Deconstruction of perfume adverts – Made you look!

Perfume ads are designed to make you look! They are designed to be interesting enough that you don’t just turn the page over quickly. They want your money being spent on their product.

Look at what you see –

Colours – what can you see? What might it mean?

Product – name it. What connotations does this word have? Where is the product placed? Is it oversized? Is it more or less important than the person on the ad? How do you know?

Font – is it serif or sans-serif (fancy or plain)? What colour is the writing? What size is the writing? Do you know what style of font this is? Is it easy to read? Is it ornate and old fashioned? Is it modern? Is it eye catching in some way? Is it designed to help you remember the product more easily?

Image – Is it selling a lifestyle? Is it trying to tell you you will be more sophisticated/natural/young/lively/popular/rich if you buy this product?

Is the background urban or rural? (Town/city/country)

What type of scent do you think the product has? (Floral for the country, lemon for yellow, cinnamon for red etc)

The model – well known actress, well known model or someone unknown but stunningly attractive or thin or angular or with gaps in her teeth or…? Is there a “direct mode of address”? (Looking at you)

In magazines like Elle or Marie Claire the target audience is young women with an interest in high fashion and money to spend. The adverts therefore often resemble fashion shoots with flowing dresses and unusual arm or leg positions. Often the arms or legs point to the product. Often the perfume is part of a range of products available from someone normally associated with high fashion clothing – e.g. Calvin Klein, Chanel, Eli Saab, Armani etc.

How much does it cost? – Oodles of dosh! About £25,000 per glossy page – more if a double page ad or if it has a free sample or is on harder paper.

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Example responses (from real students not at this school who have posted their ideas online. I have provided links but cannot vouch for any of their other ideas being correct.):

Technical codes

Lighting

“I also like the  lighting of this advertisement because it adds a hint of gold to the model’s complexion, and adds shine to the model’s golden blonde hair, enhancing the entire advertisement. The lines are clean cut, making the ad look really sleek and glamorous. ”

http://cxetheresa.wordpress.com/category/writings/

Colour

” The advert has a main theme of gold (gold earring, gold eyeliner, golden skin, gold bottle) and the background is fairly dark but shows a blurry chandelier which gives the idea that wealthy people would wear this perfume.”

“The advertisement enhances the fragrance as its setting is a hotel with gold furnishes in the slightly blurred background. This entire wash of gold in the advertisement is highly effective as it not only catches the attention of the viewer, but also brings out the classy feel of the fragrance. The choice of a hotel suiting is apt because the fragrance has a hotel print on it, which emphasises the theme.”

http://gabysmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/perfume-advert-analysis.html

Print

“This feel is developed by the large print of the fragrance on an entire page in a background of gold. The colour choice suits the bottle, and the rectangular page accommodates the bottle very well. By using the colour gold, it suggests that this fragrance is as luxurious and precious as gold. It gives a strong, sophisticated sense of superiority to the user. More touches of gold in the model’s dress and jewelry add to the glamour of this advertisement.”

Model

The model’s eyes stare down into the camera and one eyebrow is raised which gives the impression that she knows something that the reader doesn’t and that she is in control. It makes the advert intriguing and mysterious and also makes the viewer want to be just like the model.

Target audience

This advert also should appeal to men. The model shows a lot of skin and cleavage which automatically draws a man’s attention and makes him think of his own partner in the way he is thinking about the model, which consequently should make him want to buy the perfume for his partner.

Product

The bottle of perfume is placed in the bottom, right hand corner of the advert. It is large and gold which makes it look very expensive and grand. ‘Sparkles’ have been added to the bottle to make it seem more special and they make the bottle stand out even more. Next to the bottle, it says the perfume name ‘J’adore L’absolu’. The word J’adore, meaning I Love, is in a large Serif font which I think is supposed to represent the passion of the advert. ‘L’absolu’ is in a smaller font and is in italic writing to stress the meaning of it which is ‘the absolute one’. The fact that the perfume name in French, probably appeals to the viewer because it seems more unique, more special and by owning the perfume they may think that they will also become ‘unique’ and ‘special’. In the top, right hand corner, ‘Dior’ is displayed in white, on top of the darkest background. It is also in a serif font and it gives the impression of wealth and of being ‘proper’. At the very bottom of the advert it says ‘The new Eau de Parfum: J’adore L’absolu’. Notice how it says ‘The’ instead of ‘A’, this is so the advert sticks in the viewers mind as the only new perfume that has recently been released.

Image

Curves and contours in the model’s face complement the straight, angular lines of the fragrance in the opposite page very well. The composition also plays a vital role in this advertisement. In the first image, the model is the centre of attraction, with butlers waiting to serve her and in the second image, she gives a strong, sharp stare. I feel that both compositions are highly effective in displaying the opulence of the fragrance because they have produced the fragrance of the perfume through a 2D advertisement. Viewers are able to imagine the fragrance of Fendi’s Palazzo through this striking advertisement.

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Remember nothing on the page is accidental. Everything has been carefully chosen and placed where it is for a reason – to make you buy the product

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Female Stereotypes target audiences:

Beauty Bunny

Alpha Female

Fashionista

Perfect Mum

Granny

 

Who are these adverts aimed at and how do you know?

 

Intermediate 1 explained

The  Intermediate 1 qualification in Media Studies helps learners to develop further awareness of the media  text as a construct. They gain skills in describing a text, identifying  individual elements and indicating how they work together.

Learners produce an item in one of the  same media they study in the Analysis part of the course. This enables them to  see how theory informs practice and vice versa. The course develops critical  ability in the spontaneous analysis of an unseen text, and understanding of the  relationship between fiction and non-fiction.

The Intermediate 1 Media Studies Course is at SCQF level 4.

At this level, students work on both the modular units in class and work towards an external exam. The units must be passed before the exam can be considered as an option for students. They also have to look at an unseen media text and answer questions about it under exam conditions. The unseen analysis is worth 20% of the marks and the exam itself is worth 80% of the marks.  Both the unseen analysis and the exam are marked externally. Any student who has not done well in at least one prelim is unlikely to be able to be presented for the exam on Monday 3rd of  June. Access 3 would be the alternative for students in this category.

Access 3 explained

The  Access 3 qualification in Media Studies offers learners the opportunity to identify the various elements that make  up media texts, thus opening them to analysis. The media texts may be  newspapers or magazines, television or radio programmes, cinema films, advertisements, music videos or websites.

Learners come to see all media texts as  constructs, each made from the point of view of a producer targeting a  particular audience. The course also develops planning and production skills  using media technology. Learners reflect on their production experience and  evaluate their own and the group’s strengths and weaknesses during the  production process.

The Access 3 Media Studies Course is at SCQF level 3.

Access 3 level has no external exam. Students work through modules in class time, with some additional homework. The course is pass/fail depending on the work which students produce.

The three units are –

analysis:fiction;

analysis:non-fiction and 

production.

Second prelim – May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favour

On Thursday 21st, period 4, all Media Students will sit the Production section of the exam. Revise what you did when you were working in your small groups to produce a brochure.

On Friday 22nd, period 5, all students will sit the Analysis section of the exam. You should revise all your Hunger Games notes.

The World Will Be Watching!

So that’s a 15?

15 rated films deal with adult themes and have a range of things included in the text that make them unsuitable for younger viewers.

 

Is 15 really stronger than 12A?

Yes. 15 works are stronger than 12 or 12A rated works and could include any of the following:

  • strong violence
  • frequent strong language (eg ‘f***’).
  • portrayals of sexual activity
  • strong verbal references to sex
  • sexual nudity
  • brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
  • discriminatory language or behaviour
  • drug taking

 

How many of these did you spot in the 30 minutes of Cabin in the Woods that you watched?

 

NAB fiction

We are about to watch 3 horror genre movies now that you are all 15! Hurrah!

They will be:

The Cabin in the Woods

The House at the End of the Street &

Orphan

 

The NAB will be giving you an opportunity to show that you understand the following about one of the films:

Categories

Medium

Purpose

Form

Genre

Language – Two or more cultural/technical codes

Narrative structure

Representation

Stereotyping

Target audience

Decoding

Production company

Financial controls

You will do an essay with support in class and then there will be a formal test to see what you remember.

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