In the Volkswagen advert the car resembles elegance, protection and high class, whereas the in the Levi advert, the jeans worn by the man emphasizes his freedom and his ability to control his life.
Target audience is important within an advert. It separates out the type of people that would be interested in a product of an advert; the advert appeals to a particular type of person.
In the Volkswagen advert the product seems to be mainly aimed at families with children because of its protectiveness. The consumer audience would be interested in buying the product because they also are interested in the supreme safety of their family. The Levi adverts target audience differs from the family target audience of the Volkswagen advert: it appeals more to men between the ages of 20 – 35 because at those ages you have less commitments, you are free and able to control what you want in that period of you life. The jeans would help you to ‘discover’ your independence perhaps, as shown in the advert, which is why many men would be interested by it.
There is great significance for atmosphere in a television advert. The atmosphere is made up of the music and sound effects, which are some of the first things that would catch you eye in a television advert. There might be catchy music which would help you to identify what advert is being shown and what product is advertised.
In the Volkswagen advert there are traffic sounds and shouting people, which amplifies the chaotic atmosphere throughout the advert, but to contrast that, a song is played by Billy Holiday called ‘God bless the child’. The soundtrack makes the advert seem more peaceful and relaxing. It seems that the sound effects of daily life represent the busy city, and the soothing melody from Billy Holiday represents the car gliding through the city ready to rescue the young girl. There is one particular line: ‘God bless the child who has his own’, which is played as the girl gets into the car. It means that a child is blessed if he or she has his or her own protection. Similarly the Levi advert has a soundtrack, but it conveys a different message. Blues music is played which does create a melancholy atmosphere that livens up once the man is in the scene. The line: ‘when I make love to a woman’ is said the moment the man in the advert pulls up his jeans and has a very satisfied expression on his face, and means that the man in the advert clearly enjoys wearing jeans more, than making love to a woman.
Gender stereotyping in adverts is also connected with target audience. For example if a woman in an advert were seen to be strong and assertive, then it would appeal to women who aspire to be the same.
The Volkswagen advertisement sees the woman in control of the situation; she retrieves the young girl from the distressing city and takes her away. But it is not just the woman in the advert who is seen to be strong and independent, there are men also who are arrested, making the woman to seem even stronger. It goes completely the other way round in the Levi advert: the man is in control once he puts the jeans on. He is independent and free, as opposed to the barmaid who has been rejected by the man for a pair of jeans. The advert tells you the jeans are better than a woman.
The use of colour in an advert is a clever, persuasive technique. It creates a mood towards the advert, which allows viewers to see the product in a different way. For example, if blue were used in an advert, it would make the product seem cool and refreshing.
The Levi advert uses very dull sandy brown colours with the melancholy music to try to make you depressed. It continues to be dull and lifeless, until the man gets out the pair of jeans from the fridge. Instantly things brighten up. The music becomes livelier, and standing out from the boring brown colours, is a blue pair of jeans. The use of the colour blue is effective because it makes the product seem cool, classy and modern. The Volkswagen advert uses only black and white, which are effective to the advert because it creates the mood of a documentary, going through the life of a distressed girl. It makes the viewer accept that what is being shown is the truth. The only time there is a ‘bold’ shade of colour in the advert, is when the car comes along. It is noticeable that all the other cars are grey colours, but the Volkswagen Passat is a shiny black colour that connotes a sense of mystery and emptiness. Also, because of its colour, it could be seen as a bold or strong product, i.e. the dark black against all the grey cars, it makes it seem superior.
Camera angles in an advert, determines how the audience reacts to the product. A shot taken from a low angle makes the viewer look up to the person or product. It creates a sense of authority and superiority. A shot taken from a higher angle looks down on the product or people, making them appear weak and vulnerable.
Compared to 28 camera angles in the Levi advert, is the Volkswagen advert that has 38 camera angles. The Levi advert generally uses normal shots to create simplicity in the advert, contrasting with the Volkswagen advert, which tries to create the opposite effect. To amplify the intensely chaotic city, various shots are used. A pan shot of the city at the beginning shows how vast it is, and a spinning crane view of the city shows how things are not in control, but the shots taken where the camera ‘shakes’, when the men are being arrested, gives the real feeling of chaos within the city. The Levi advert uses a pan shot of the product, going from down to up showing the entire length of the jeans. The low camera angle does seem to make the man the man have authority and respect. When he was not wearing the jeans he had normal camera shots, but when he wears the jeans the audience see him and the product in a different way. This particular use of camera angle is similarly used in the Volkswagen advert. When the car parks you see another low ground shot which, once again, gives the product authority and superiority. Both the Levi and the Volkswagen adverts are narrative, telling the story of the man, and a story about a young girl.
The use of slogans and logos in adverts hold great importance. They give the advert its own individuality and they hold reputation for the product being advertised.
The blue and white logo in the Volkswagen advert stands out from the black and white of the scenery. The shade of the blue gives the audience an understanding that the advertised product is modern and technical. The logo is a ‘v’ and a ‘w’ inside a circle. The simple logo also give us the impression that the ‘v’ and ‘w’ are under protection while in the circle, and the blue represents the peacefulness and tranquillity. The Levi advert is very different. The logo is the word ‘Levi’ in red, going down rather than across, and next to it the number ‘501’ in white. The colour red is effective in the logo because it connotes the rebellious streak you will have when you put on the jeans. You will immediately seek freedom not listening or obeying anyone.
The Volkswagen slogan ‘If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen’ increases the consumers need to buy the product, because it uses a simile comparing the dangers of life, to a car that has shown in the advert it can protect and rescue people if they feel particularly vulnerable in daily life. The Levi slogan ‘The original jeans’ uses a different approach to selling the product. Instead of saying how good the product is, as done in the Volkswagen advert, it says how successful Levi jeans are. Jeans have been around for a long time and Levi are that their company has always done well; therefore have always sold good jeans.
The adverts are mainly similar in the ways that they use the same type of camera angles on the product and they both use a narrative to advertise the product.
The main differences are: the Volkswagen advert has a family target audience whereas the Levi has a target audience appealing to men, women in the Volkswagen advert are seen to be more assertive than the men, contrasting with the Levi advert, trying to show that men are stronger than women, the colours used in the Volkswagen advert are black, grey and white, comparing with the colours used in the Levi advert which are dull sandy browns. The Levi advert has a sad and lonely atmosphere, which is almost opposite to the busy and chaotic city in the Volkswagen advert, and also the Levi promotes it’s company with use of the logo and slogan, but Volkswagen instead promote their own product with the same technique.
My opinion: Volkswagen advert: 4/6
Levi advert: 2/6
I generally thought the Volkswagen advert was more effective for these reasons: the product appealed to a larger and wider range of target audience, the use of colours created a better atmosphere, the use of camera angles was varied and it did create a better gender stereotype.
Although the Volkswagen advert was, in my opinion, overall more effective, there were certain areas where the Levi advert triumphed. It had a better choice of song and also used the logo and slogan in a more effective way.
