Black Opium Ads Analysis

Perfume advertisements, both in magazines and in television, involve selling more than just the scent. It taps into the human psyche and tries to sell the perfume by linking the brand with desirable ideas such as femininity, masculinity, love, passion, etc. Perfume advertisement usually tries to appeal to the other senses. It usually tries to sell sex by advertising with a beautiful and sexy model or a celebrity in a desirable location. Advertisers employ attractive people and use sex to grab attention and stimulate desire. Perfume advertisements evoke fantasy and offer a life

During the 19th century, China transformed from a prosperous economic center to a weakened country in a system controlled by Great Britain, largely due to the opium trade. Prior to Europe’s industrial revolution in 1800, China had little need for products from other countries, and participated sparingly in world trade, while Europe borrowed China’s ideas and inventions to gain a financial foothold. But in the 19th century Britain introduced opium into the Chinese market, setting off a chain of events that lead to the Opium Wars, which along with the opium trade sapped China’s economic strength. Nevertheless, she persisted, and in 1907 China passed a law that blocked the opium trade once and for all and took out Britain’s system of power within

This is Beyonce’s fragrance so it makes sense that Beyonce is the model for it. Since Beyonce is a worldwide phenomenon that many people look up to, she really grabs the audience’s attention by being in the ad. Not only is Beyonce a brand of her own, she is also a very attractive woman. Beyonce attracts men with this ad because she is Beyonce and the sexy glance that she is giving. She also lures women in with this glance because they see Beyonce looking like Beyonce and they think that if they get the same perfume that Beyonce uses, they will be sexy like she is. She is using ethos by including herself in this ad which shows that this product is a reliable and credible because Beyonce herself is using the product and being her own spokesperson/advocate for the product. This is personal branding which really works well for this ad because this is Beyonce’s product and it shows just how reliable this product

There is quiet the paradox in the particular advertisement as well. This particular commercial has fine classical music as its choice of background music that is played throughout the whole commercial. The woman character in this commercial possesses such a high level of success because the audience can definitely infer that she reached a great length of fame. The woman is a form of celebrity because the paparazzi constantly want to take her picture. With such a height of fame, it is quiet obvious that she is very successful and there lies a hint of high social status. The advertisers have reached an extreme form of social success for celebrities receive exclusive opportunities that no ordinary citizens can pursue. The celebrity lifestyle is an exclusive one; therefore, the advertisers of this perfume have exploited that high social class brilliantly. Overall, this commercial portrays this woman a high level of class because she has

Since people are willing to spend as much money to buy the latest fashion trends/clothing materials advertised on a magazine cover, with two romantic couples especially using a lady as the main target, will people be willing to also buy the same magazine but this time featuring two old couples or the clothing material being advertised? No! Even if people can still afford the payment, they will still get rid of the magazine immediately because that’s not the reality they live in. Majority of us based our life on fantasy instead of facing the reality of life. We tends to be more wasteful and portrays the things that weren’t supposed to be. For example, using women as a figure or symbol of sexuality such as the one portrayed on the Blueberry London Magazine. My point in all this, is that when people look at themselves in the mirror, they always see themselves as minority and not majority, in essence that people don’t often look on the bright side of beauty but always look on the dark and ugly side of fantasy. This ad specifically talks about beauty and how it’s been portrayed in the

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 famous actress and model Sofia Vergara is the model for this advertisement. With her gorgeous look and stunning hair she can attract any person going through a magazine. Her golden hair with golden eyes and eyebrows are what covers most of the advertisement and this shows the aim of the advertisement. Her white shirt, like the color of the shampoo bottle shows connection between her and the product. Her natural beauty with the classic smile captivates

The man is fully clothed in a suit, which represents power and formality. It is extremely suggestive as it looks like he came to this position without the woman’s knowledge or consent since her sunglasses are pushed up for her to see. He is in a dominating position where she has to look up at him and the man’s face isn’t shown in the ad, which shows that he is confident. The ad is suggesting that if you have Sky Vodka, you can look glamourous and wealthy as well. The men are always given more power and a higher status than the women (Appendix A). The second image reveals how femininity is portrayed. In the ad for Dolce and Gabbana’s Monico Lipstick, notice the lightness of the woman’s hand touching her face, the touching of one’s face, especially the finger-to-mouth pose is reminiscent of a child. She is also dressed seductively with a come-hither look on her face that is bold and suggestive (Appendix A).

Advertisers, especially fragrance advertisers stick to a ‘house style’ and because of these similarities we have expectations of what they will include. The advert I have chosen is Estee Lauder perfume, which features Kendall Jenner. Some of the features we expect on fragrance adverts are glamour, beauty and attractiveness to be shown. It is very common for advertisers to use well-known celebrity such as Kendall Jenner. It is a technique to get people looking at the advert because audiences admire celebrities, success and importantly ‘beauty’. If a ‘normal’ ‘everyday’ woman were to be used for adverts then it would catch less attention, as they are not known and the product would sell less because people assume, if celebrities use the

Since similar standards for beauty have been created by advertisements have been around for so long, women do not know they have been manipulated and now accept them as true. Because of this, this advertisement’s portrayal of a “beautiful” woman is an effective strategy to convince women to buy the Be Delicious perfume.

The advertisement speaks to the reader in a soft, familiar, enticing language as though she (and it is a female) is alone in the room with you. Although the advertisement mentions as an aside that the product is also patented for men, we receive the strong impression that it is the female who has been targeted as prospective market. This is due to the picture used, as well as colors, words, and situation. The colors are mostly lilac consisting of soothing pink, cream and purple all feminine associated colors. The picture is of a seductive woman, vibrant with health, hair falling into eye, bra straps peeking out, who smiles flashing her pearl teach at you, appearing the picture of health.

     The appearance of these models is the primary concern of the ads and entails many different elements. Every model portrays a different characteristic through the pose they are in and the clothes that they wear. One ad depicts a sexy young woman who shows confidence by extending her arms out and exposing her flat stomach. Her hips are thrust to the left side, her long beautiful hair is gently blown back, and her facial expression and eye contact hint at sexual desire or acceptance of the viewer. Another female model also has her hips out to the left, but her hands express a different idea. While one hand is used to play with her hair, the other is up to her face with her pointer finger right below her bottom lip. Her hair partly covers her eyes and with her head slightly down, she comes off as shy but confidant. The confidence comes from her exposed stomach and direct eye contact that she makes with the viewer. These two women are somewhat opposite in how they come off which shows that Calvin Klein is trying to appeal to what different guys look for and appreciate in a woman.

At first glance the advertisement seemed so simple and to the point, but the image has an emotional pull that people still cannot resist. We see a beautiful woman basking in the glow of the night’s sky. In the background we see the castle, which represents her

The most conspicuous part of the advertisement is the image of the woman in front of a black background so that only her face is visible. This in itself is important because it is automatically making her face the focus of the advertisement and not her body. Unlike most advertisements in which a woman’s body is exploited to sell products to men, the UN Women advertisement draws attention to her eyes, therefore making her your equal, since you have to make eye contact with her instead of looking anywhere else on her body. She is completely expressionless, looking at the viewer with a blank stare, a totally blank slate onto which viewer’s reflect their own views. Even more important, the woman pictured is a Muslim woman, as displayed by her hijab. The hijab is widely seen in western society as a form of oppression by men, to make women subservient to them, and by juxtaposing an ad for equality with the

Smoking tobacco has been a part of American culture since its very conception. Throughout our history, tobacco has been advertised as a simple pleasure for those who seek it out. Whether you are sitting on the porch with a couple of friends or in a dimly lit jazz club, tobacco ads give off a false sense of comfort, power, and success. Until around the mid-1900’s, smoking cigarettes was not considered unhealthy. It was only later that the public realize the detrimental health consequences that came with smoking tobacco. To spread this information, specific advertisements were aired to help inform the public of the dangers of smoking. While these ads have changed over time, the same message and warning still remains evident.