David Beckham is a popular figure in the world of the media and advertising. He has made appearances in advertisements for companies such as Adidas, Pepsi, and Gillette. An advertisement for “David Beckham Instinct,” a product line consisting of aftershave and fragrances, was shown in “People” magazine. He is shown in a head-only photo looking into the camera against a very plain, blue back drop. A picture of the product is placed in the lower right-hand corner. Directly above the picture of the product reads "Intense Instinct," with the icon of the product above that phrase. It is quite clear in the advertisement that David Beckham is authoritatively gazing into the camera lens, and hence, directly at the reader. This pose asserts that a connection with the reader is established. It addresses the reader directly, rather than not looking into the camera, and almost demands a relationship with the reader. David Beckham in this advertisement can be seen as saying, "I demand you to enjoy this product and its benefits." Klein reaffirms this idea by stating that "advertising has shifted from a focus on the qualities of a company's products to a focus on engaging consumers in an intimate relationship with the intangible personality or soul of a brand" (Klein 5-8). This is exactly what Beckham is doing, creating a relationship with the consumer. The underlying details of the advertisement lead to a product aimed at a middle-aged, middle-class male. The demographics of “People” and also “Sports Illustrated”, where the advertisement has recently appeared, reinforce this idea. “People”, although predominantly female at 87% of the readers, attracts a readership that has a median age of thirty-seven years old and a median household incom... ... middle of paper ... ...t is overloaded with subconscious feelings of prestige. It seems as though when smelling nice, one can increase his or her odds of attracting attention, clearly taking advantage of that natural "Instinct." What can be said about Beckham when it comes to advertising is limitless. His reach extends well beyond a middle-aged soccer player. The thirty-two year-old advertising icon has promoted a variety of products and has been successful due to his name in the world of soccer, his experience dealing with the media, and his attractive image. All of these appeals add up to an extremely marketable product, so don't look for Beckham to disappear anytime soon in the world of advertising. Works Cited Klein, Naomi. No Logo. 1st Picador USA Ed. New York: Picador, 2000. Maslow, Abraham H. "A Theory of Human Motivation." Psychological Review 50.4 (1943): 370-396.
The Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial was ranked number 9 in the most effective commericals. The commercial shows the different struggles that athletes in training face for the USA Olympics. The audience for this commercial is intended for both genders. Although the stereotype is that sports are usually for males, this commercial has a fair representation of both male and female athletes. Many of the female athletes shown are training in hard sports such as boxing and lifting weights. This commercial also included disabled male and female athletes which can also serve to be another audience. This commercial was promoting Dick’s Sporting Good athletic attire. The advertiser did not include an unequal representation of genders, also the commercial didn’t use gender stereotypes to please the audience.
The purpose of this article is to analyze a commercial and to inform about how that commercial was effective. Gray states that the audience of the Hanes underwear commercial is middle-class women, aged 12 and up. I think that the audience of Gray’s essay is also the same, because if men are not particularly interested at a
Common sense seems to dictate that commercials just advertise products. But in reality, advertising is a multi-headed beast that targets specific genders, races, ages, etc. In “Men’s Men & Women’s Women”, author Steve Craig focuses on one head of the beast: gender. Craig suggests that, “Advertisers . . . portray different images to men and women in order to exploit the different deep seated motivations and anxieties connected to gender identity.” In other words, advertisers manipulate consumers’ fantasies to sell their product. In this essay, I will be analyzing four different commercials that focuses on appealing to specific genders.
In the 1997 article Listening to Khakis, published in the New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell effectively paints a vivid picture of the thought and science that goes into advertising campaigns. Gladwell begins his paper by focusing on the Dockers’ advertising campaign for their line of adult male khaki pants, which he labels as extremely successful. This campaign was the first line of successful fashion advertisements aimed directly toward adult males (Gladwell, 1997). This campaign was cunningly simple and showed only males wearing the pants being advertised with the background noise filled with men having a casual conversation (Gladwell, 1997). This tactic was used because studies showed that Dockers’ target market felt an absence in adult male friendships. (Gladwell, 1997). The simplicity of the advertisements was accentuated as to not to deter possible customers by creating a fashion based ad because, based on Gladwell’s multiple interviews of advertising experts, males shy away from being viewed as fashion forward or “trying to hard” (Gladwell, 1997).
The advertisement being analyzed is an Old Spice commercial that was played on TV stations in the year 2010. The ad is designed appropriately for the advancement of the use of Old Spice body wash by men. It is a question ad that acknowledges the need for men not only to look good, but also smell sweet in an appealing way for ladies. Human hygiene has been a critical subject in civilization. In the 18th-century men were not keen on their grooming since it was believed that a man had to go out of his way to fend for his family. Most times men did not take it upon themselves to smell nice, but this perception has changed. The contemporary man has to mind his scent and the advertisement on Old Spice attempts to attract men into embracing the fragrance of their body wash. .
Have you ever looked through a magazine and found it to be really interesting? That is because you are part of its target audience. You are part of a group of people that the magazine is trying to appeal to. There is a reason Sports Illustrated is more of a man’s magazine and Family Circle is more of a woman’s magazine. The people that run that magazine put certain things in those magazines to attract their audience. More commonly, men are interested in sports and anything to do with sports. In Sports Illustrated, the reader would find sports, and that is it. The reader would not find an article titled “How working women balance their careers and home lives.” An article such as that would be found in a magazine like Family Circle, as it is targeted more towards women who have a family. For the purpose of this audience visual analysis, I will be discussing the October 8th, 2012 issue of People magazine. Looking at this issue and reading through the magazine, it is evident that the publishers do have a target audience in mind. This visual analysis will discuss who its target audience is and how the reader can tell. Also, the essay will discuss how the magazine makes the advertisements relevant to its audience.
Advertisements have been utilized for many years to sell products. The very popular company Old Spice, who is one of the top men’s hygienic production companies, is well known for their series of humorous advertising campaigns that uses references to the ideals of what a stereotypical masculine man is supposed to be characterized as. The Old Spice commercial, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” that first appeared during the Superbowl in 2010, illustrates that the company successfully utilizes the influence of humor, gender stereotypes, and ethos and pathos to connect emotionally with the audience and persuades men to start using Old Spice Red Zone body wash so that insecure men can become more of a masculine man that females will desire.
In conclusion, we can see how everything presented in an advertisement can actually have an impact in the people. Although the company’s target was to sell their product, their way of transmitting the message to the people also fortifies the stereotype. Thus, the media today does abuse the power of stereotyping in order to gain a favorable reputation. Everything they present in the ad, from symbolism to the lifestyle of the characters, race, age and gender, has an effect on strengthening the stereotype. In this case, women are perceived as emotionally drained, weak and incapable, although now a days that characterization is trying to be broken because women are much more than that and can actually get to achieve greater things.
Calvin Klein 's #myCalvins campaign features many different celebrities posing in their Calvin Klein underwear with the sentence “I________ in #mycalvins.” This wildly successful advertising campaign uses many different methods to make the ad not only eye-catching but memorable. The ad that this paper is written on features model
The Garnier Fructis advertisement, found in “Seventeen” magazine, promotes their new line of “Grow Strong” shampoo, conditioner, and treatments. The Ad features a young, attractive couple that seem to be happy. The first aspect of the ad that is noticed is the man, as he is the center of the page. The first thoughts that come to mind are that he is happy, attractive, and his girlfriend is caressing his head with her fingers through his hair. Next, you notice the woman who is beside him, the one caressing the man’s head. It is quite noticeable that her hair is long, shiny, and wavy. Also, the people in the ad are wearing fancy attire as if they are going to a formal event, which shows they are well-liked in society and are powerful. The product
In the essay “Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body,” author and philosopher Susan Bordo discusses the history and current state of male representation in advertisements. While using her feminist background, Bordo compares and contrasts the aspects of how men and women are portrayed in the public eye. She claims that there has been a paradigm shift the media with the theory that not just women are being objectified in the public eye, but also men too. Since the mid-1970s, with the introduction of Calvin Klein commercials, men have started to become more dehumanized and regarded as sex symbols. In a similar fashion to how Bordo describes gender, race plays a similar role in the media. People of all different ethnicities and cultures are being categorized into an oversimplified and usually unfair image by the media over basic characteristics.
Louis Vuitton and Dior’s advertisement portray a more mysterious aspect with few bright colors and the use of impassive emotions. Impassive emotions are classified as portraying an inexpressive face. The use of impassive expressions can also represent sophistication and confidence. On the other hand, the bright colors displayed in Coach’s advertisement make their brand look more youthful and vibrant and features the model smiling directly at the camera. Perhaps Coach’s advertisement displays a smiling expression, versus an impassive expression, to create a positive impression of their
The main purpose of advertising is to sell a product or service to the consumer market. Advertising uses many different types of appeal and a number of media to achieve a variety of goals. Advertising is the most effective means to get the word out about products, services, events, charities, and just about anything else that one can think of. Where would sports be today without advertising? Advertising in sports has helped the sports world grow into one of the most profitable industries in the world.
The absence of clothing has become omnipresent in today’s advertising. Some ads focus on the removal of clothing, while others focus on no clothing at all. This idea is ever-present in fragrance advertising, as it forces the viewer to focus on the product over the appearance of one’s clothing. The absence of clothing creates a very specific mood for the ad: sex. The ad is able to portray a meaning that is not even included in the ad just by removing pieces of clothing. Fragrance advertising, such as Gucci Guilty, uses sex as a tool to sell a product without knowing anything about it.
Advertisements are located everywhere. No one can go anywhere without seeing at least one advertisement. These ads, as they are called, are an essential part of every type of media. They are placed in television, radio, magazines, and can even be seen on billboards by the roadside. Advertisements allow media to be sold at a cheaper price, and sometimes even free, to the consumer. Advertisers pay media companies to place their ads into the media. Therefore, the media companies make their money off of ads, and the consumer can view this material for a significantly less price than the material would be without the ads. Advertisers’ main purpose is to influence the consumer to purchase their product. This particular ad, located in Sport magazine, attracts the outer-directed emulators. The people that typically fit into this category of consumers are people that buy items to fit in or to impress people. Sometimes ads can be misleading in ways that confuse the consumer to purchase the product for reasons other than the actual product was designed for. Advertisers influence consumers by alluding the consumer into buying this product over a generic product that could perform the same task, directing the advertisement towards a certain audience, and developing the ad where it is visually attractive.