Advertisement Analysis - Essay Example

In short, consumer culture has largely influenced the way of living today. In the light of these, the following study text seeks to support the impact of consumer culture on society by analysing an advertisement based on the relationships between the aesthetic strategy and ideological message applied in creating it. In analysing an advert, two major aspects come into play; the aesthetic and ideological portrayals. The aesthetic aspect represents the overall visual sensation which is portrayed by the advertisement’s overall appearance.

In short, it is the visual appeal, and plays an overly important role in marketing. The ideological message represents an advanced meaning of the advert and is a simulated “feeling” which is transferred from the advert to the consumer upon buying (possession) of the product being marketed. These two are closely related. In an advertisement, there are three main constituting understandings; the overall (surface) meaning, the advertiser’s intended meaning, and the ideological (cultural) meaning.

The relationship between the three is that the aesthetic sensation adds up to the surface meaning while the ideological message represents the advertiser’s intention. These two combined, they create the cultural meaning of the advert thus its interpretation and execution of the intended purpose (Botterill, MacRury & Richards 2013, p. 81). Figure 1 above is a Vive Cuervo Advertisement. Vive Cuervo is an alcoholic drink. The aesthetic strategy is evidenced by the inclusion of different elements which create a composition.

The composition is made up of both images and text. There is the image of a happy couple in beachwear wherein man is carrying his lady at chest level. They are in embrace as he holds her around her buttock area and her legs embrace his abdomen. The lady’s hands are clutching the man’s neck tightly and they are both laughing out loud.