Appealing Advertisements

Advertisements today draw people in with gorgeous models, dream like settings, manipulating words, and typical self-conscious thoughts. In the essay, “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising” by Ann McClintock, it talks about a variety of clever ad slogans that draw people’s attention to the ad. The advertisement I chose is for the Men’s body wash, Old Spice. They show an extremely muscular fit African American male. He is sitting on a horse on a beautiful beach. The beach looks like one that vacationing ads would show to attract one to come to their beautiful resort. He is holding the product, Old Spice Body Wash, and above him it says, “SMELL LIKE A MAN, MAN.” The old spice company uses techniques that are very intelligent to attract customers. The main three being, if a customer wants to have up to par physical appearance, smell and feel like they are in a beautiful setting, and not be like the opposing sex, then they will buy and use the product.
First, the way they use physical appearance is important. In today's ads, whether it is for acne remover, sneakers, shampoo, or anything else, there is always a good looking person using the product. If it’s a female, they have beautiful eyes with long, beautiful hair, a great body and luscious, glossy lips. When it’s a male, their teeth are perfect and eyes are glowing. Their body’s looks like a roman statue because of how cut and tone their muscles are. These attract people very easily. This is one of the techniques my advertisement uses. In the old spice ad, they are using a very muscular and toned male. The point of this technique is to get the buyer to think that this is what they could look like if they use this product. In reality it is years of hard work in the gym.
Secondly, the setting the company places their advertisement. In most cases, it is a very unrealistic setting. For example a science lab in the middle of the ocean or something absurd like that. But many ads will use a spot that looks like a dreamy vacation. This is because it will give the customer the thought of being in that beautiful setting and it will give them a glimpse of paradise. Then, wanting to be in that setting, they will buy the product. My advertisement uses this technique. The man is located on the middle of the beach holding the body wash. This gives the impression that maybe the product is as perfect as the surroundings. It might even just put a thought in your head when you think about the beach, you think about the product. In any event, the scene is a crucial necessity to a great ad.
The last technique, companies will try to use the typical thoughts of their targeted customers. Slogans like, "Don't be the last to get it" or "For only the best." These types of slogans will make people think, “well I don't