The Role and Functions of Advertising - Essay Example

Denotative The advertisement is a colorful picture filled with different colors; the most apparent of them are foundation colors, such as yellow, red, blue and green. There are also other colors like brown and black. These colors are various, but are contrasted with the bright pink of the ad itself and the writing of it. The first thing one notices when looking at the picture is the plastic figure of an Egyptian character, perhaps a pharaoh, an important person, or maybe just a simple and regular Egyptian, but not likely due to his unique hat-like thing covering its head. Also, there is a painting of a woman holding something on hear head yet still looking honorable. This may also hint at the fact that the Egyptian figure is important. There are two living characters in the frame, one of whom is a guy who appears to be in his twenties, wearing a green shirt, sweat pants and shoes which seem to be old and used. The other living character is of a dog who is brown and black in colors. The dog isnt fully in the picture and is partly cut out of it so we cant see his face and lower part of the body. Also in the room are several objects, the most visible ones are boxes filled with toys, most seem to be quite small and unrecognizable. The toys are in many different colors. The toys are unorganized as one box, on a closet stand is standing vertically and toys are spilled outside of it, and there are three other boxes on the floor with a few pieces outside of them too. The room also shows a disk stand which is full of many disks. These could be music CDs or ones with computer games on them. The disks are in different colors, most are in darker colors, and even the brighter colors are weak. Near the disk stand is a stereo thing and a weird-looking jar or container from either plastic or glass containing something which cant be recognized. The man in the picture is dressed casually and his clothes are even quite bizarre for home wear. His hair seems a bit disorganized, and the expression on his face is somewhat blank and lacks feeling. He even seems a bit sad, melancholic perhaps, lonely, or unhappy or disappointed. It is unclear, but hes obviously not happy or content. Connotative What the viewer is expected to see here is an ordinary man in his twenties standing in a room, most probably in his house, among the things he likes to do in his free times, things which express his interests and hobbies. Hes surrounded with toys and a great plastic statue of an Egyptian figure. He seems to like the figure, as he puts his hand on its shoulder, something which could be there to convey closeness. The grand size of the figure also alludes to the fact that this man loves things like that, and is maybe someone who is interested in Egypt or Egyptology. The Egyptian figure, combined with the many toys scattered around, some are very small pieces which apparently need to be put together to build or create something, suggest that this is what this man does in his spare time, and that these are his hobbies. This characterization of him suggests that he is a loner, someone who likes to be alone and also that his character is quite geeky, as these occupations for a grown man arent very common and suggest certain weirdness to him. The man may be perceived to some extent as a loser, or at the very least someone who prefers spending time alone with his toys and gadgets rather than going out and socializing. This man obviously doesnt have a very busy social life, and maybe has only a few friends, who are probably interested in the same things as he is. Also, this mans romantic life is most probably unsuccessful, and quite possibly even inexistent. This appears to be a man that doesnt really know how to socialize, much less approach women and talk to them, and this stands in his way and prevents him from developing romantic relations with women. He is probably an introverted person, maybe hes shy, and obviously doesnt connect very well with people. Instead, he prefers to stay home with his toys and dog. By the way, even the dog is far away from him, not near him, not showing any signs of affection, but is instead even partly cut out of the picture, suggesting hes not as important for the man as his toys are. This means that even his only close living contact isnt that close to the man. Ideological The inspection of the picture in a wider context of social effect leads to interesting findings. The pink writing and small pictures which are basically the message the ad carries out show a man approaching the axe mens body spray, then spraying it on his body, and then dancing with two women. The message couldnt be more obvious: axe mens body spray attracts women! This is clearly a brilliant way to market a product. It sends a message to all the men who see this ad that spraying the body spray on them could get women for them, which is something that virtually any man wants. The ad uses the desire of men to be with women or develop romantic or other relationships with them. The ad is even more powerful and convincing since we see the geeky man as the big picture, and then whats portrayed in the little pink pictures. The combination of these two means that even the man in the picture, who is anything but attractive (both in terms of looks, since his is ordinary and unappealing, and in terms of personality, since hes obviously an introvert who likes spending his time at home with his toys, and obviously doesnt know how to approach women and have relationships with them). The combination actually says that even such a man can get women and have fun with them after spraying the axe men body spray. This leads every common man to think that if that is the case and that man can get women, then he can clearly get women too. This ad is quite clever since it taps to one of the things that are most important to men- women. By using the sex card, the ad draws immediate attention, and probably succeeds in persuading men to buy the product. The ad is obviously designed to men due to its content and message, but also because the product is for men alone. There doesnt seem to be a distinction of a certain class. Quite the opposite, the ad tries to show that every man can get women after using the axe mens body spray, so it probably doesnt distinguish classes, and is aimed at all classes. It is the same with race. Though the man in the picture is white, the ad is very general and approaches men of all races. As far as sexuality, the ad undoubtedly approaches straight men alone, since it is offering a "reward" of getting women after spraying the body spray. The world view that this ad presents is that by spraying the axe mens body spray, every man can get closer to women and have contact with them. The desire which is implied is mens desire to be with women and have some contact and closeness with them. The ad also tries to boldly challenge the status quo, claiming that everything a man needs to get women to be attracted to him and be with him- is the axe mens body spray. It claims that nothing more is needed in order for women to be attracted to them. No looks or personality are mentioned and they dont seem to be needed; the only thing that the ad claims to matter is the smell of men after using the axe mens body spray, which is enough to get women to want them. This is the brilliance of this ad, and why it is probably successful. Read More