Approaches To Textual Analysis Of Advertising

Approaches To Textual Analysis Of Advertising 

Humour in Advertising 

In this advert for 'Evian' water, we are presented with a group of babies dancing to hip hop music. This advert is considered funny by many viewers as it is impossible for new born babies to even walk let alone break dance, so this unusual concept for an advert remains in peoples minds long after the campaign has ended. Evian uses the line 'Let's observe the affect of Evian on you body' before showing this clip which creates an exaggerated interpretation of the energy this water gives you, making the product more appealing. Some viewers may not find this advert funny due to the fact that they may not find children/babies entertaining and prefer a more mature comedic angle.

Repetition (Slogan) in Advertising

The use of a slogan in the Haribo adverts, adds a fun and memorable jingle to a famous brand which only adds greater credibility to any of their advertising campaigns. The jingle 'Kids and Grown-ups love it so... The happy world of Haribo' is not only catchy due to the rhyming pattern but the way it is sung on the adverts allows for it to be stuck in the viewers head. This phrase is used not only on Haribo adverts but also on all of their products. This slogan opens up Haribo's target audience from just young children to people of any age, giving the company a wider selling point. Also this statement may allow people to create a personal identify with the brand as it could be seen to represent a very family orientated sweet that could be enjoyed by the whole family. The colourful, upbeat and catchy feeling of the slogan gives the brand a truly happy wipe as a sweet brand should. 

Use of Shock Tactics in Advertising

This television advert for Barnardo's is extremely shocking to the viewer in a variety of ways. The clips shown demonstrate aspects of violence and abuse being done to a teenage girl and her after her abuse, abusing someone else. Bernardo's have decided to present her as the abused and the abuser because it presents to the audience how the harm she has been through has corrupted her and turned her into what she most despised. The fact that she is a young female only further causes shock and distress to the viewer as girls, especially teenage girls, are perceived as more vulnerable and fragile when compared to boys. This fact causes the audience to feel a need to nurture and also to protect the girl as most people know someone or are someone of this age and gender so they feel a personal connection to her, making them more likely to donate. The way in which the clips are repeated over and over again throughout the entirety of the advert, gives the impression of entrapment to the audience as this young girl being abused has no way to escape or no sign of help, she must endure this everyday. Also the repetition along with the text at the end 'The story will keep repeating itself', makes viewers realise that if they don't donate, there will be endless more cases of people being abused who will have to go through the same thing. This further causes shock and upset in the audience members as they are made to feel that it could happen to anyone, even people they know.  

Stereotypes in Advertising

This advert is for the Mini Automatic and uses the stereotype that woman cannot drive. As this ad is from the 1970's it was still expected for women to be regarded as being less intelligent and technically savvy  compared to men, but to a modern audience this is a complete disregard to women's intellect. This car is specifically designed to make driving easier for women as manual driving would be considered to difficult 'For simple driving', but in spite of this the woman in the advert still appears shocked and hesitant in the supposedly 'simple' car, making even this way seem like a challenge to women. The fact that the women is presented as very dolled up, with hair and nails done, puts across the ideology that all woman care about is their outer appearance and that is the only think they put time into. As beauty is generally considered as a talentless and pointless past time and occupation, it tells the audience that woman only have the mental capacity for simple things, so an Automatic car is ideal. 

Intertextuality in Advertising

This advertisement for the Volvo XC90 uses a very obvious intertextual reference for its advertising campaign. The first Disney Princess, Snow White, is presented trying to hitch a ride off of a road in the middle of a mountain area. By using Snow White, Volvo ensure the recognition off of a very high percent of the audience as she is one of the most well known Disney characters of all time and could cause an element of noltasgia for people who grew up watching Snow White and The Sever Dwarfs. This movie was the first animated movie Disney ever created, this may suggest that this car is the first of its kind and is truly a game changer in its field. The text in the top corner 'With seven seats. Sorry' adds an element of comedy to the advertisement as Snow White has been left on the side of the road by the Seven Dwarfs as, despite 7 being a high number of seats, there was still no room for Snow. 

Elite Persons in Advertising   

The Estee Lauder Envy Lip Potion advert, features Keeping up with the Kardashians star Kendall Jenner. The Kardashians represent a life a luxuries and high fashion which is ideal for the type of brand Estee Lauder is, as their target audience is people of a higher level on the income status model. Kendall Jenner is shown to be at a photo shoot for this product, but every time a photo of her is taken with a serious expression it is transformed into a casual and high energy pose, this may suggest to potential buyers that this lipstick is an injection of fun that is impossible to avoid. The vibrancy of this lip product is instantly reflected onto you if you wear this product, giving a glamorous woman like Kendall a chance to let loose and be adventurous. The dark lighting and clothing choices give the advertisement a very sleek and high class feeling while also allowing for the red of the lipstick to contrast and truly stand out amount the more nurtural tones of the rest of the advert. A-list celebrities like Kendall Jenner, are often admired and people aspire to be just like them. As the Kardashians are prime example of fashion icons in 2015, using one of those girls gives the brand an instant in, with people who enjoy the show as they strive to be just like Kendall.

Reward and Punishment in Advertising

The punishments in this advert by far out number the rewards. The ideology that children are the most harmed by smoking is presented strongly in this advert by CONAC, it shows a young boy being suffocated by a cloud of smoke incasing his head so he cannot breathe. This may cause viewers to feel hypocritical as a common warning told to children is to not place bags over their heads as they will not be able to breathe. But smokers, especially parents, who see this advert will get the impression that by smoking they are suffocating them themselves. The pure terror and hurt displayed on the child's face, causes a very shocking image for people to view and it will instantly target their need to nurture and help the child. However, many smokers who view this will be forced to realise that it is them who is causing this pain to possibly their children and their is only one way to put an end to it. The straight forward and jarring caption 'Smoking isn't just suicide. It's murder' is presented in a cigarette shaped outline near the bottom of the advert. While this is an image dependent advertisement, the small line of text really brings home the message the company is trying to get across. By smoking they are not just killing themselves but also shortening the lives of their child. The pained expression on the child's face may even be due to not only the suffocation he is experiencing but also because he is scared his parent may die from smoking, even if the cigarettes didn't cause the child any physical harm he would still be scarred emotionally if his parent dies.