How do advertisers construct viewpoints and ideologies in The Old Spice Bahamas advert?
In your answer you must address:
- the way that viewpoints and ideologies are constructed in the advertisement,
- the advantage to the brand of using viewpoints and ideologies.
When faced with a viewpoints and ideologies question you may be asked to analyse an advert that you already know (like this one); you may be asked to analyse an unseen piece; or you may be asked to compare an advert you already know to an unseen piece.
Regardless of the style of question, the process should be similar.
1. Look carefully at the advert/adverts and consider what there is to say about:
Layout, Image, Colour, Typography, Language and Branding
2. Think about the messaging in the advert and decide what elements you could use from your ideology toolkit. THINK REALLY CAREFULLY ABOUT THIS.
3. Nail the introduction. To do this, you need to answer the question in one short paragraph which provides the cohesive core for the rest of your essay. There should be no specific and detailed examples in this paragraph, but it should very clearly answer the question.
TASK: Discuss the elements you wish to include for steps 1 and 2, and then Nail the introduction in the comments section below.
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In this ‘Old Spice’ advert, Old Spice use a lot of advertisement techniques in an attempt to attract the attention of the target audiences. These audiences consist of both middle aged men and their partners but largely their partners as they will likely be the ones who purchase the product. Use of the Z rule primarily attracts the audiences gaze to the model’s face which appears to be smug and the use of direct mode of address conveys multiple things, for example it addresses the male audience in an attempt to create relatability, secondly it creates an intimacy between model and the female audience for them to aspire for their partners to be like the American sportsperson. To indicate this age range is the use of movie referencing, this allows for the audience member to feel participatory in the advert and furthermore begins to draw a bond with the model. Brand identity is created by the mise en scene of the complete image. The incorporation of the island allows for the link to the phrase/ fragrance ‘Bahamas’. The use of the idyllic setting also allows for the a consumerist view of the advert due to the fact that many people aspire to be wealthy in Pro-consumerist society and this is pro consumerist to an aspirational audience.
ReplyDeleteIn this ‘Old Spice’ advert, a range of viewpoints and ideologies and constructed through use of media language. The most prominent ideology is patriarchy, constructed through the representations of gender in this advert, at first glance it appears to support the idea of patriarchy but when deconstructed it becomes clear how they are satirically criticising the patriarchy through comical representations of masculinity. This use of comedy establishes brand identity and engages both a male and female audience. Consumerism as an ideology is also constructed, linking to the customers possible aspiration of going on holiday/to the ‘Bahamas’, this idea is anchored by the text which also brings another layer of humour to the advert. The text inflicts a sort of reverse phycology on the audience by making fun of other fragrance adverts, suggesting they don’t adhere to consumerism, but the advert is consumerist as it intends to sell a product to a consumer.
ReplyDeleteAdvertisement techniques used in this old spice advert is to attract and maintain their consumers, constructing ideologies and viewpoints that their target audience can relate too. The use of intertextuality draws in an older demographic, possibly mid-thirties and upwards, who will feel a connection and relation to the advert, promoting a consumerist capitalist ideology. As most consumers of Old Spice have used the fragrance for years, they are able to create a bond between the brand identity and the audience, using nostalgia and humour to promote their product to both men and women.
ReplyDeleteAdvertisers often construct and align their advertisements with various viewpoints and ideologies in order to promote their products. The nature of advertising in and of itself aligns with a consumerist ideology, as its core aim is to sell a product, meant to be consumed by customers; existing or new. Old Spice is no anomaly to this pattern, and clearly shows a consumerist ideology through its comedic, almost critical view of consumerism; the act of promoting a product through unrealistic connotations, and effectively opens its attraction for those that play into consumeristic values, as well as those who are against them. Old Spice also clearly plays with the idea of the patriarchy to construct a counter typical representation to continue their comedic standpoint, which again is another strategy often used by advertisers to promote themselves to a wider audience who either enjoys stereotypical, patriarchal representations; or opposes them with preference to a mocking humour.
ReplyDeleteIn this advert, Old Spice chooses to display ideologies of patriarchy and consumerism in an attempt to construct a consumer base suited to their demographic. This is conveyed via how the typical conventions of advertising are utilised, including layout, typography, image, language, colour and brand. The usage of intertextuality, found within its numerous references to pop culture, assists in including the customer in their company values, while a male model attracts female customers to purchase for their male consumers.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at this ‘Old Spice’ advert, we can see that the company uses several elements of advertising in order to appeal to and attract their target audience. The target audience for this product is both middle aged men over the age of 40 and also women whose partners will be within this demographic as many will buy this as a present for said partner. The use intertextuality helps us see this. We see that ‘Old Spice’ make strong use of imagery, layout and typography in such a way that their target audience will relate to.
ReplyDeleteThe Old Spice advert constructs ideologies and viewpoints such as consumerism, the advert almost seems to construct the idea of a patriarchy by presenting an American athlete, however when you look deeper it is clear that this is not the case and the other men in the advert, although being shown as adventurous they are being shown in funny situations that make you question their masculinity...?
ReplyDeleteIn this ‘Old Spice’ advert, various viewpoints and ideologies are used in order to not only attract and maintain their customers, but also, promote their product. ‘Old Spice’ presents its advertisement with comedic, mocking undertones of stereotypical promotion, and by doing so, represents a consumerist ideology. This ideology opens up a target market towards those who play into consumerist values and also those who critique such values. ‘Old Spice’ also presents celebrity endorsement in order to continue its ‘mocking’ brand image from a comedic standpoint. This strategy further promotes their product to a wider audience of those who enjoy stereotypical, patriarchal representations as well as those who mock this ideology with humour.
ReplyDeleteThe mise en scene in the image helps convey the idea that the Bahamas is a good holiday destination and attracts customers towards the ideology they can experience it too when purchasing old spice. The main subject of the image being a grown man with an animated volcano on his head constructs an idea of patriarchy however it is exaggerated making it ironic suggesting the adverts purpose is to amuse the consumers. The fact that the advert is purposely supposed to make you laugh suggests that the men who wear Old Spice are assumed to also be funny and confident in their masculinity. The target audience for the product is aimed at middle aged men over the age of 40 as well as women who have partners within this demographic and may potentially buy this as a gift for said partner. It uses intertextually throughout the advert by including references to old film such as Cast Away, Jaws and The Poseiden Adventure. These intertextual references grant the consumer a feeling of exclusivity as they have recognised and know something that not everyone else may have spotted. This attracts customers as the advertisers are developing a relationship between the product and a potential consumer by showing you that they have the same interests and likes.
ReplyDeleteAt face value this advert presents a patriarchal ideology. Applying the Z rule, we can see how the audiences’ attention is immediately drawn towards the man who is depicted as being the island. He is shown to be almost God like, dwarfing the other people on the island showing he is extremely powerful. By presenting a man as this powerful we could argue that this is showing a patriarchal ideology. However, reading more into the image we can see how the advert mocks the idea of masculinity by depicting men failing in comical ways such as the man being attacked by crabs, or the man stuck on a desert island. This is used to poke fun at men appealing mature men who don't not take themself seriously, which is old spices target audience. By poking fun at men in comical ways this advert establishes the brand identity as funny and not taking itself seriously. It could also be argued that this mocking of masculinity takes a feminist viewpoint, presenting these men as inferior to the one woman who is enjoying the sun whilst the men around her struggle. This could be used to attract a new customer base of women who are likely to purchase old spice as a gift for their male partners.
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