Critique Argument about Analyzing Advertisements

Introduction

The print ad selected for this assignment is one of the ads from diesel summer campaign 2004 (see Appendix). The paper analyses the print ad with respect to the representation, the imagery, the message and if any issue it may create for the society.

One of the significant problems that the ad poses is the promotion of consumer culture and a materialistic society. Such advertisements have been promoted by diesel on various campaigns and this is the reason why the advertisements attract the younger, lifestyle conscious customers. This trend is liked by many but in a holistic view, it creates a view of an unequal and a materialistic society promoting consumerism.

Such advertising increasingly works to make us feel as though we have a relationship with our products and that products have the power to transform our lives and identities. Products are positioned to create a world of difference, where experiences outside the norm can be bought. As a result, social relationships become commoditized in advertising to sell products. Motherhood, friendship, and romance are shown as stronger and happier because of the products. Growing consumerist identities have made individuals in market-driven societies more susceptible to what Munch, (1988) refers to as the "aspiration gap", the notion that constant consumption is needed in order to achieve satisfaction in life. As individuals in Western consumer culture develop an increasingly "inflated sense of the material things that are required to have a "normal" life", the advertising industry expands the list of required "necessities" (78-92)

Representation

To analyze the ad said, it is important that we have an understanding of the company, which produced advertising and marketing strategy. Therefore, before we begin our analysis, let us take a brief overview of the background Diesel. Diesel clothing company founded by Renzo Rosso in 1978 and is located in Molvena, Italy. Rosso has chosen a name for diesel, which then had just become a new source of energy, to describe the company's ethical alternative to the state (Diesel,2008). He wanted to create a clothing line, which was a complete independent people, who express their individuality, how they dress, and those who follow their own unique path in life. Early on, they turned their backs on the traditional style dictators and consumer forecasts, and fashion schools, but were directed by their own tastes. This approach has not only permeated their clothes, but also their approach to advertising.

The ad selected is taken from the campaign which consists of two parts: the first part consists of three advertisements that appear photographs of a forest full of well dressed people loving flowers banana leaves, beetles and other plants and animals. The ad represents the independence, self image, and the comfort. The first thing obvious in this ad is a handsome man, almost naked it seems a little helpless and lost without helping out. It is an atypical representation of men, which are normally shown in a manly pose, almost as full of strength gods who dominate society, ...