The Truth Behind Advertising

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The Truth Behind Advertising

During the first ads of the century, the media has always tried to send hidden messages through the ads telling you to buy their product. However, as times have changed, so too have the methods of trying to manipulate the buyer to buy a certain product. The first ads were originally conservative and not as sexually explicit as they are today. However, today, many ads are very sexually explicit and show both men and women as sexual objects. There are many ads that also contain implicit messages that make the reader self conscious of their looks. One of these ads was a two page add in the October issue of Maxim. The ad is an advertisement for DKNY The Fragrance. This ad is sexually explicit and causes men to believe that women will desire them if they purchase this product.

The ad is a two-page ad with multiple colors that attract the reader's attention. The man is fit with a tight short sleeve t-shirt and a slightly rugged face. His hair is combed fashionably and his eyes are looking at something in the distance. The woman next to him appears to look like a model whose face is very close to the man's face. She looks as if she is just about to kiss him. The woman appears to be touching the man in an erotic manner by placing her hand gently on his chest. She is wearing a low cut sequin top that quickly catches your eye. Both are wet from what appears to be heat and sweat, if not water. Next to them is the picture of the bottles of the cologne and at the bottom of the add it simply states, "Now for Men." The back round is simple and contains smeared colors of black, orange, blue, teal, white, and many lighter shades of those colors. After further examining the ad, I noticed t...

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... and woman were first looking at the ad, the woman would most likely see the man first and the men would most likely see the woman first. By using a man and a woman the ad appeals to both men and women and broadens the variety of buyers for this product.

The DKNY ad for their new fragrance greatly shows the medias attempt to manipulate consumers. The ad not only attempts to manipulate the viewer, but it is also very sexual explicit and is very intense. This particular manipulative ad and others like it can be seen everywhere in today's society and are basically all that companies use to attract buyers. They are the most popular type of ads because they are very successful in manipulating the buyer. However, as time continues, the ads seem to become more and more explicit and to continue to push the boundaries of what is acceptable by the public today.

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