What techniques are used to appeal to the reader?
– The advertisement has the image at a slight dutch angle, this supports the idea of there being a power imbalance between the man and woman. In terms of camera shots, the use of long shot helps establish the setting of the advertisement – it seems to be more of an office setting as you can see through the clean-cut edges of the building as well as the dark sophisticated colours of the image. It also shows the full appearance of the man and the suit the brand promoting this ad are trying to advertise. The advertisement also uses several aspects of the composition. Alone with the use of long shot, the ad also uses negative space to show that the two subjects as well as indicate sexual tension between the two subjects, if the ad was cropped to the just the man and the woman, it may give off the sense that the woman is trapped with the man. Something significant to mention is the placement of the woman on the steps to be the same height as the man. This could insinuate that a woman needs to be on “extra steps” to be on the same level as a man that stands on his own. I also find the framing of the man’s hand lifting the woman’s dress being in the centre is significant too. It could suggest that it is the main aspect of the ad that the brand wants readers to take into account and remember. Finally, the imagery of the ad is also used to appeal to the reader through the colours in the ad. Specifically, the contrast of colour between the man the woman. The way the man wears dull and darker colours suggests that he is more mature and serious, while the woman wears light blue that brings a more innocent and childish quality to her, the contrast supports the idea that the man is of higher authority compared to the woman. The setting is mainly dark colours too, this further suggests that the woman is out of place. Not only that, the body language and gaze of the man and woman are also significant. The man’s casual pose along with his cold and unimpressed gaze upon looking under the woman’s dress as well as the way he looks as though he is critiquing what he is seeing suggests that he is in control and in a position of power because he is not depicted as drooling over her. Meanwhile, the woman’s body language of lying back relaxed and her gaze that makes it seem like she’s in pleasure. This depiction of the woman suggests that she wants what the man is doing to her and that she cannot control herself around him.
What values does the text seek to make use of?
I find that the text seeks to make use of the idea that a man dressing in one of the brand’s suits would make them so powerful that they can make women swoon when they are not even trying. That can be seen through the way the text depicts the man lifting up the woman’s dress in such a casual way and her being so affected by it while the man remains unmoved.
How is this an effective advert?
It’s effective because it shocks the audience through the way it promotes acts that are generally seen as unacceptable. It is important to mention that it could be effective in the sense that it gets popular because it made a lot of people offended or mad. Perhaps it may not be the brand’s true intention but they may have purposely made the advertisement so controversial so they could get a reaction from audiences that could, in turn, give the brand and advert more popularity and possibly more customers. Morally, it seems wrong because they are purposely trying to upset audiences. However, the only reason why people could still remember this ad from 2010 is because it created outrage within a large group of people. As wrong as it may sound, in media, one of the best ways to be noticed is to be controversial. We can see this through the way high-profile celebrities like Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton got their rise to fame through being the subject of controversies. Like Oscar Wilde said, “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
