Advert research, week 2 (Monday)

In to days lesson I have learn ed the key terminology which will help me achieve a better grade in the near future by including these key concepts in my work. I've learn ed what the 2 keys are used for in advertising and what their functions are; these are the major and minor keys. I have also learn ed what the tempo and the diegetic as well as the non-diegetic sound are and how they're overlooked by the higher level students.

After watching a couple of TV advertisement examples, I was tasked with a research independent activity, which involved me searching for a car, make-up and sofa advert on Youtube. I then had to apply my own knowledge and include the terminology I learn ed before, when writing about the adverts.

"cake" Skoda- Fabia   This advert is titled "cake" for the Skoda- Fabia car advertisement (2007).
The song that was used ( "my favourite things" by Julie Andrews-1959) suggests that this advert is focused more on the older generation as their target audience, this is due to the fact that the song was published in the late 1950's. The whole idea around this advert is the process in which the car is produced from the ingredients which make up a cake, and that is the overall analogy. The use of a cake could also represent that the car is intended for married couples, a cake is usually associated with a wedding or a birthday party etc. This advert also uses the major key, this was done because it is a marketing advert which is designed to sell, for instance if the minor key was used,it might have even scared off or disinterested the audience of buying the product. The major key is very important in marketing as it gives the audience a more positive vibe to that product.

Maybelline- Fit me make-up system
This Maybelline fit me make-up advert, makes it clear that the product is aimed at young women aged between 20 and 30 years old as their target audience. This is because the advert presents itself with actresses aged appropriately to the target audience, this was done so that the target audience could relate to the models, inspiring them  to purchase this product. Furthermore this gives the audience that dying urge to believe in the products' marketing campaign, the company uses reverse psychology to sell their product. The advert uses the major key, which was given away instantly from the upbeat music. The use of non diegetic voice overs suggests that it was used to further persuade the audience in selling the product.

CSL sofas- "Sofa matchmakers"
Almost instantly I realised that the song played along side the advert matched with the product. The use of the product and song together creates an icon attachment, which makes it very easy to identify the brand this way. The "matchmakes" was implied as a clever metaphor. In the advert you a see a man dancing with several women, picking his best match and falling in love. the advert puts a spin on things making it unique. This idea was implied in the same way, however the love of a man and a woman is replaced with the man and the sofa, and that is the advertisement overall message. The major key is highly significant in this particular advert as the music  almost wants you to get up and dance along side the it, making it a one unique advert.


The last task was focused on unethical companies, I was to take a company which was subject of unethical charges, and use that information to produce my very own unique message regarding that company. After researching on this subject, i decided to go with "coca cola" as it is subjected of gum decay. I used this idea and so I sketched out a bill board but instead of using the old coca cola logo I used "gum destroy" in the same font. Looking back at it now i realise it might have been a better idea to use "gum decay" instead.

This is what I came up with using Photoshop,  As I mentioned before "gum decay" sounds a whole lot better so I went with it. the font design was produced using adobe illustrator, I looked up some tutorials on YouTube and it helped me achieve what i couldn't in Photoshop. The extension in the letter g was drawn through using a simple shape which I then extended. Same goes for the letter as it crosses under the letter a, and becomes conjoined with the letter y. I did this as the original coca cola logo does the same. I later realised that the billboard which i was using to get my ideas had used black lined stripes across their billboard. I simply got an image of a striped texture and inserted it behind my design by clicking in between the layer and pressing the alt key.

The drawing as well as the design were inspired by this image of a coca cola billboard. I tried recreating the billboard itself, i actually went out and took a photograph of an existing billboard.

This was the first stage in developing my unethical advert. I used the "Scew" tool to adjust my design onto the billboard.

In this second stage I only adjusted the colours a little bit just so it matched the lighting.

At this stage I thought it would be ironic if I got a decayed texture and placed as the background for my design. Since my unethical idea is based around coca cola being the decay for your teeth.

Lastly I took this idea to the next level by adding a tear in one of the waves for a greater effect and a visualisation of my idea.