Analyse an parfume advertisement and discuss the imagery it contains
Analyse an advertisement and discuss the imagery it contains. Evaluate the success of the advertisers approach and give reasons for your opinions. How would you adapt the advertisement to make it suitable for different target audience? Explain your approach using semiotics.
The purpose of advertising is to inform potential customers about products and services and how to obtain them. Every medium is used to show these advertisements, including television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, video games, the Internet and billboards. Semiotics is how we view advertisements all the time and notice all of the detail. Ferdinand de Saussure used his theory of signs and semiotics to explore and analyse specific adverts. We can evaluate how well adapted it is to its target audience. In 1974 Ferdinand de Saussure claimed, “Only a social group can generate signs.”
In order to create imagery, the advertiser has used deep rich colour of dark blue to attract the consumer’s attention to the perfume as this gives the impression of a seductive fragrance. The whole advert gives the impression of the night and this then shows lust as it is dark. The advertiser has been successful by using a dark colour as the main colour for the advert as dark colours create a sense of sexual activity in the dark.
The perfume bottle, for which this advert is for, is used to create the imagery of the moon in the sky as it is shaped like a half moon. It gives the idea to the audience that the perfume is sensual as it is shining light onto the women’s chest and she is posed in a sexual way with eyes closed and a hand on her neck. This imagery appeals to the consumer as it suggests that the perfume will make one become sensuous once wearing it.
The words, ‘Deep Night’ are used on the advert. These words are used to create an imagery of sexual activity and using the word ‘night’ makes the audience think of things happening in the night for example sex. The advertiser is not very successful and this is because not many readers will look at the words and then interpret it in this way. Instead of focusing on the words, the reader then focuses on the model.
The words, ‘The fragrance of love’ are used on the advert. This shows this perfume is the perfume of love, and so by buying it, this perfume can bring you love. This phrase is easily interpreted by the audience and so this makes the advertisers approach successful. Also the fact that this particular perfume is love bound for the audience is showed by the advertiser using the words ‘the fragrance of love’.
The model on the advert has her hand by her breasts. This reveals a lust for sex and a plea for men to buy the fragrance for their woman so they can engage in sexual activity aswell. The advertiser was successful by this approach and this is shown by the advert promoting sexual activity.
The models top in the advert is very revealing to the audience and her breasts are clearly shown. The advertiser has used this revealing top to get attention by males so -this makes the male think their wife can reveal this top by them buying this perfume for their wife. The advertiser was successful in his attempt to promote sexual activity and this is proven by the models revealing top. The model on the advert has her mouth open and the advertiser shows sexual activity by this. The advertiser was successful by showing a lust for sex and this is shown by the models open mouth. By making the model have her mouth open slightly, it creates a sense of sexual activity and makes the buyer want it even more.
The word, ‘ghost’ is used on the advert. This creates a dark image by thinking of ghosts. When anyone thinks of ghosts they think of the night. The advertiser has done what he aimed for by using the word, ‘ghost’. The advertiser was successful by using the word, ‘ghost’; this is because a dark imagery is created by this. The audience can easily interpret ‘ghost’ as it is there to put a dark atmosphere in our heads.
This advertisement can be adapted to a different target audience to women who are in their mid-thirties. The women would wear a suit and to show she’s a businessman which then shows control. Her breasts would only be concealed a bit to show maturity but still keep the seductiveness on a level. I would keep the colour purple because its do with passion. I would keep the models mouth slightly open to show a lust for sex still in there. I would keep the moon shaped perfume the same as it creates a dark atmosphere.
In conclusion I think the advertiser has done very well to get his ideas out to the audience and this can be proven by various reasons. The advertiser has used dark colours all over the advert and used a moon as a shape for the perfume bottle. He also used different words to give the audience a dark image and these words make them want to buy this fragrance. The advertiser uses the model to create a sexy image in the advert and this is done by short tops and her mouth being open slightly.
