Lexus ad for the GS
When I first thought of advertisements that were based around a deadly sin, I immediately thought about lust because the media often uses sexuality to draw our eyes and uses fallacies to gain attention, making us think, "If I buy that product I could look like that hot model."
In the ad above, created by Lexus and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit in 2013, the Lexus GS model is not the only product being advertised. It is also advertising the woman and the Tori 500. It shows a hot woman in a bikini standing beside a new sports car on a race track. The primary audience is upper class men around ages 25 to 50 because they would have to have the money to purchase a luxury car as well as the sexual attraction to the model being displayed. The audience is also shown in the ad by the phrase, "Gentlemen start your i Phones," in which Lexus and Sports Illustrated is directly targeting men. To fully understand this ad, the audience must also have an understanding of luxury vehicles and the technology of smart phones, since there is reference to related apps.
This ad focuses around two deadly sins- lust and greed. The greed comes from the luxury car that is being advertised, showing that if you have a lot of money , you can buy a fancy and expensive car like this. However, the lust portion comes from multiple different aspects in the ad. The first being the obvious, there is a woman who is modeling beside the car in a bikini. If the ad is further read into, there is mention of the Tori 500, which is a race track that was shaped around the model's body. In a competition, two men raced around the track, and the winner would get to a victory lap with the model. This ad is going along with a common stereotype of women, portraying her as an object since she was a track for which her curves were important and a prize to the men who raced. Also, since Lexus was working as partners with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, they reference an ad in which people can upload images of supermodels into their own pictures. Again, all centering around women's sexuality; therefore, focusing on lust.
Some interesting techniques in this advertisement also include the layout and use of color. For the layout, the woman in the center of the ad. This is interesting because although the product is the car, the selling technique is the sexy woman who is supposed too capture your attention. Also, color is used to draw your attention to the model's body. The majority of the colors used are blues and grays, which provide a sharp contrast to the model's pale skin, again, bringing your focus to her. Also, her swimsuit is the same metallic gray color as the car, which draws a comparison between the sexy model and the sexy car, making you think the car is beautiful as well.
Also, the language in the ad is used to sway the audience into buying the car. The words, "there's no going back" imply that this is a new creation that is better than anything that the consumers have ever seen before. Also, at the bottom of the add, it says, "the pursuit of perfection" which implies that the car and the woman in the ad are perfect and if you buy into this product you are also buying into the idea and can be perfect too.
I found the way you described color and the movement of the ad interesting. The color scheme definitely makes the model's skin pop out, but I would disagree that the model is in the center. I would say she's in the foreground, and the viewer's attention is brought from close to far. Also a minor detail I picked up is that her reflection doesn't show up on the car's paint, which might mean she was photoshopped in.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I agree that making a victory lap with her makes it seem as if she is an object to be won by men, and the use of gentlemen is more indicative of sex than it is a figure of speech.
Your analysis of the advertisement is very interesting and in-depth. I agree that the audience of this advertisement is upper class men. This is seen in the obvious over sexual representation of the girl used in the advertisement. The language used in the phrase "Gentlemen start your iphones" is interesting because it mirrors the common racing phrase "Gentlemen start your engines." This makes the car appear to be similar to a fast racing car. This ad definitely plays on the stereotype that men gain the most satisfaction from fast cars and pretty women. The ad also seems to make the girl appear to be an sexual accessory to the man rather than an equal human being. I liked your analysis of the victory lap.
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