Overdoing It A Bit?

Ads constantly shape and mold what we deem the norm. Our lives seem to revolve around “the new thing.” From food advertisements to clothing advertisements, we can never escape the ever present ads in their numerous forms. A key question must be asked when viewing these snapshots into different lives: Are these people truly selling the product? With use of young, uniform models, spiritless props/accessories and stoic expressions, ads are stereotyped as modes of increasing sales, but merely detract from and damage the image of product being sold.

Take this advertisement from the Coach Leatherware Madison Edition 2008 catalog.


At first glance, you see three girls with a variety of Coach products, including headbands, purses, and keychains. That is only scratching the surface. Looking at the advertisement, there are three girls with very prominent styles, yet each style can be viewed as the different individuals inside one person. Looking at each model, we can see how they can demean and tarnish the reputation of a reputable and once viewed classy product.

From left to right, the first girl has a somewhat peace and love rebellious attitude with her torn army jacket, and peace sign patches and key chains. With her coach armband, purses and jewelry, Coach style is can be seen as being degraded. A once high class object now can be viewed as an everyday object that anyone and everyone can obtain (even though the price for the black bag alone is $698). The middle girl has a somewhat risque/“woman of the night” style with her torn leggings, black bracelets, dog tag, and sweatband on her arm. This girl gives a sense of owning a product can only be achieved through certain indescribable actions. The third and final model has more of a preppy/sporty style. Her black clothing gives a sense of being reserved, only to be juxtaposed with the vibrant purses and her sporty side with the white lacrosse stick.

Collectively, they all have short skirts, blank expressions, and wear converse high tops and tube socks. The short skirts give a feeling of lustfulness, only drawing the viewer to their bodies. The blank and eerily similar expressions of the all white models give a sense of physical homogeny and that they are in a trance, forced to hold and demonstrate products. The Converse shoes with tube socks show the beat up and extremely casual feeling radiating from each of the models. These characteristics become eyesores, and detract from the products aura. The purses seem like they have been forced upon these models and weighting them down. With the expressions at hand, one can only imagine that being seen with these products not only will effect your stamina, but you will be viewed and thought of with the stigma of each of the girls shown in the ad.

Similarily is this advertisement from TeenVogue advertising numerous designer clothes with unnecessary props.

As said above, the use of the props does noting but put a fowl taste in the mouths of the viewers. From left to right, the model is selling Replay Chino khaki pants. With the sea weed cape and raccoon mask, there is nothing that would lead the viewer to the fact that the pants were for sale. Seeing those khaki pants will lead individuals to think of underwater sea raccoons who are similarly in a trance like state. The model in the middle has a mother nature vibe going for her. From the tree branches attached to her head, the purple streaks in her hair, and the nondescript expression, the great quality and design of the SIWY denim jeans and Philosophy Di Alberta Ferretti Sweater are completely forgotten about and dismissed immediately. Lastly, the model on the right is selling a Bess Vintage shirt and Comme Des Garcons Homme Plus Pants, none of which are noticed or paid attention to due to the fact of the angel wings he is wearing. Once again, the use of meek expressions and out of the ordinary props detract so much from the product being sold, that this image will be permanently instilled in the minds of the potential customers, discouraging them completely from the products being sold.

The potential prospects of succeeding in the advertising market can be very much real and help in developing a company and an image. Through emotionless expressions to the unsophisticated props and accessories, a product’s image can be degraded immediately. Reputations can take a lifetime to build up and uphold, yet they can come crumbling down with the one swift stroke of a disheveled thrown together advertisement.

Dan Gorchynsky
TA: David Witzling

Women or Machines?

As you can tell in this Wii commercial, it is a competition between two different Nintendo systems, portrayed as women. The beautiful, skinny, half-naked woman is the “Wii” while the larger, unattractive woman with glasses is the “PS3”. They are trying to sell themselves by referring to their human/machine like qualities with statements such as, “I am large and in charge” or “All you have to do is just touch me, and you’ll have the time of your life”. The Wii advertisement uses the more socially accepted and highly provocative woman (Nintendo system Wii) as their strategy of persuasion. By using women as parts or machines, advertisement companies can attract many different audiences depending on what route they want to go. In the two cases here, the primary advertisement (Wii) is reaching out to the teenage boy or young adult male, while the other advertisement (“What is Sexy“) to help justify, is targeted towards women. In the early years of the 21st century of producers and consumers, advertisement is manipulated by using sex and technology to attract their consumers.
Technology today is advancing faster than ever and advertisers use sex to lure consumers in. Nintendo systems (a vastly growing technology) are ideally played by teenage boys or young adult men, so by using a distorted view of reality (men want attractive women) Wii and other commercials use sexy, desirably women to sell their product. In this Wii advertisement, they make it very obvious which “machine” is more desirable. The Wii is depicted as a fun, flirty, attractive and cheap machine by a woman of the same standards, while the PS3 (competition) is depicted as a boring, dull, nerdy and unattractive machine, like the woman describing herself. The women clearly state that they are a machine, “I’m a PS3 and I’m a Wii” undervaluing the women as human, but also giving the machine a distorted reality of what men want. Visually, the more attractive woman in her swimsuit, creates a desire for consumers (teenage boys and young adult men) to want a machine that is more “fun”, as the Wii woman puts it. As she flirts and moves around in sexy gestures, it makes the Wii look more desirable to buy. Would a teenage boy or young adult man want a large, nerdy, bulky unattractive woman or a beautiful half-naked, sexy woman to “play” with? Obviously consumers targeted are going to side with the sexy woman in her bathing suit, dancing around and telling them to touch her. Sex sells. This image of women provokes thoughts and ideas, creating a distorted view of reality to its consumers. The consumers see the advertisement as a sexy woman dancing around and slapping her butt, but do not really look at it the real underlying statement of producers trying to sell their product. Consumers in our society want the newer, sexy and more attractive machine.



Another advertisement strategy targets women instead, by showing women consumers they can be sexy too. Just as the Wii commercial flaunts the beautiful woman around to attract male consumers, Victoria’s Secret, “What Is Sexy” commercial shows women consumers they can be sexy and in charge with VS’s new underwear technology. This commercial has no words, but instead powerful music and dramatic poses. Even though the advertisement doesn’t use speech, the point is clearly made. Through Victoria’s Secret advertisement the sexy women are juxtaposed with heavy machines such as cars and trains. In doing so, the juxtaposition shows how compatible the VS women are with the hot car and powerful train. By doing this it is also showing that their product will make the women just as powerful and sexy as the heavy machinery, just like the way men like their machines.
With these two commercials, both women and men are targeted by the use of sex and technology as to consume advertisers products. Appearance and power these days are societies primary goal in life, so advertisers take full advantage of that. With the next powerful technology and new plastic surgery, people strive to be “the best”. Consumers buy products because it is going to make them look better and become more powerful. These two advertisement companies, Wii and Victoria’s Secret, best suit how America sells their product to envious consumers of the 21st century.
Carly Rieder
TA: David Witzling