Women In Advertisements

     The ad I have chosen to analyze is an ad from Dolce & Gabbana.  This particular ad features 3 women.  Each of the women in the ad represent and display most of the concepts from both Killing Us Softly 4 and The Codes Of Gender.

     A similar concept from both videos is the sexualization of young women.  In this ad, the two women standing appear frail and slender with childlike facial features.  This concept is also supported with the colorful, small dresses that they are wearing.  A similar concept from the videos are the stances of the women. 
    
     As explained in both Killing Us Softly 4 and The Codes Of Gender, women in ads are often doing vulnerable or sexualized poses.  In this ad, the model in the chair is sitting in a manner that appears uncomfortable and as stated in The Codes Of Gender, not in a controlled or controlling position and becoming a product of her environment. In other words, she appears vulnerable and off kilter. They all use the position techniques shown in The Codes Of Gender.
     The other standing models demonstrate the knee, body, and head tilting.  The positions they are standing in are limp, hunched and delicate.  The center model's neck is also stretched and in a submissive position.  The hands of these models follow all the same rules from The Codes Of Gender as well.  They are limp and fragile. The model holding the bag on the right is holding it loosely and daintily unlike male models that hold things firmly and assertively. 
   
     Killing Us Softly 4 touches on the body sizes of models.  The three models in this advertisement are thin, slim and frail.  They aren't curvy or heavy.  These models help to portray the image of "ideal" body types that are explained in this video.    

     One concept that these models do not display has to do with their eyes.  Rather than staring off or appearing dazed and astray, all three models are staring straight at the viewer. The codes of gender explains how this is often shown with men in ads.  Though these women are glaring at the viewer, they are doing so in a manner that comes off as sexual.  If we focus on the model in the chair particularly, her eyes appear engaging in a sexual manner. All three models in this ad follow almost of the concepts shown from both videos.

Frith Analysis of Netflix Ad

     Using the Frith Analysis on the Netflix ad in my last blog, we can analyze the ad at the Surface Meanings, Intended Meanings, and Cultural Meanings.

     For the Surface meaning, viewers can see that all the movie characters are gathered in a meeting to be briefed by what appears to be a man in charge. They are in a business-like setting.

     For the Intended Meaning, Netflix is explaining some features of their website and their company that may attract the attention of potential customers (such as the ease of browsing the site and no late fees). The people sitting in the desks resemble characters from movies (like Pinocchio) and are meant to portray the vast amount of genres and range of titles available from Netflix.

     For the Cultural Meaning,  we also see that the characters resemble well known characters in movies.  When we see all the character from the movies, certain ones may stand out as favorites to us.  This makes us believe that Netflix has the movies we want (or maybe titles that children or other family members want).  Netflix appears to be very professional, reliable and efficient based on the business setting. They also appear this way because the movies are being told what to do. This can demonstrate the control and efficiency that are necessary to run a successful business.  By explaining how they are easy to use Netlfix is trying to appear better than their competition.  These features may be ones that potential customers feel are lacking from their current video rental store, thus making viewers more intrigued with Netflix and how it works.

Watch Instantly, Get Hooked Instantly

Netflix, by far, takes the win for my all time favorite ad campaign.  Not only do they have great commercials and ads, but their approach to advertising and even their logo are simple and concise.  I feel like advertisements should all have that goal; to get straight to the point.

After years of being disappointed with the service of video rental stores, Netflix was a refreshing take on rental videos.  Netflix offers a "no late fees" solution to the late fee problems associated with other video stores. Seeing one of Netflix's ads for the first time convinced my family to finally be rid of late fees and the poor selection of our local video stores. Why? In 30 seconds, Netflix will tell you exactly why you will never go to Blockbuster again. Plain and simple.



They didn't stop there.  During the big snow storm a few years back, I stumbled upon the instant play feature of Netflix that was then offered for free for existing Netflix customers.  This feature has had me using Netflix almost everyday for the past year.  Even though the instant play movie ads hadn't stuck out much to me before I started using the feature, the ads still have the same simple and straightforward approach.

This may all sound like I'm trying to convince everyone to switch to Netflix, and I am.  I started using it my freshman year of high school and I am now in my second year of college and I am still a customer.  Many free trials are offered, such as the "netflix.com/bacon" offer from EpicMealtime.  If you aren't already a customer, a free month trial wouldn't hurt.