A Rhetorical Analysis Of Calvin Klein's 'Escape'

Do you ever watch the Super Bowl for its commercials? Have you ever bought a more expensive product because you had seen its advertisement? If the answer is yes, then you might have been a victim of today’s marketers. Jean Kilbourne, the author of “Killing us Softly” stated in one of her lectures, “The influence of advertising is quick, cumulative and for the most part, subconscious, ads sell more products.” “Advertising has become much more widespread, powerful, and sophisticated.” According to Jean Kilbourne, “babies at six months can recognize corporate logos, and that is the age at which marketers are now starting to target our children.” Jean Kilbourne is a woman who grew up in the 1950s and worked in the media field in the 1960s. This paper will explain the methods used by marketers in today’s advertising. An advertisement contains one or more elements of aesthetics, humor, and sexual nature.

In an essay written by Jim Fowles, “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals” he says advertising manipulates individuals to buy things they do not need. Advertisements use many emotional appeals such is the need for sex, escape, aesthetic sensation, satisfy curiosity and guidance. Today, Calvin Klein advertisements captures majority of individual’s attention. It is a well-known brand and expensive. It is known for their jeans and underwear. Calvin Klein apparel, underwear, shoes, and accessories can be found and brought online stores, malls, and outlet malls. Many famous celebrities and musician artists posed for Calvin Klein’s advertisement campaigns, wearing Calvin Klein jeans, shirts, sweaters, jackets, bras, purses, and underwear. Calvin Klein

Recently, Fenty Beauty released a commercial onto Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. This is the ideal method for displaying the makeup line because commercials have motion, which allows the viewer to see the use of the products in various looks. This advertisement shows a wide variety of people from different cultures and parts of the world. This makes it relatable to almost all people watching it because people automatically connect to advertisements where they see people that they associate with themselves. Therefore, by using this technique people will have a positive image of the brand and are more likely to buy the products. Along with the use of diverse models, there were animations of the products all linking together. By showing models in various shape, skin colour and background, Fenty Beauty focuses on an audience that has been rarely targeted. The audience for the makeup line are people with darker skin tones. The market for this audience was nearly untouched so there was definitely money to be made. This advertisement is also very unique in the way it shows its products. It has an aesthetic feel and makes itself visually appealing by using varying shades of colour, shapes, and camera angles along with upbeat music synced animations keeps the audience engaged. This creative use of visuals make it more appealing to the audience so that they are more likely to buy the product. The visuals show all the products in the product mix. The packaging of the products in the

This larger text tells you the company’s name in a very simplistic fashion and the smaller text helps invoke the fantasy the advertisement is selling. Below the model’s head to the left is a list in a medium sized yellow type reading “Girls & Sexy Cars, Sports, Girls and to the right of the model reads “Bla!! Bla! Bla, Bla, Bla, Bla, Bla.” In these pieces of text a list of things that a typical young male would be interested in and the “Bla, Bla, Bla” text likely implying that the first list are the only things that matter and everything else is just noise. The last piece of text is directly beneath the woman’s breasts and is a small banner of yellow text against a blue background that reads “Curve Fragrances for Men.” The bottle of fragrance is pictured at the end of the text. The placement of the text here is to emphasize the breasts because as Kilbourne says, “we are a culture obsessed with breasts” (Killing Us Softly). The banner of blue with yellow text against the white lingerie of the model creates a contrast of color that draws your eye to that spot, which by no accident of the advertiser is right under the model’s breasts (15). The Calvin Klein advertisement’s main piece of text is slightly below the exact middle of the page and is around the abdomen level of the two embracing models (113). In small print the first line reads “forever starts now”, the next two lines are in large font and consist of a single word each telling the reader the name of the fragrance which is “Eternity Now,” followed by a medium text reading “Calvin Klein”. The text is white and stands out against the black and white picture of the models and the font is thin and simple. The phrase “forever starts now” is there to help sell

Pantene and Lynx are both hair product producers that are extremely specific gender oriented with their marketing. Pantene is widely known to be directed towards women whereas Lynx is strictly men focused. Both Pantene’s “Labels Against Women” and Lynx’s advertisements equally use manipulation of the target audience’s emotions to entice them to purchase the product. This is proven in the commercials by the technique use based on their values, the music selection and the depiction of the central actor within the advertisement.

They say sex sells. By looking at Tom Ford’s 2007 advertisements for his menswear collection, sex is not only in the forefront but represents the message in this campaign. The advertisement chosen for this essay depicts a naked woman ironing the pants of a man whom, stylishly dressed, seems to pay no attention to her. She, on the other hand, appears to be relentlessly hoping for just a nod of his approval as she glares at him. The inequality within their stance, and within the very obvious observation that he is dressed and she is fully nude, demonstrates sexism at its finest. What may or may not be obvious is the fact that this ad is supposed to be selling menswear, but instead sells very apparent, yet harmful gender stereotypes. In this essay, I will argue that women are depicted as objects for the male gaze, and are over sexualized as a degradation of their value. Their value is depicted by stereotypical femininity, impossible beauty ideals, and an apparent desire to constantly please their master: the man.

Everyday we expose ourselves to thousands of advertisements in a wide variety of environments where ever we go; yet, we fail to realize the influence of the implications being sold to us on these advertisements, particularly about women. Advertisements don’t just sell products; they sell this notion that women are less of humans and more of objects, particularly in the sexual sense. It is important to understand that the advertising worlds’ constant sexual objectification of women has led to a change in sexual pathology in our society, by creating a culture that strives to be the unobtainable image of beauty we see on the cover of magazines. Even more specifically it is important to study the multiple influences that advertisements have

Calvin Klein has been known not only for fashionable clothing but also for its advertisements. They use attractive models to catch the eye and sexual poses to help further capture the attention of the audience. One Calvin Klein advertisement depicting a dark haired young man and light haired young woman in an embrace was published in the October 2014 edition of ESPN. This ad is intended to attract younger men and women through the use of layout, sexual appeal and lack of color to successfully sell intimacy.

Many advertisers in the newspaper, websites, and TV today use different ways of doing things to persuade the audience into buying their product. A popular product that is marketed this way is Axe body deodorant, especially in the “unleash the chaos” commercial. Axe as a product has been in a market for a period of time. It’s has proved to be a market leader in the cosmetic industry. The product is manufactured in a wide range of customer demand. Axe is available in various scents like vanilla, orange, strawberry, and other more. This ad for Axe Anarchy, found at adsoftheworld.com (http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axe_petrol), intelligently play this idea, knowing that it can sexually cause affection to ladies. Anarchy, as shown, was a fragrant product designed for women so that they also can attract men and be a more sexual attraction. The ad illustrates the sexuality between man and woman which proves to be likeable and convenient to “unleash the chaos”, the use of the slogan and image, colours, product details, and

In the competitive market America has today, all companies strive to be the number one choice for consumers out of all their competitors. To achieve this goal, companies use various strategies in their advertisements to appeal to the public. The company, Donna Karan New York (also known as DKNY) is one of the millions of companies that works rhetorically in its advertisement for its Be Delicious perfume. With sexual innuendos, symbolism, attention grabbing images, the creation an image of beauty, and the indication that one will be unique after using the product, DKNY effectively advertises its Be Delicious perfume.

The advertisement that I have decided to describe and analyze is one from Armani Code, a cologne producing company. When I first glanced at the advertisement, there were a few things that jumped out to me. The first of those things was an attractive white female with a lot of skin showing kissing and hugging an attractive white male who is professionally dressed. The next thing that caught my eye was the fact that the male was staring off somewhere into the distance while this beautiful female was trying to kiss him. He is portraying himself as if he is disinterested in the female. The third and final thing that caught my eye before actual analysis of the advertisement was the fact that the picture is all black and white. The girl, with her skin showing, is mainly all white. The male in his suit is mainly all black, with the exception of his face and white undershirt. Additionally, the bottle the cologne is held in, which is placed in the bottom right hand corner, is all black as well, with the words Armani Code printed on the bottom of the bottle is small print. While the ad itself is quite simple in design, it’s the meaning behind the picture that provides the most power. The message behind this advertisement is if Armani Code cologne is worn by any man that so many girls will like that man wearing the cologne in a sexual way that the man will eventually become sick of the females and focus on other things. This particular ad targets males while chasing the

The clothing industry has also demonstrated its support for gay-rights through advertisement in the several years. One of these advocates is Abercrombie and Fitch. This company has launched several ads that clearly show its position in the Gay-Rights movement. Indeed, most of the ads have been very controversial and are criticized often. For instance, Abercrombie and Fitch’s quarterly magazine contained an ad in which two young were sitting very closely together on a couch. One of them is sitting upright on the couch while the other is leaning his head on the first. The second guy isn’t wearing a shirt as if to confirm that they are homosexual in case it was not clear enough. Also, both men are filled with great happiness that is communicated to the public by their joyous smiles. Unlike the two previously discussed ads, this one is aimed towards the gay community itself instead of the non-gay community. In other words, the two former ads were attempting to change the public’s opinion about homosexuality. However, this ad’s purpose is not to convince but to lift the spirit of the gay community. These two happy, gay men are attempting to convey to the gay community that they should be comfortable with themselves and be happy with who they are. These two men don’t seem to feel as if they have to suppress their sexuality and Abercrombie and Fitch would like to

Although it may be unethical to advertise females as sex objects, the provocative ads are believed to be influential on the customer’s purchasing decision. Whether Suit Supply is genuinely trying to sell their products or just draw attention to their brand, the business is creating advertisements that are considered extremely sensual and inappropriate. Apparently, this “sexual revolution” is the new way to sell fashion; sex sells. The advertisement for the Dutch company, Suit Supply, includes sexual references to make a memorable impression on the customers and influence them to purchase the product. Their goal is to make the customers fantasize about the advertisement, which would hopefully cause them to buy the product. Not only are the

Advertisers have increasingly pushed the limits of cultural acceptance in a competition to arouse the consumers’ attention. In the new H&M commercial that aired for Super Bowl XLVIII, David Beckham performs James Bond type maneuvers while wearing only his underwear. Clearly, this commercial content attempts to appeal to visual, emotional, and primal desires. Sex and the need to reproduce are intense desires that many advertisements use as a delivery platform for product sales. Actors and advertising models are depicted as objects of worship and often bear an unrealistic aesthetic perfection, only achieved by spray brushing and graphic alterations. Advertising spotlights the actor as the consumable product and equates happiness with purchases. Traditional values are being replaced with morally questionable behavior. The commercial for H&M showcases unrealistic body images to promote products, through appeals to human sexual desire, thereby degrading the value of intimacy.

Many advertisements of Calvin Klein display sexual images. A recent advertisement shows an actor, Klara Kristin, sitting on a red carpet and posing in a sexual way. She is wearing a transparent dress and a pair of white knee socks. A black bra and underwear inside her transparent dress can be seen. On the advertisement campaign is a message that says” I seduce in hashtag my Calvins.” The word “seduce” is underlined. The word “seduce,” the seductive dressing, and sexual posture of Klara Kristin shows the emotional appeal, the need for sex. This will appeal to mostly younger women. The word “seduce” and the sexual posture of Klara Krisitn will lead younger women to think about sex, driving them to purchase a Calvin Klein transparent dress, bra,