Analyse the above advertisement with reference to
- visual codes
- layout and design
- narrative
What is an advert?
An advertisement never sells a product. It sells a lifestyle, a "future" for the audience. John Berger wrote extensively on advertising in his book Ways of Seeing. His conclusion on advertising, that it is a lifestyle, and not a product being sold may sound weird. However, it is pretty much impossible to sell a perfume in a print advert. It's a liquid that makes you smell nice. The producer cannot inform the audience of how it smells. So instead, the producer focuses on the wild and fantastic connotations of this smell. This is in the hope of building a deep and powerful association with the product itself.
Similarly, the ideology of the advert is not 'if you wear this, you will have a sexual encounter'. Nobody believes that life is as simple as this. The advert is selling the future possibility of an exciting, illicit and even dangerous love affair. You might well have an issue with an advert making these claims, so make sure you point this out in the introduction!
Introduction
The introduction to the textual analysis question should briefly establish the aims and intentions of the essay. In this instance, the candidate has been presented with a perfume advert. What is the purpose of adverts? What is the primary ideology of this advert? what are you actually trying to do?
Here's an example of what you could put, though it would be a bit wordy...
Print advertisements are a vital strategy for media producers in encoding the intended ideology of the perfume itself. Perfume adverts often use striking imagery, controversial themes and connotations of luxury. The advertisement for 'Guilty' by Gucci is no different, using a range of visual codes, a stylish layout and subtle use of narrative codes. It presents an ideology of luxury and sexual openness, which may both be attractive or potentially offensive to its target audience.
Visual codes
- Use of colour - Bronzed, golden skin connotes luxury and wealth
- Gesture - The male model holds the female model in a gesture that could either be protective or restraining
- Expression - Lustful And blissful, connoting the importance of sex in a relationship, and the importance of sex to the Gucci brand
- The gaze - models gaze directly into the audience's eyes in a direct mode of address, suggesting a deliberately confrontational mode of address (cheers for this point, Amelia!)
- Jude had a different interpretation of this direct mode of address, suggesting that the models are glaring at the audience, suggesting the audience are not the same status as the models, manipulating the audience into seeing themselves as inferior... until they buy the perfume that is!
- High key lighting - connotes elegance, sophistication and wealth by resembling a film set or a high-end fashion shoot
- Mise-en-scene is used to construct an ideal representation of both men and women. The man is idealised through his on trend designer stubble and tattoo, the women idealised through being slender and with makeup that contours her face. Both models are tanned, healthy, and certainly Photoshopped to emphasise their perfection. This reinforces the symbolic code of the perfume as a symbol of sexual desirability (cheers Phoebe for this excellent point!)
- Iconography of the heterosexual couple gazing towards the audience confirms the target audience are heterosexual men and women (though there is obviously nothing to stop gay men and women negotiating the image). The GUCCI logo and the ethnicity of the models suggests a white, middle class target audience, though working class audiences may aspire to the luxurious relationship being presented.
- The use of the shot type (somewhere between a close up and a mid shot) coupled with the model's lack of costume positions the audience in a voyeuristic viewpoint (great point Meena!)
Layout and design
- Font - clean and evenly spaced, suggesting the professionalism associated with the product (cheers for this one, Ryan F!)
- Graphics - The twin bottles of perfume, one for each gender, demonstrate both the differences between men and women, and suggest that men and women are essential for one another
- Lexis - The use of the word 'GUILTY' has connotations of criminality and illegality. This is confirmed by visual codes including the iconography of the tattoo of the male model. The product itself is therefore 'forbidden' to the audience, thus making it more attractive!
Narrative
- Male and female models create a binary opposition, emphasising the conflict and passion in the relationship
- Couple are presented immediately before or after sex through the combination of their expressions and their closeness. This presents an enigma code for the audience without explicitly suggesting sexual intercourse (this is important: the producer of the advert wants to be risqué without risking getting arrested!)
- An enigma code is created through the direct mode of address. Are we, the audience stepping in on a secret relationship? Are we positioned as a third party in this encounter?(!!!!)
- The Gucci logo acts as a referential code for the audience. Audiences familiar with the Gucci brand will understand that it is associated with luxury and costliness. Therefore the word 'Gucci' alone has many connotations.
- There is binary opposition between the black 'male' bottle and the pink 'female' bottle. This encodes the ideology that men and women are very different from one another, further emphasising the conflict between them.
- The word GUILTY acts as anchorage for the audience. The producer is attempting to encode a love affair as opposed to a common or garden romantic relationship. When the audience reads this in combination with the naked couple, it confirms the forbidden nature of their relationship.
Pushing for an A grade - polysemic readings and ideology
- The advert is not selling a nice smelling perfume, it is selling a lifestyle of luxury and sexual freedom to an audience. This is misleading and even manipulative.
- Marxists may believe that this ideology of success is purely to remind the working class how different they are from the ruling class. It presents a wealthy, white, heterosexual, young and attractive couple in a position of power.
- The male model holds the female model down in a gesture that asserts the power of patriarchal hegemony over women
- Gay and or non-white audiences may disagree with the representation of love and passion as being a solely white and straight institution!
- Sam J made an excellent point that the the advert is appealing to the largest possible audience by appealing to heterosexual people. However, we can criticise the fact that the advert essentially ignores the existence of gay people in order to do this!
- A religious audience may object to the depiction of pre/extra-marital sex. However, the producer of the text may be relying on this sort of controversy!
- The use of the word 'GUILTY' suggests that sex is shameful and taboo, which many audience members may disagree with
Phrases to avoid
"the white text stands out in front of..."
"the font is clear and easy to read..."
"the bright colours attract the audience..."
"the naked couple makes you sit up and take notice..."
The issue with all of these phrases is that they are common sense. There is nothing here that you need an education in media studies to be able to notice. 95% of people you ask will make exactly the same suggestions. So how do you avoid these common sense statements?
- Use media terminology consistently and in every paragraph
- Use the terms 'producer' and 'audience' rather than 'them' and 'you'
- Always explore why the producer has used tis technique, and how it contributes to the ideology of his/her message