An Analysis Of Two Print Based Advertisement

Advertising means announcing something publicly to sell or to publicize goods. It is found almost everywhere; in magazines, on television, on billboards, at the cinema even on public transport. There are advertisements of all kinds; for makeup, foods, cars, charities and even holidays. The purpose of an advertisement is to make a product or brand well known and to make the public want to go out and buy the good. Adverts affect our everyday lives in more ways than one as we see them everywhere and are very influenced by them, the very fact that companies spend millions of pounds a year on them is very proof in itself that adverts work.

The two adverts I have chosen to analyse are based on health and beauty. The first advert is for the brand 'herbal essences' and is for shampoo and conditioner, the second is advertising 'Dream Matte Mouse' foundation and is for the brand 'Maybelline'. My first impressions of both adverts were positive, the advert for shampoo and conditioner is very attractive as it uses bright colors, appealing images and it uses senses of smell and touch.

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My second advert (for Dream Matte Mouse foundation) is more appealing by the use of language and the layout of the advert.

Read about the beauty advertisements in magazines

I think the target audience for both adverts would be women aged 17-30 years because both adverts seem young and fresh yet still mature as they use attractive images and appealing language. The first advert for 'Herbal Essences' doesn't use as much language as the second advert for 'Maybelline', however, the language it does use is metaphoric and quite exotic for example the main quote it uses is, 'Tonight, unbottle your wildest fantasies'.

This language is metaphoric as it describes the bottles of shampoo and conditioner as 'Your wildest fantasies', it is also very attractive as the word fantasies mean, imagination unrestricted by reality, so basically, anything could happen all because of a bottle of shampoo and conditioner. The language used in the second advert is quite different because it contains facts in a very formal style such as, 'Air-whipped formula', which is very scientific language. There are also a lot of appealing words such as, 'Pure Matte Perfection', which creates the image of flawless, perfect skin.

In the first advert the phrase used, 'Tonight, unbottle your wildest fantasies', is a phrase that you could imagine the model to use. The slogan used in the second advert is, 'Maybe she's born with it, maybe its Maybelline', and this slogan is very recognisable. The slogan uses repetition by saying, 'Maybe she's born with it maybe its Maybelline', this makes the slogan catchier as it uses the brands name it makes it recognisable.

In the first advert the brand name is 'Herbal Essences', which means plants which are used in medicine and the most important feature of a object, so the brand name could be metaphoric to give someone identity or flavour by using 'Herbal Essences' shampoo and conditioner. The language techniques used in the first advert are; metaphoric language, flirtatious language such as; 'make a date with herbal essences' and 'sensually beautiful hair', this makes the product seem a lot more attractive.

The layout in the first advert is quite strange because the product is small and set out in the right hand corner. But the main focus of the advert is the models glossy hair, even though the adverts layout is not predictable it works, the colours are bright and the advert is eye-catching. The layout of the second advert is different the product is a lot bigger and it also shows the different variety of the colours of the product in a 'rainbow style image', all of the space in the advert is taken up by words, the slogan, brand name, the model and the product, so on paper it is a jam-packed advert but to look at it is well written and appealing.

The image in the second advert is of a woman's face, her skin is flawless and perfect; the woman looks roughly aged 22 which is probably the main target audience age, the woman's face is the main focus of the advert and shows the product off well because the product is used on the face and main avert focus is the woman's face.

The picture used in the first advert is again if the woman but this time the main focus is her hair, her makeup is simple so not to drag attention to her face, her hair is glossy and silky and by just looking at the advert you can almost feel the silkiness of it. The colours used in this advert are bright such as reds, pinks and yellows, the model is standing in a turquoise lagoon smelling a tropical flower, this gives the images as though she's in a rainforest.

The writing in the first advert influences the audience because the writing is appealing, 'stunningly- renourished', and the font used on the4 main slogan looks quite tropical and exotic. The writing in the second advert is simple but quite scientific as it talks about the ingredients in the foundation, the font used is quite plain but the main words such as the brand name, slogan and facts used to wow the audience are in bolder larger fonts.

My first advert for 'Herbal Essences', I found in 'Look Magazine' a fashion weekly magazine that is relevant to the product because weekly fashion magazines have the same target audience as the product. The second advert I found in the same magazine which also appeals to the same target audience so too is relevant. The main differences in the tow adverts are, the colours; one advert is bright and exotic and the other has neutral, calmer colours. I think both adverts would appeal to their target audiences because the models used in both adverts are young this shows the audience is too.

My own personal thoughts on both adverts are that they are both appealing and attractive; my favourite advert out of both is the 'Herbal Essences' advert because it is fresh, exotic and you get a feel of paradise when you view the advert. The adverts I have both viewed both prove the point of how clever and powerful advertising is towards society. The fact that one single A4 piece of paper could persuade a individual to go out and spend �20,000 on a car proves advertising is a powerful way to communicate to society.