Comparing the Two Advertisements for Mastercard and Halifax One

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Comparing the Two Advertisements for Mastercard and Halifax One

The advertisements that I looked at were both broadcast on Sunday 13th

March 2005, on Sky One at the primetime of 8pm. The first

advertisement, which lasted for the duration of 30 seconds, was for

Mastercard and took the genre of a romantic comedy and the theme of

revenge. The second advertisement, which lasted the same duration,

was for Halifax One and took the genre of Bollywood and the theme of a

playboy lifestyle. The genres of the two ads were quite different,

but they both used similar advertising methods in order for their

advert to sell the product, both promoting credit card banking.

Advertisement 1 opened with a salacious shot of an attractive woman

trying on a dress in a changing room. The opening scene is prurient;

the woman will appeal to men in general. The implication of her

getting changed shows a stereotypical heterosexual appeal to men. The

scene of the woman in the changing room is carefully shot so we just

miss seeing her naked. The background lighting is low key; film noir

lighting is used, enabling the viewers to focus only on the woman

being shown through two curtains. We get the feeling we are looking

into an intimate view of her world. The start of the ad shows sex

appeal, a theme that continues throughout the advert. Lettering

appears in the top right hand corner saying: New dress £130

There is a voice over the theme music reading what the writing says.

The voice pauses in places for impact, is deep and resonant appealing

to women’s actions and behaviour. Non diagetic sound is being

cleverly used here.

To start off...

... middle of paper ...

...better than the Halifax

advert, and will be very successful in influencing their target

audience. The whole advert is very successful. Aimed at professional,

affluent, well-educated single women in their early 20’s, it gives an

independent and powerful message. The locations used are realistic,

as are the characters. Flattering lighting is used throughout and the

shots are carefully put together to give an all round well-directed

advertisement. Evidence to support my preference of ads would be the

wide variety in shots and camera angles throughout the advert making

it interesting to watch. The pace throughout is relaxed; the message

of the advert is clear from the acting of the characters. Overall, it

fully satisfies the criteria for a good advertisement, and

successfully promotes Mastercard credit card banking.

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