanted by most people for themselves and their family. I think Audi has used a woman narrator as all the characters in the story are men and they want the car to appeal to both sexes as well as that a woman completes the family. The narration is asking rhetorical question, which makes the viewer think what type of car they want to purchase. The advert is also appealing to any race or religion as in the advert we see a mosque which shows that religion is unimportant as is race.
At the end of the advert the baby is born and as well as the father having a new son it also shows how the Audi reaches his destination in the nick of time.
I found this advert to be very effective. This is because Audi has created a media form that says the circle of life and regeneration of car manufacture. Also, because the contrast between night and day, rough terrain and even surfaces, shadows and light and lastly the heroic music and baby’s cry makes us feel this is a car we can rely upon to keep us safe. We see this clearly with the Audi slogan ‘Vorsprung Durch Technik’ which means everything that Audi, stands for advancing through technology and this advert proves that this is a modern and ideal car.
We have studied a number of product magazine adverts. One of which was of Oral-B toothbrush. It used cartoon characters – ‘The Incredibles’, a very clever technique to attract children. ‘The Incredibles’ is a new Disney Pixar film. It has a caption saying, “Brushes That Grow UP With Your Kids. Only From Oral-B” which targeted upon parents. It had some examples of tooth-brushes of different sizes titled from stages 1 to 4. On each tooth-brush, there is a cartoon character on it. It has a copy in formal language. The copy described some characteristics of toothbrushes saying, “With a unique bristle design to clean complex and changing pre-teen teeth and a Power-Tip designed to clean between those hard to reach back teeth. This toothbrush will help them clean thoroughly – even between the gaps!” To target parents it said, “Oral-B Stages 4 Limited Edition ‘Incredibles’ toothbrush…’ as it says that Oral-B toothbrushes are incredible and also cartoon characters ‘Incredibles’. It is an effective advert because it targets both children and parents.
We have studied a couple of Charity adverts as well; One of which was a TV advert for ‘Friends of the Earth’ focusing on the deforestation of rainforests. At the beginning an axe was being sharpened. It used narration which said’ “Thousands of people are made homeless. They are being robbed of lands, which was their from centuries. One acre of forest land is being razed every second.” In the video-clip, we saw elderly legs which were cut by an axe, and then we saw adult legs which were also cut by an axe, and finally we saw the legs of a child which were also cut by an axe. They have used a clever technique by showing legs of different generation cut by an axe to show that it affects us and will affect new generation as well in future. In narration, by using statistics – ‘One acre of forest land is being razed every second.’ They make people start thinking of future – ‘One acre in one second.’ At the end of advert, the axe is coming towards the camera means is which shows that if it is not stopped, it will cut us which indirectly forces us to stop or by donating help in stopping deforestation. They make us involved.
We have studied many Charity adverts in leaflets and magazines. One of which was a leaflet of charity called Oxfam. On the front of the leaflet is the Oxfam symbol. The symbol is placed in the middle of the page and stands out so it grabs your attention. They used soft pastel green colour as it associates with nature. On the top of the main page they’ve asked audience, “How can just £2 a month help poor people to help themselves?” By side there is an image of £2 coins. This image shows that £2 is not that much and your contribution will really help. There are three images going diagonal down the page and underneath there is a piece of text saying how your £2 could help.
The first image shows a man and villagers trying to get clean water from the well. Underneath it says, “In Sudan £2 a month will help provide tools for villagers to dig a well and give a permanent supply of clean and safe water. The second image shows a woman watering her crops so she can feed her family. Underneath it says that by donating £2 a month it will help supply 670 seedlings every year which will be planted out by local Ethiopian farmers. The last image is a mother holding her baby and a health worker giving the baby an injection. The text by the side says by giving £2 a month will help pay to train 2 health workers safe guarding hundreds of people. When the reader looks at these images it makes them realize how lucky their lives are and make them feel to donate to help the people live a better life.
At the bottom of the leaflet is a perforated slip to be filled in with your name, address and bank details and how much you are willing to donate. In hold it has asked you to return the form within the next 10 days.
They have also attached a double-sided letter, which is much more in the depth than the leaflet. At the beginning of the letter the director of Oxfam (Barbara Stocking) has apologised for writing like this and has asked for just few minutes of your time to read the letter. The letter tells you what diseases people are dying from and how many are dying each year. ‘Bangladesh – the world was shocked by the catastrophic cyclone and floods in 1991, in which 1,40,000 people died. Yet the same number of children is killed by poverty in Bangladesh every two month. The statistics make us start thinking and make realize how badly these people need our donation.
The language they have used on the leaflet is very persuasive. ‘These days £2 won’t buy very much. But if you give £2 a month to Oxfam your donation is stretched much further.’ The language used on the letter is soft as they are trying to make the readers donate money to help others in need. ‘Could you help some of the poorest people on earth, by supporting Oxfam with a gift £2 a month.
There are some similar and some different techniques used in these two categories. Some examples of similar techniques used in product and also charity adverts are: pictures, emotive languages, comparison, rhetorical question, colours, copy, caption, slogan, jingles, pun, narration, music, songs, creation of different atmosphere, subliminal messages. From above some techniques are same by used differently for one or another reasons like pictures in product adverts mostly are colourful and of well build people whereas in charity adverts pictures are mostly black and white and of sad and unhealthy people or animals. This is for two reasons – one because they need to show that some people or animals really need their help and also to fit all the expenses of advert in their budget. In charity leaflets there is lot more written in copy to make people understand for what they are donating whereas in leaflets of product advert there is a small paragraph shows characteristics of the product. The music in charity adverts is sad to show emotions. There are some techniques used in one but not used in another one like juxtaposition of images, nostalgia, imperatives, exaggeration of products quality, colours and images symbolizing the product are used only in product adverts. Alliteration, informative and negative language, statistics, dull colour, personal and friendly addresses, more copy, emotive pictures, sad music are only used in charity adverts.
Advertising has been blamed for a great variety of negative social impacts. One of the major criticisms received by advertising is that it forces people to buy things they don’t really need often by projecting negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, or guilt upon the consumers. It also encourages people to buy products by making them think that purchasing and consuming are the major activities of their lives. It also involves fears of inferiority upon the consumers by showing the normal person as young, attractive, wealthy and successful. This may encourage a person to act on his or desire for success and go out – purchase that particular brand hoping to become like the persons shown in advertisements. In this action, they spend lot of money which is they cannot afford. Moreover, stereotypes lead to amnesia and other confidence problems which can ruin people’s life’s and may cause in suicide.
However, advertising also have good side. Advertising can be used to increase awareness in society about particular issues and in so doing becomes a form of education. Anti-drug advertising such as “It’s OK to say No”, and drink drinking campaigns are two examples of how society uses the advertising industry as a means of promote public welfare. Advertising is a good way to inform people what is available to buy and if there where no adverts we wouldn’t know what to buy or we would have end up buying he same product and not trying any thing different.
Things mentioned above depends upon what we see in advertisement – information passed on or characters and their clothes.
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