Analysis Of The Versace Advertisements

Berger’s first claim which sets up the premise behind Chapter 3 is that socially, a woman’s existence is different from that of a man’s. A man’s presecence is tied to how much or how little power he possesses and how he executes this onto the world at large. He is the doer, the achiever, the generator. In contrast, a woman’s existence is manifested by how she communicates that existence to herself, which then becomes interpreted to the rest of the world. She adjusts herself (voice, gestures, etc.) so as to adapt to a viewer. She lacks autonomy and therefore becomes an object, or rather a sight.

In Chapter Seven of Practices of Looking, we start to explore in the ideas of advertising, consumer cultures and desire. Everyday, we are faced with advertisements through newspapers, magazines, TV, movies, billboards, public transportation such as buses and taxis, clothing, the internet, etc. Logos, such as signs, or anything that resemble a brand, are everywhere, they are on clothing, household items, electronics, cars, etc. Consumers are always showing off their brands and advertisements and we are used to seeing those brands and advertisements in an everyday setting. In modern media, advertisers are pressured to always change the ways they show off and get the attention to consumers, old and new. Advertisers also used present figures who were glamorous. Advertisements set up a certain relationship between the product and its meaning to sell the products and the hidden meaning we link to each of the products. Advertisements use the language of conversion. Advertisers try to create a customer relationship to the brand to try to form them as familiar, necessary, and also likeable.

Sexualizaton and objectification in the advertisements we see and the media we watch has become a very strong issue in our society. With the idea that “sex sells”, consumers don’t even realize that they’re not viewing the advertisements for what they are, but for the women (or men) that are being portrayed in a very erotic way, posed with whatever product they were hired to sell. Many articles have been written so far to challenge and assess this problem, but one written by Jean Kilbourne (1999), “”Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt”: Advertising and Violence” holds an extensive amount of authority. Using her personal experience with the subject, as well as studies she has conducted herself on the topic of sexualization, she talks about how the amount of sexualization in advertising affects how society views the culture and products consumers buy. She also notes that because of the quantity and prevalence of these ads, the rate of all forms of sexual assault, specifically rape (mostly towards women of all age), increase, as well as other forms of assault. It is important to examine Kilbourne’s use of rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, and logos, and how effective these devices make her article. This way, it can be examined for its validity and her understanding of her own research. Kilbourne’s article is very effective through her uses of pathos and ethos, but at the same time, it loses its effectiveness through her absence of a counter-argument, as well as a lack

In “The Fashion Industry: Free to be an Individual” by Hannah Berry, Hannah emphasizes how social media especially advertisements pressure females to use certain product to in order to be considered beautiful. She also acknowledges the current effort of advertisement today to more realistically depicts of women. In addition, these advertisements use the modern women look to advertise products to increase women self-esteem and to encourage women to be comfortable with one’s image.

One of the key concepts detailed by Pringle (2007), is the idea of hegemonic masculinity, which was originally coined by Connell (1995). Connell suggest that the concepts of hegemony and masculinity have been intertwined, which has created a social form of a masculine ideal, developed around male dominance, power and patriarchy over groups who are deemed “weaker” such as women and homosexual men. Hegemonic masculinity is essentially a socially elite or desirable status, with which the “performance of ‘masculinity’” can be legitimately practised within society.

Through the depiction of the shirtless model in a soft black and white poster has created an advertisement that will cause the money to rain down on the Calvin Klein headquarters. The brand’s powerful pathos appeals, and its use of the window effect, has created a product, in which men and women alike, will buy in order to achieve the “life” the model

The commercials producers successfully capitalized on societies yearning to live a lavish and prominent lifestyle. The advertisement plants a growing seed inside the audience’s head that drinking Hennessy is an assure way to access a life of social elegance as well bump elbows the beautiful and wealthy. Possessing the skill and knowledge use a controversial substance and responsibly glorifying the drink is an exemplary method on how to market an ad. The Hennessy Cognac commercial is swarming with high-end materials: expensive cars, glistening jewelry, and designer clothing. It is understandable that society gets captured in the belief that Hennessy is the missing variable in the pursuit to live a life of luxury. Comprehending the dynamics behind marketing is a crucial skill when it comes to successful advertisement. Realizing the importance of selling a product that opens the doors to an iconic lifestyle is tremendous

The foundation of male hegemony relies entirely on the presence of women, a feminist notion Rachel demonstrates through embodying her objectified role that dominates man. Mulvey specifies a woman’s role in “patriarchal culture as signifier for the male other,” who imposes “the silent image of woman” (232). Furthermore, man’s scopophilic instinct, the “pleasure in looking at another person as an erotic object,” forces woman to become “obsessively subordinated to the neurotic needs of the male ego” (Mulvey 240-41). Apparently, man “emerges as the representative of power” in defining his authoritative sense of self in the physical presence

In an advert for a female perfume by “Givenchy” a woman is shown who holds the materialistic characteristics. This is not how it really is in society. Not every woman has prominent curves, is slim and tall. This shows how advertisements do not fairly reflect society.

It must be said that men of power create the structure of life--which is not necessarily profitable or fitting to women, nor to the human race in its entirety. Women do not live in this structure:“They lead beautiful lives--women. Lives not only divorced from, but irrevocably excommunicated from, all reality” (156).

Mass media plays a great part in our lives. Television, newspapers, magazines surround us everywhere every day of our lives. All of them are stuck with different kinds of ads. But how often do we pay attention to the real sense of those ads and the ways the advertisers try to sell various products to us? We see dissoluteness and challenging behavior every day in life and we got so used to it in, at first sight, such small pieces of film, and apparently of our day routine, as advertisement, that we hardly notice the big picture. For over twenty years, Jean Kilbourne has been writing, lecturing, and making films about how advertising affects women and girls. In her essay, "‘The Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt':

The stereotype of the luxurious woman portrays a woman who is extremely wealthy, adorned with jewelry and designer clothing. At first glance, a woman might aspire to live that extravagant lifestyle. The market plays into feeding this stereotype by marketing luxury items “predominantly to women, and women who can afford them invariably become luxury items themselves" (Chocano 110). Almost all the high-end luxury brands like Prada and Tiffany and Co. are regarded as women’s brands that also offer a small selection of men’s items. The targeting of woman by these brands cause the woman to objectified as only a means to sell their product. The woman wearing all of the clothing becomes a luxury item herself due to how rare it is for her to gain the financial freedom buy the clothes and merely

Today’s quick-moving world of technology has media texts such as advertisements to make sure that people understand with just a glance. Having adverts on magazines, social media and billboards allow them to use tools such as semiology, genre and narrative because it makes their messages clear instantly. These signs allow us to carry meaning through advertisements, connotations and the signification process. These tools let brands, mainly celebrities, and the option to produce and create a myth of the product such as “Be daring. Be an inspiration” to sell it to the world. We are in a time where advertisers use ‘simplicity’ in their adverts; there are no more paragraphs. It is mainly down to the person and the few words shown in that advert.

A) The four advertisements I chose are all women’s clothing. The first pattern I noticed in the advertisements was that all four of them showcased just one woman by herself and the second pattern was that each woman had quite a bit of skin showing. In each of them they were doing something slightly different though. In the Bottega Veneta advertisement the woman is posing with her arm up and looking off at something out of the shot and her legs seem to be never ending and completely revealed. In the Ann Taylor advertisement the model is Kate Hudson and she is sitting down on a chair with her legs crossed and is leaning a bit forward and resting her head on her arm. The slit of her dress goes up very high and reveals most of her legs and a slightly deep cut around her neck revealing part of her chest as well as all of her right arm. Also this advertisement is specifically for the new little black dress line. In the Express advertisement girl seems to be walking with her hand on her neck while simultaneously swirling the bottom of her dress around from walking. Her arm is uncovered and you see a good amount of her legs and the movement of the dress draws your eyes to that. In the Levi’s advertisement the woman is facing away from the camera so we see her from behind. She is pulling up her Levi’s shorts, which draws the eyes to her bottom half.

An array of young models, each idealized and every one showing themselves off in a beautiful, yet sexual stance. The focus on flowing dark hair and thin bodies draped with trendy clothes that in some cases leave a lot of skin to be seen and admired. The idea of perfection personified through facial expressions of self-confidence and uncompromising appearances in each image. These are just a few ways in which Calvin Klein’s ad campaign tries to attract costumers. Attempting to convince the public that Calvin Klein clothing will look as impressive on anyone and will have people staring in envy like many do at the ads is the technique being used in this ad campaign along with many other aspects such as the setting, the outfits, and the