Yuemin Li
Erik Strobl
College Writing 1, Section 28
September 19, 2014
Analysis of an Advertisement
Advertisements are talking images. They communicate important ideas about the goods and services that are advertised for. This advertisement for Godiva Chocolate shows a woman picking up chocolate from a huge gift box. This tantalizing glimpse of the chocolate makes people want to eat it. The explicit message for this advertisement is that everyone should buy chocolate from Godiva as a gift. The Godiva advertisement captures men by giving the ideal image of a woman being wrapped as a gift along with chocolate: creating a Christmas theme and a sexual theme that attracts men’s attention, reinforcing the idea of women as gifts.
The target audience of this advertisement is men. This image grabs the attention of men. They will stare at the beauty in the picture and make the connection that this woman is selling the chocolate. The ripples of the dress makes people feel like a vat of chocolate have been poured onto her body. It attracts men because it implies that if they buy their girlfriend chocolate, they might “get lucky.” In today’s society, a smart way to sell a product designed mainly for women is to appeal to men. Men are willing to buy chocolate as gift for women if it could strengthen their relationship. The advertisement implies that men should buy chocolate for women as a gift because men do not indulgently eat chocolate as much as women. If they buy chocolate for women, it would make women pleased and happy. The attractiveness of the ads demonstrates that the producers know that men are an important audience.
Not only does this advertisement reach out to men, but there are women in the target audience too. This advertisement was found in a digital magazine called: Darling the art of being a woman. It shows that the target audience is also for women because women love eating chocolate. This advertisement also promotes an ideal of what a happy and attractive woman could be if she eats Godiva chocolate. It seems to show that women can still look as beautiful and sexy while eating chocolate. Women who see this advertisement will connect the lady in the picture to themselves. The lady is smiling at the chocolate because Godiva chocolates’ taste and texture is delicious and decadent. It also attracts women because the woman’s self-confidence in the picture implies that the chocolate is something that is fine to eat especially for women who are worried about weight.
This advertisement also targets the middle class, middle aged people. In the picture, the gift box is golden; gold lends people a sense of nobility. It makes the middle class feel like they are upperclassmen when in possession of the chocolate. It gives any age and class of people the hint that if they buy Godiva, they too will become elevated like an ethereal deity.
The text in the image also delivers several messages to people. It states, “Let the Decadence Begin” in a large eye catching script. The explicit meaning of the text is that Godiva chocolate is too delicious if people try it once that they can’t stop eating it. It also implies that a woman who eats chocolate will be so glamorous that every man will fall in love with her which will lead to their indulgent pleasures. Although it is only four words, this text grabs people’s attention and makes them wonder how chocolate could let the decadence begin. They want to try it, which makes Godiva’s advertising a success. The idea of decadence is also shown by the Christmas theme in the picture. When people think about Christmas, it is always about delicious food, and bustling streets. The woman is also wearing a red dress, and the ribbon in the picture is also red and green. This picture implies that chocolate is a good choice as a gift for Christmas because red and green are often associated with this festive holidays. There are also some ornaments in the left bottom of the