Advertising 2
Advertising 2The main purpose of advertising is to sell a certain product of send a message to a certain group of people. Advertisements can be found anywhere from billboards on the highway to banners on the Internet. Some advertisements try to sell a certain product and make people aware of their presence. Other advertisements are there to deliver a certain message to the people. As Judith Williamson says "Advertisements are one of the most important cultural factors moulding and reflecting our life today. They are ubiquitous, an inevitable part of everyone's lives: even if you do not read a newspaper or watch television, the images posted over our urban surroundings are inescapable. Pervading all the media, but limited to none, advertising forms a vast superstructure with an apparently autonomous existence and an immense influence."(11) Television commercials and magazine advertisements tend to focus toward the people most likely to watch that television program or read that magazine. For example, if people are watching a soccer game then the commercials in between will most likely have to do with soccer. In magazines the advertisements are related to the theme of the magazine, in computer magazines there will be advertisements on computer hardware and software, and in beauty magazines there will be advertisements on make-up and beauty supplies. In other words, as Judith Williamson mentions, "Advertisements are selling us something else
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besides consumer goods: in providing us with a structure in which we, and those goods, are interchangeable, they are selling us ourselves."(13) Most advertisements have an eye catching picture or phrase that will keep the attention of the viewer long enough to deliver them the message.
The advertisement that I have chosen to research on is a COVER GIRL advertisement that I found in a magazine called YM that stands for "young and modern" and is directed toward teenage girls. This advertisement has its COVER GIRL brand name as the headline. Even David Ogilvy recommends this: "I advise you to include the brand name in your headline. If you don't, 80 per cent of readers (who don't read your body copy) will never know what product you are advertising."(73) They assume that the viewer of this advertisement knows this brand name since it is very popular. The headline plays a key role in an advertisement for it is usually the first thing the viewer sees when they first glance upon the advertisement and the viewer usually decides whether they are interested in the product/message or not. It is not smart to have an advertisement without a headline. As David Ogilvy states, "Since headlines, more than anything else, decide the success or failure of an advertisement, the silliest thing of all is to run an ad without any headline at all- 'a headless wonder'."(74)
Following the headline in this advertisement is a statement which reads "THE LOOK WITH COVER GIRL MAKE UP: $30.78". This statement tells the reader that they can look like the girl pictured in the advertisement for only $30.78. This makes the reader think that they will look beautiful if they use this product. The advertising aims to fulfill the reader's desire to look attractive knowing that most people, especially teenage
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girls are concerned about their looks. As Judith Williamson states, "Ads set up, in your active relationship towards then, the fictional creation of an impossibly unified self: an 'Ego- Ideal'. They show you a symbol of yourself aimed to attract your desire."(65)
The advertisement featured also has a beautiful woman with great hair, a great complexion and piercing eyes. The advertisement wants the readers to think that they can become this beautiful woman pictured. As Judith Williamson states, "they suggest that you can become the person in the picture before you. But this merging with an 'objectified' image of yourself is impossible: the desire for it is simply a channeling of the desire for the pre-Symbolic, imaginary ideal- ego."(65) This advertisement uses sex appeal by featuring the image of a beautiful woman on it. The director of this advertisement knows that this will catch the reader's attention while they browse through the magazine. As John Lyons states, "Every time an art director produces a good design, he not only raises the stature of paper but improves our visual environment. A striking visual presentation is the difference between a page that stands still and a page that stands out."(40)
Last but not least the advertisement shows the products that it wishes to sell. It is placed in a fashion so that the reader can see each product clearly. It is important that the product is shown if the advertiser wants to sell their product. They will have a better chance of selling their product if they show the reader what they will get for their money. It lets the reader see the products they need to become this beautiful woman, this "COVER GIRL" and then they will feel good about themselves. Judith Williamson explains, "This means, on one level, that the product 'produces' or buys the feeling. But
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the more subtle level on which the advertisement works is that of 'alreadyness', which is where 'totemism' becomes a part of ideology: you do not simply buy the product in order to become a part of the group it represents; you must feel that you already, naturally, belong to that group and therefore you will buy it."
In conclusion, an advertisement's main purpose is to sell a certain product or give the viewer a certain message. The advertisers use many different methods to do this. Advertisements are usually directed to a certain group of people. This advertisement for instance is directed toward teenage girls or young women. A successful advertisement must catch and hold the reader's attention long enough to deliver the message or sell the product to them. A good advertisement has an eye- catching banner that the reader will recognize. Putting the products brand name on the banner will help people link the name to the product it is selling. Showing the product on the advertisement is important so that the viewers know what they will get. Every advertisement has it's own unique way of getting people's attention.