Advertisement Critique

In the world that we live in today, one of the most influencial types of communication between a produce and consumer is advertising. We see advertisments everywhere we go in the normal day, and we watch and listen to them on our radios and televisons. We all see billboards on the side of the road, boasting large lettering, and impressive images of the product being sold. From food to cars, and clothing stores to gas stations, these impact our everday lives, whether we are able to accept it or not. The actual definition of an advertisment is a public notice, published in the press or broadcasted over the air. The society we live in today allows for the producer to get into the ehads of the consumer, and enables the buyer to be persuaded, with great ease, to purchase from the seller. There are three specific ads that I will refer to throughout, and I will go into detail about what the advertisment is selling, the message that is being given through the ad, and who the audience really is, and the tools that the advertiser uses to grab the attention of that audience.
The first ad a Braun ad for a razor. The text in the ad says, "Brings out the human in men."The man begins as a gorilla at eight in the morning, and five minutes later, the man is shown clean shaven, hair slicked back, and has a fierce impression on his face. This ad does several different things to persuade the consumer. The first being that this razor can work magic on the five o'clock shadow that the normal, everyday man goes through. The razor can withstand the tough, thick whiskers of a man, and make his face look smooth as silk. It can also sells thast it can change the apperance of a man and make him look not as a monkey, but as a man with a large ego. The message being given is that a man will be able to use this razor, no matter his condition in the morning when he wakes. This razor will be able to do the job, and he will not have to take a long time to shave. The speed of the razor is amazing in itself, but the condition that the razor will leave the man is is another feat only that razor could do. The audience for this specific ad is men from the ages of twenty-five until about men in their seventies. This is because men of this age are able to use heavy equipment like this in the morning, and are able to have the thickness of hair needed to fill the face of a man, such as the gorilla face given in the ad. The tool that is used by the advertiser is persuasion. "If you look like an animal in the morning, we can fix you right up with this razor and make you look like a man." This is what I took from the first of the three ads.
The second ad is by Antonio Federici, and it looks like the product is ice cream. In the ad, there is a priest and a nun, and they look as though they are about to kiss, which of course is forbidden in the religion. I see the message being given here as being a hidden pleasure. This product is so good, it is like it should not be allowed to be around. The temptation for this ice cream is so strong. The text given in the ad is "Kiss Temptation." The ad is saying that the temptation is that of a priest wanting to kiss a nun, and vice verca. The audience for this product is a tough one to consider, but I believe it to be people of the ages of thirty and older. This group of people would be able to understand the temptation of the ice cream and the message better than any other age group, and would understand the feeling of the ad as well, having to face these temptations like this through life. Even though you should not ought to have the ice cream, the taste is irresistable, and the temptation to want it will be verystrong. The tool the advertiser uses is the thought of being naughty, and the fact of hidden pleasures. The urge to want to have the product will grow strong when looking at the ad.
The last ad that is being critiqued is of a rainforest being destroyed and an ape-man looking person swinging from a vine that ends in a bare, cleared out part of the forest. There is a bulldozer in the background where the cleared out part of the forest is as well. The text of the ad says that "15km squared of rainforest disappears every minute," and the ad is sponsored by the WWF, which is the World Wildlife Fund. The ad is sending the message that the forests which we rely on for oxygen and other important factors in our lives is being destroyed every minute. The advertisers might also be sending out the message that people need to be eco-friendly and environmentally aware of what we do as a community. The people of all of the world need these forests in order to survive, and maintain a healthy lifestyle and environment. The audience for this ad is for those of us who are unaware of what our behavior can do to not just our own environment, but the environment of animals and other creatures. Young school kids can be targeted the most by this ad, for it is the opinion of a little boy or girl that could persuade the parents of a young person to change their minds on how they use things in their lives. By persuading the audience to give money or awareness to what their lifestyle is doing to the environment, the ad can bring more people in and give a lending hand to the cause they are trying to help, a lacking and destroyed rainforest.
Advertisements can go a long way in the society that we all live in today, and many people are easily persuaded by the pictures, texts, and purposes behind each and every ad that is seen all over the world, either by print or by air. We all are impacted whether we realize this or not, and there really is nothing that a person can do to ignore advertising. It is a part of life now, and it is part of the way we have all been raised. We must either decide to trust or ignore the information that is given to us through ads, and we must make a decison on whether to buy a product, or pass up on a product.