Figure 1 print ad analysis
In the world of fashion, clothing companies are always trying to produce more creative print advertisements than the usual boring print ads to attract more customers. Some chooses to use humor or charming appeals while others choose a shocking way to appeal to customers. Sisley – an Italian fashion brand owned by Benetton Group is one of the fashion companies choosing to present their advertisement in a controversial way (Amrisha, par. 4). In 2007, Sisley’s print advertisement - Fashioin Junkie was produced as part of an advertising campaign for the brand, which was then considered as “shockvertising” and generated a great deal of controversy (Dewulf, par. 2). In this print advertisement, Sisley features a fashion ad with two young girls wearing heavy make-up and dark clothes and apparently using drugs (fig. 1). By using the combination of vivid metaphors, visual design and models’ body language and gaze, the advertisement is not only trying to sell the product and to capture the attention of target customers but to appeal emotions from the viewers and emphasize its underlying message of being addicted to Sisley fashion brand.
Figure 1: Fashioin Junkie. Advertisement. Phoebe Nickalls. “Top 5: Controversial fashion campaigns”. The Mancunion. Mancunion.com. 13 November, 2013. Web. 19 February, 2015.
The explicit message of this ad is largely conveyed through vivid metaphors. The first metaphoric image that catches the viewers’ eyes is the white dress at the center of fig. 1. At first glance, the white dress appears as a huge pile of drug combining with the action of the two models that creates a negative image of an action of sniffing drugs in the audience’s mind. However, this dress is used as a metaphor with the purpose of establishing a correlation between fashion and the notorious symbol of drugs – addiction. Another metaphoric feature is the small black bag with white powder inside placed next to the white dress (fig. 1) which can be seen as an image of an
Figure 1: Fashioin Junkie. Advertisement. Phoebe Nickalls. “Top 5: Controversial fashion campaigns”. The Mancunion. Mancunion.com. 13 November, 2013. Web. 19 February, 2015.
The explicit message of this ad is largely conveyed through vivid metaphors. The first metaphoric image that catches the viewers’ eyes is the white dress at the center of fig. 1. At first glance, the white dress appears as a huge pile of drug combining with the action of the two models that creates a negative image of an action of sniffing drugs in the audience’s mind. However, this dress is used as a metaphor with the purpose of establishing a correlation between fashion and the notorious symbol of drugs – addiction. Another metaphoric feature is the small black bag with white powder inside placed next to the white dress (fig. 1) which can be seen as an image of an
Cited: Amrisha. "Most Controversial & Outrageous Ads." Boldsky. n.p., 23 February. 2012. Web. 19 February 2015. <http://www.boldsky.com/insync/life/2012/controversial-advertisements-230212.html>. "Color Psychology." Digital Skratch. n.p. n.d. Web. 19 February 2015. <http://www.digitalskratch.com/color-psychology.php>. DEWULF, BRIANNA. ""Fahsion Junkie" by Sisley." Longwood Blogs. n.p., 21 September. 2012. Web. 19 February 2015. <http://blogs.longwood.edu/advertising3/2012/09/21/fashion-junkie-by-sisely/>. Frkovich, Milenka. "The 5 most controversial fashion ads." Peru this Week. n.p., 11 April. 2012. Web. 19 February 2015. <http://www.peruthisweek.com/the-break-the-most-controversial-fashion-ads-80440>.