A Strong Woman Makes a Strong Ad
This advertisement was found in Vanity Fair magazine. The ad is trying advertising STARZ’s, a cable station, new tv series. The main focus of the ad is the pretty girl holding a flower. The girl has long, golden hair and a crown that shows very detailed craftsmanship. Accompanying this is a stone cold face; her eyes look dull but have an aggressive tone to them. Instead of the girl smiling, it shows her with a very serious facial expression. Her head is tilted up which makes her seem confident. It is clear in the photo that she does not have a shirt on. Her arms are neatly placed to make sure nothing indecent is exposed. Her arm that wraps around her chest gives off a gentle and seductive vibe. The most important part of the ad is her hand. Her left hand is gripped tight. Within her hard grasp, a single white rose. The white rose has not been properly trimmed, which leaves the thorns still intact. She grasped the rose so tightly that the thorns have caused her hand to bleed. Within the gaps of her fingers, blood trickles down. The picture of the girl is covered with the text “LOVE TO THE DEATH.” The ad uses varies techniques to get the reader’s attention, such as the need to be aggressive, the need to dominate, the need for prominence, and the need for autonomy.
This ad uses Freud’s theory that people have needs that are unconscious to them. The implicit message represented by this ad is sex and violence. The sex is shown by the girl being shirtless and the violence shown by the blood running from her hand, which is in a fist. Readers believe that if they get this product it will fulfill their unknown desires.
The main technique, that is clearly visible, is aggression. The stone cold face with the tight grip of the rose gives readers the need to be powerful though violence. This ad plays with the impulse of anger. No one in their right mind would clutch a rose that tight in order to bleed that amount of blood, which is why this ad is something that shouldn’t be acted out in real life. Readers see the clutch of the hand, and they too feel this anger to grip something so aggressively that it hurts. It plays on this need to be violent.
The need to dominate is represented by the wise word choice covered on the ad. The words read “LOVE TO THE DEATH.” It plays with the reader’s’ need for power and control. It is the need to dominate, because the achievement or the “trophy” in this instance is love, but this love can only be won by death. Along with the words saying it can be achieved once death comes, the hand gives the vibe that it should be won by violence.
The crown on the girl’s head is a nice touch to get a wide variety of views. The show brings in viewers who like princesses, historical dramas, confident women, and people who enjoy watching shows about the aristocracy. The crown on her head demonstrates the need for prominence. It shows that the girl is part of high society. This means she is probably an admired and respected women. Readers who see this ad will want to watch this show because if they watch it, they too can feel apart of high society.
This girl in the ad represents the need for autonomy. She is the only person on this full page ad. She represents an independent women being her own person. The reader sees this ad and thinks if they watch this show that they will be different from everyone else; they won’t watch those other boring shows on television.
This is an effective ad to use, especially in a magazine like Vanity Fair. Because it’s in Vanity Fair, the ad’s target demographic is upper class women. The show is on a paid cable channel, so people that want to watch this show must have the subscription, which is expensive. Upper class women are also big supporters of equality and female empowerment. They support women in high positions because their jobs are in high class professions. They are business women, lawyers, doctors etc.. The types of ad appeals in the ad doesn’t always fit the female stereotype. The ad not only features a pretty face, but supports many readers turning ideas about feminism, like women’s power. Women nowadays want to see a more confident women on television, and this as fulfills this need.
This ad has both positives and negatives on how it can affect readers. The ad does promote violence. It also promotes the idea that in order for a women to be powerful, she must be pretty and use her sexuality to get what she wants and needs. On the bright side, women see this ad and see a women as the main character, which is not the norm on television. It promotes the idea that women can be strong and be the controller of their fate.
