Calvin Klein's Advertisement - Essay Example

Minjea Park Robert Williams English 124 13 April One for him!! One for her!! The way to be! In a recent Calvin Klein advertisement there are various themes which have been put into consideration and have been considerably used to put forward the message intended by the seller to the probable buyers. Some of these themes include love and romance, relationships, and beauty or overall physical appearance. The purpose of these themes is to pinpoint and draw in an audience; one that is interested in the thing being advertised. One look at the advertisement reveals many of the purposes for which it was created. The product advertised is a fragrance which is meant to be advertised in a magazine based on fashion, one that both sexes would read, such as Osmoz. In this advertisement, the target audience is both sexes. According to the photographs in the ad, we can clearly see that both these people are young, so the advertisement is meant for the young generation. Both of them are also very good-looking, even though they are wearing plain clothing, which helps to focus more on their beauty. They are both making physical, sensual contact with each other, which shows the supposed effect of the fragrance. Also, we can see that the involvement of both sexes shows us that the product at hand should be used by both the male and the female population. On the other hand, it’s clearly evident that the advertisement, which involves introducing a new product into the market, is meant to call attention to the product so that the target audience can be attracted to it, like it and at the end of the day purchase the product. The person viewing the advertisement is made aware that the fragrance is new because only new items usually end up in magazines, since those are the ones that the companies feel an audience would like. The advertisement also clearly states that the product is new, prompting the audience to want to give this new fragrance a try. Through this presentation, the audience is enticed to try the effect of the fragrance for themselves. Similarly, there is a message in this advertisement that is somehow overt and has been used to attract the probable buyers of the fragrance. In this case, the fragrance is meant to make the buyer feel good and also make the person be more desirable to others. According to the press release, “CK One is about connecting with the group, CK Be is about connecting with yourself, and CK IN2U is all about connecting with another person” (Osmoz). In a more hidden meaning which acts as a reinforcement to the previous message, the user of the perfume will be more sexually desirable. This is perceived from the closeness depicted by the two characters in the advertisement. The consumer has a probability of feeling prettier based on the scent of the fragrance, as can be seen by the appropriate gender in the advertisement, and will thus exude more confidence in him or herself. The look of longing and interest that the characters are giving each other has shown us this. The concept of confidence is depicted vividly by the female character. She is confident enough in herself to initiate sexual contact by loosening the other character’s belt, which means she is secure in her own actions. However, there are other messages which are still being put forward by the advertisement. The issue of gender inequality is clear. When you look at the male character, he is muscular and composed and more confident in the way he is looking at the lady. On the other hand, the lady is smaller, skinny and with smaller clothes which expose her undergarments. This message shows the male dominance over the female. The producer of the advertisement also seems to be targeting a mostly white audience. Both participants who are in the advert are white. This may bring up racial questions such as whether the product is only meant for white people or why black people are not included in the image. Looking at the rest of the magazine, it may also be concluded that the producer simply feels that the audience will be mostly white people and so is playing towards that specific audience. Furthermore, in capturing the attention of the probable clientele, the producer of the fragrance has vividly used sexuality as an approach. The closeness of the characters, the looks on their faces, the loosening of the belt by the lady, the fingering of the lady’s hair by the man also add up to a sexual scene. This technique tends to hold most clients attention, catching them off guard, thus allowing consumers to better remember the product. Another technique simply requires the placement of the advertisement; in the case of this specific ad, it would be found in a magazine such as Osmoz that is based on stylish, upscale clothing for both men and women. The validity of the advertisement is clear. The ad makes a lot of sense in that the message being put forward is quite possible. Fragrance is a substance or product that makes someone smell nice and so the message holds. When it comes to the present world, the young people have a high sexual attraction towards each other so this means that the option of smelling nice to attract the opposite sex is a true assumption. By this statement, it is clear that the advertisement is logical and effective. Finally, the producer of this advertisement was eager to obey Maslow’s Hierarchy/Value Need Appeals by focusing on the appeal of belongingness, love and esteem. The advertisement shows that the fragrance will make the wearer appear more appealing to someone else, thus giving them the sense of belonging to one person, as well as love, therefore boosting their esteem. This clam states that the person to whom the ad is intended should accept what is being claimed by the advertisement. In our case, the probability of the sexual appeal enticing the younger generations is quite high, and they have a high tendency of accepting this which will improve their chances of buying the intended product. In this age, apart from the basic human needs, the need for acceptance among peers is of paramount importance, so the target age has this need placed highly in their hierarchy of needs. Read More