The word ‘testosterone’ is a male sex hormone. Therefore the term “Testosterone Fuelled” would mean that the car is full of masculinity and so suggests to the reader that the car is suitable for very masculine men. The advert seems sexist since it is suggesting that men are the higher sex since they are bigger and stronger than women, which is also suggesting that men are sexual breeders (testosterone fuelled). The advert is stereotype since it only appeals to men as it suggests the car if full of masculinity (testosterone fuelled) and that men are risk takers (genetically modified) which excludes woman from the advert. This could make the reader assume that the car is superior to other cars and that the car is faster and enraged since it runs on testosterone.
‘Grin Inducing’ means the car will give the owner a lot of pleasure or fun. This suggests to the reader that if he buys the car then he will be persuaded to grin at people, which refers to the phrase “Grin Inducing MGZS”. The phrase “Grin Inducing MGZS” appeals to the readers desire to be proud and grin at people. The three part list as a whole has metaphors in it which makes the reader think about the car as if it were something else. For example, “Testosterone Fuelled” suggests to the reader that the car is masculine. The writer also alliterates the three part list. The writer alliterates ‘genetically’ and ‘grin’ and ‘modified’ and ‘MSZS’. This repeated consonant makes it easier for the reader to remember.
There is use of jargon in the detailed technical information that a serious buyer might want if they are interested in purchasing the car, like financial issues. Jargons is also used to describe the cars performance and appearance which most appeals to a sports car enthusiast. For example, it says, “1.8 16v . 0-60mph, 9 secs . 16” alloys . Sports suspension . Spots tuned power steering . Rear spoiler etc”
Overall, the language has a lot of jargon and uses metaphor but does not have much colloquial language. Research shows that men respond positively to technical jargons. It seems to be appealing to a man, most probably a sports enthusiast rather than a family man. People can feel the potential and the rage of the car by how the car is described and introduced.
The ‘Lexus RX300’ advertisement starts with alliteration, ‘The luxury is hard to leave’. The writer alliterates ‘luxury’ and ‘leave’. This repeated consonant makes it easier for the reader to remember. This alliteration relates to the picture which is being shown. The reader can know the ‘story’ that takes place in the advertisement by the clues shown in the story such as the lonely moor, the hide (place of concealment for bird watchers or hunters), car advertised, disks thrown in the air, a man in the car with his gun out the window and a hunter standing on the moor. The reader can link the clues in the picture with the alliteration, “The luxury is hard to leave”, and so as a result the advertisement is trying to say that the man in the car is so obsessed with the car that he can’t bear to get out and go hunting. The advert also has some information in jargon about the car such as ‘automatic climate’ and ‘walnut dash’. However, the advert is not too overloaded with jargon and it uses colloquial language like, ‘fully loaded’, so that the readers feel comfortable and not intimidated by difficult language. The whole hunting image is continued when it says, ‘fully loaded’, this gives a sense of luxury. The advertisers speak to the readers in the second person since it says, ‘you can see’ instead of he, she, they, it etc. The advert gives some detailed technical information but overall the language is not overloaded with jargons. It seems to be appealing to an A-class, rich, middle aged man, rather than a young person who likes fast cars. People are made to feel comfortable about the cars luxury the way the advert describes the interior in the detailed technical information and the alliteration, “The luxury is hard to leave” reassures them.
Thus we can see how the advertisers use linguistic devices such as three part lists, alliterations, colloquial language, metaphors etc to persuade the reader to buy the cars.
The ‘MGZS’ advert presents the detailed technical information that a serious buyer might want at the top of the advert. Its font size is small since it is not designed to attract readers this is so that readers will not be discouraged in buying the product by looking at a lot of detailed technical information. The detailed technical information is BOW (Black on white), presuming the writing is black and the background is white this is so that the writing is not too bright and eye-catching so it does not attract readers. The main heading, ‘The Genetically Modified, Testosterone Fuelled, Grin Inducing MGZS’, is WOB (White on black) and is the largest font and brightest since it introduces the car which is advertised to the reader so that the reader knows what car it is.
The image of the car is shot from below at an angle that makes the car appear big and shows most of the cars features from the rear spoiler to the head lights. The lighting makes the car shine and stand out since it is shone at a dark background and most of the lighting is shining at the car rather than the whole advert. The image is cropped to exclude any unwanted images so that the advert does not have any unnecessary bits such as excess background. The advertisers only want to show the car, not the background. This is so that the image does not appear to be tedious and blank. The car is shown at an empty background so that the car looks luxurious and the readers will not be attracted to anything else other than the car. Underneath the car in WOB (White on black) and in small font there is the contact information so that readers who are interested in buying can call or go to the website to find information how to buy the car e.g. local branch. The WOB (White on black) effect makes the details bright and since it is underneath the car readers will not find any difficulty in finding the contact information. At the bottom of the advert there is more detailed technical information in a bigger font than the ones at the top of the advert so that it designed to attract readers. The detailed technical information is financial issues so they have to attract readers because of their low process e.g. monthly payment, interest, etc. The detailed technical information is on BOW (Black on white) effect so that it is clear to read and not too bright. There are also details which appeal to a sports enthusiast in bullet points so that the details are clear, neat and understandable for the readers although the font size may be small the bullet points makes the details look clearer. On the bottom right-hand side of the advert there is the car company’s logo, ‘MG’, so that the reader recognizes who makes the car and so the next time the reader sees the logo they will remember the advertisement or the company’s name. Underneath the logo there is a short memorable slogan, ‘Life’s too short not to’, this sticks in readers minds and are reminded of the advertisement or the company’s name.
Overall the advertisers produced an advert that the detailed technical information does not overload the advert. They achieved this by making the font size small so it does not attract the readers. The car is put in front of a plain background so that the car is the main attraction and the readers will not be attracted to anything else other than the car. They also achieved this by shining the light at the car only so that it looks luxurious and stands out.
The ‘Lexus RX300’ advert shows a scene which is set on a lonely moor where people have been and go hunting. This suggests to the reader that the car is aimed at rich people since people who go hunting are usually rich people. In the scene you can see a hide (where people conceal themselves to watch or shoot birds) closest to the image, the car advertised at and angle with the driver inside with his gun out the window, another hunter standing on the moor, two disks (thrown in the air for shooting) flying and the sun setting. Similar to the ‘MGZS’ advert this advert is stereotype but presentational wise since it only shows rich men which excludes large section of the society (women and poor or average people).
The car is positioned at an angle so that it reflects a lot of light and that the reader can see the driver. This makes the car ‘glow’ so that it appears to be attractive and luxurious. The reader can see the driver with his gun outside the window so that they can presume what is going on or the ‘story’ of the advert. This image also refers to the heading, ‘The luxury is hard to leave’, slightly above the car. The heading, ‘The luxury is hard to leave’, is BOW (Black on white) since it is placed in the direction of the sun is setting so that it is eye-catching. The reader can also presume the ‘story’ of the advert since all the images in the advert refer to the heading, ‘The luxury is hard to leave’. As a result the reader can assume that the driver has gone hunting but has not left his car so this means (referring to the heading) that the car is so luxurious that the driver cannot bear to leave and go hunting. The sun setting could assume to the reader that the driver must have been in the car hunting all day.
The picture has been cropped so that the main images (disks, hide, car, man hunting etc) are shown together since they do not need to show the rest of the moor. At the bottom of the advert (underneath the picture) there are details about the car which most probably appeals to a rich middle-aged man in fairly small font size. It is WOB (White on black) effect so that the writing is bright and catches the reader’s eyes. The details also include contact information, website address and telephone number, so that the reader can contact the manufacturers if they are interested in buying the car. The website address and phone number are in bold so that it stands out and eye catching out of the whole details. Underneath the details there is information about the car described in the picture and the cost. The font size is small because it is not designed to attract readers and is BOW (Black on white) so that it is not too bright and eye catching.
On the bottom right-hand side of the advert there is the ‘Lexus’ logo on WOB (White on black)and in bold so that it is eye catching and that is stands out. This is so that it will attract readers and reminds them of who makes the car so that the next time they see the logo they will be reminded of the advertisement or the company’s name. Underneath the logo the advertisers have included a short memorable slogan, ‘It’s the feeling inside’, so that it sticks into readers minds so that they are reminded of the advertisement or the company’s name. Overall, the advertisement is not overloaded with detailed technical information. All the images in the picture are linked together and refer to the heading so that it helps the reader to tell the ‘story’ that takes place in the advertisement. The contact information and the logo are in bold so that it stands out and eye catching. The car is put at an angle so that it looks big and catches reader’s eyes. They also achieved this by reflecting a lot of light off the car so that it looks classy and luxurious.
Thus we can see how advertisers use presentational devices such as camera angle, lighting, WOB, BOW, bullet points, slogans, logo’s etc to attract the readers attention so that they can persuade them to buy the product that they are advertising.
Thus, it is clear that the advertising media personnel are very good at what they do. They use a wide range of sophisticated, highly developed and linguistic techniques and structural presentation to persuade readers to consume the product which they are advertising. The advertisers make the issues attractive, entertaining and persuasive but yet clever which enriches the reader’s life so that the reader cannot resist buying the product. Some advertisers create a false imagery such as the lonely moor in the ‘Lexus’ advert so that the readers can imagine themselves in that position and so are persuaded in buying the car. However, despite their entertainment value, attractiveness, persuasiveness there are more important issues to think about. In advertising media, people are persuaded covertly to buy things subtly even though they cannot afford the product and the product might well destroy the environment. The advertisers achieve this by their powerful medium which draws on people’s deepest fears and desires. For this reason we must be discerning as consumers and critical of advertisers. There are also implications of such powerful advertising techniques for our society. There are environmental concerns like pollution and stereotypes are reinforced e.g. the ‘MGZS’ advert is very problematic since it is based on the construct of muscularity and it suggests that men are risk takers (Genetically Modified) and are sexual breeders (Testosterone Fuelled) which is sexist and excludes women from the advert. Similarly in the ‘Lexus RX300’ advert stereotypes of rich people are reinforced by presenting luxury and hunting which relates to prosperous people. This excludes large sections of the society, not only women but disabled people, ethnic minorities and so on.
