Advertisement in the Far East Economic Review magazine in 1972 - Essay Example

Advertisement Analysis Introduction In today’s world, every commodity that we put our hands on has a million other substitutes differing only slightly in quality and prices. How a consumer optimizes his choices in a market structure as competitive as that of today depends on how strongly the good has been advertised. Advertisements are a way of promoting a product or a service through media or other print means. It is intended to influence the viewers or the readers to think that it is in their best interest to buy the product or the service (Spencer, 2004). It helps the audience believe that the good will benefit them and raise their level of contention. Since advertizing is done to persuade, it needs to be very creative and original to make an impact. There are often catchy tag lines associated with the products so that anyone who sees it also learns it and spreads the word. This essay seeks to analyze an advertisement published in the magazine “Far East Economic Review” in the year 1972. The 1970s saw a period of much diversified ads which were very different in content and appearance from today’s ads. There were more of jingles and poems in the advertisements and also they contained some sexually discriminating aspects (Cook, 2001). This paper will analyze an advertisement of an airline company called Malaysia-Singapore Airline (MSA). Styles and Strategies This advertisement uses sexual appeal to attract potential customers to use the airline. The advertisement poem is based entirely on sexuality to attract customers to choose MSA for there are beautiful airhostesses waiting to serve them early in the morning. Not just that, the picture that accompanies the text, shows a very pleasant looking woman standing amidst the passengers who are all men. This too is hinting at some sort of sexual discrimination that the airline seeks to exploit in order to get new customers (Goffman, 1979). Besides the critical sexist outlook of the advertisement, the poetry used in the advertisement is pretty catchy. Small verses are always helpful since the readers get them on their tongues quicker and they can relate to what they read when they are looking for a reliable service or product. The ad by MSA uses short verses, catchy words and sexual attraction to persuade customers to the airline. Identities and Representations Although the ad is about attracting all kinds of customers to MSA, the picture depicts a slightly different story. It shows customers who are well suited indicating that MSA would be a great service for professional elites. By doing so, it would attract customers who are at the wealthier side and can afford more airline visits. This is indeed a clever strategy by the airline. To the far right of the advertisement, all MSA routes are drawn. That is again a very important aspect in the advertisement. Even when potential customers would not want to call up the service to know of possible routes or they would not browse the internet for it, they can glance at the advertisement and find out if the airline suits their need and covers their required destinations. Using a map to do the job in place of listing down the routes is more effective since the viewer does not see it as information. It is more of a figure which does the job of text, very clever indeed. The ad makes no mention of age, race or creeds thereby attracting a greater number of potential customers. However, it fails to convey the services it provides for infants on board, if any. Often deals and other perks and services are very important to be conveyed through the advertisement because sometimes it is these that are more important to customers who find it hard differentiating one service from another. Contrasts Besides contrasts that are intended to be subtle, there are obvious color contrasts that the MSA ad employs. It uses a deep maroon background to attract the readers since magazine pages are often boring and white. Anyone who skims through the magazine is bound to have a look at all the colorful pages. MSA ad exploits this fact and uses a dark colored background with a sufficiently dull, understated photograph. The picture too is cleverly shot; the air hostess is wearing a very flagrant dress while the passengers are modestly dressed in white to enhance the beauty and attraction of the air hostess. The contrast of male and female has also been highlighted in the advertisement. It tells that MSA air hostesses are waiting to serve hot coffees to all their passengers with big smiles on their faces. This sexual element brings out slight discrimination as it would attract the potential male passengers more than the females and the adults more than the young generation. Although it would attract adult males, it would slightly discourage women from using MSA airlines since they are likely to feel discriminated. In this way, this discriminating strategy may not be very advantageous to the airline’s progress and good name. Aura The overall impression that the ad conveys is of comfort, luxury and pleasure. These are the essentials for any airline that is bound to succeed. Although professionals use airlines for work, whatever the case may be a luxury service is always preferred. This ad gives a very elite outlook to the airline which would help the airline gain customers who are well off and demand comfort. This way the airline would be able to charge higher rates at the cost of better comfort. Also, the advertisement by MSA shows the personal treatment the service provides, since the airlines industry has always been highly competitive this personal treatment can serve as a distinguishing feature for MSA. Meanings The makers of this MSA advertisement would have thought to show distinction in service, quality of service and sexual attraction in the advertisement. More than giving information about the airline, they intended to tell about what distinguishes them from other airlines-quality service. Also they used sensuality to attract the male passengers who were the main users of air flights in the 1970s. Of course, airlines are used for work and leisure both but a quality service which is soothing for the eyes too is always an added bonus. Although this ad hits hard on sensuality, this may not be the intended meaning of the makers of the advertisement. It may be so that since the 1970s was the era when not many eastern women made it out of their houses; they were in fact restricted to their homes so it was basically the men who needed to be attracted to use MSA. Also, the 1970s were very bright and full of life and so a poem that is arousing is just what was needed by MSA to allure customers towards its service. Since men were the main potential customers for air services in the 1970s, a poem that attracts them to the service by arousing their masculinity can be very beneficial for the airline (Reichert, 2003). Reflections The advertisement by MSA does not hint at any other realms of existence. It is intended to be a simple advertisement that hits directly on its purpose without dwelling on other unnecessary fields of life. There is nothing to be read in between the lines, it is all very simple and straight forward. This is a very good technique for effective advertisements since the reader or the viewer often does not have enough time to ponder over an advertisement. The advertisements that force the reader to think too much may be boring and may even convey the wrong message. Therefore, this technique by MSA advertisement makers is a very effective one. Any reader will get the gist of the advertisement without putting too much thought into it. Also, the picture that accompanies the text says a thousand words. A reader may just choose to see the picture and understand that MSA is all about comfort and luxury and he may be attracted to it by just the picture. Conclusion Since the MSA advertisement contains all the essential elements needed in the 1970s to make it a success, namely a picture worth a million words, a catchy poem, information and a logo it is bound to have done well in its times (Williamson, 1978). It can be criticized for the sexual discrimination that it portrays but that too was a need of that time. Sensuality was a very prominent feature in the 1970s and the sexual discrimination would lead the company to reap higher gains financially. Also, the MSA advertisement shows a very simple slogan, “A great way to fly”. This is easy for the readers to remember and so will help the company cash its slogan when potential customers will recall the slogan and go for MSA flights. Also, it shows all the routes catered by MSA which is informative but the pictorial representation of this makes it easier for the customers to remember and view it as subtly provided information. Therefore, the advertisement, despite all the criticisms is a very successful one. References Cook, G. (2001). The Discourse of Advertising. Routledge. Goffman, E. (1979). Gender Advertisements. Harpercollins. Reichert, T. (2003). The Erotic History of Advertising. Prometheus Books. Spencer, E. & Heekeren, B. & Boylan, M. (2004). Advertising Ethics. Prentice Hall. Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertisements. Marion Boyars Publishers. Read More