ADVERTISING C1A

1 December 

Advertising & Marketing

L.O. To explore the aims and conventions of print advertising

Main aim of advertising: bring attention to service, a product or issue. 

Inform/educate : giving two comparisons to convince people that quitting smoking is better

Raising Awareness : given an example of the negative impacts of climate change 

Persuade audience : they are saying that coca cola makes you happy which makes people want to buy it 

Unique Selling Point : doesn't only work as shampoo but is anti dandruff too

 

Types of advertising:

6 December

Advertising & Marketing

L.O. To explore the codes & conventions of print advertising

Codes and Conventions: The expected elements that will be included in products from particular media forms and genres

Non-commercial Advert.

This advert is constructed to raise awareness about coronavirus and showing how important the at home test kits. 

They communicate it using visual codes, with the image showing one of the kits in the image and anchoring the image with the text "it could save your life"

Commercial Advert.

This advert is made to make the product seem appealing so that it will sell better. 

They have used language codes to create a desire for the drink "Love at first sip" The emotive language creates a connection of love to the product. They also use visual codes like the colour palette (red connotes love/passion)

Hard sell advert 

Print advertising almost always includes: Name of brand/product, Logo, Slogan, Specific details of USP/product or service, Hard or soft sell

1: imperative, repetition, triplets

2: persuasive, alliteration, 

3: facts/information, wordplay/pun

Intertextuality

Modern adverts often make references to other media product, perhaps from other media forms or genres, that audiences can identify. 

This helps communicate a message quickly and memorably. 

Intertextual References: 

Charlie and the chocolate factory: comparing aldi supermarkets to the chocolate factory (saying its magical/special), Roald Dahl is recognised by everyone, there is a new willy wonka film coming out so it makes it more memorable, both about food.

10 January 2024  

1 first impressions, wealthy man because of the golden photo frame, the clothes he is wearing, overflowing tin of sweet treats

2 it looks like they lead quite a wealthy & luxury lifestyle 

3 those messages suggest that quality street as a brand is a luxury item, people will therefore want it more

Historical Advert Set Text

L.O. to explore the context & representations in the historical set text

advert 1 

this advert is a commercial advert for a hoover directed to men suggesting that the cleaning is for the women and the buying is for the men. this represents the social gender gap in the 1950s and how there was a superiority mindset towards men

advert 2

this advert suggests that the women do all of the cooking while the chefs (the men) get all the praise, this is unfair and sexist. 

advert 3 

this image suggests that gender roles in the 50s left it to the women to do the cooking and cleaning while the men get to play the 'fun parent' and relax while they get cleaned up after them. the wall separates the woman doing the house work and the man relaxing. the colour scheme also follows general stereotypes 

advert 4

in this advert the lady on the front has been sexually objectified to the male gaze as she is naked and this advert is directed to men. it is also representing her as an object by saying 'keep her where she belongs' this suggests the man owns her and can do what he wants with her. It is also degrading her by representing her as being as small as the shoe, reflecting her lack of power 

advert 5

this advert is representing women as small and weak as the woman is on her knees attending to her husband. this makes her look small and weak next to him. "show her its a mans world" this tells the viewer that in the 1950s, there was a superiority complex towards men and women lacked any power 

advert 6

this advert is dismissing women as being intelligent by representing her as having lack of skill. 

In the 1950s, gender roles fit into the patriarcal society. This meant that the male dominated society would disregard women as being skilful or worthy, so they would therefore stay at home as housewives while the men went off to work to earn the money. Women were expected to take care of their husbands and children even if that extended beyond the needs of themselves. 

In this quality street advert, gender roles are represented to fit into the patriarcal society of the 50s. The male of the house is centrally framed in the advert making him look superior to both of the women beside him, who are only there to attend to him. This also plays into the objectification of the women as both women are kissing the man. Their clothes tell us they are being compared to the chocolate which shows that he is choosing from them and the overflowing tin of chocolates shows women belong to him and he is in power, it is his choice.

The man is framed in the centre of the advert, controlling the situation.  

Effect: This suggests this advert is all about him and seeing as the advert is directed towards men, it makes them feel important. It also makes him look superior to the women beside him who aren't centrally placed and therefore don't come across as important to the viewer, again playing into the patriarcal society of the 50s. 

The man is looking down at his lap where the product he is holding is purposefully placed. This is a phallic symbol. 

Effect: The effect of this is that it is objectifying the women by strategically placing the tin - it is showing them reaching for the chocolates which is something they want and have been made to seem so desirable. Placing the tin of the things they want over his crotch is very suggestive and shows that men are the dominant gender because they have what the women want. 

12 January

do now

The man is dominant in the quality street advert. 

He is centrally framed, he is the one holding the product, he's dressed the most formal/smartest 

Historical Advert Set Text

L.O. to explore the possible exam style questions for advertising

In the quality street advert men are being represented as the dominant gender. This is constructed through the use of mis-en-scen. The male in the advert has been dressed in formal attire, making him come across as important and smart. The audience have been positioned to see all the characters in the adverts from a males perspective, for example he has been centrally framed and therefore the focal point of the advert. This gives the viewer the impression that the man is the more superior gender in the image as your attention is immediately drawn to him and averted from the women either side of him.  

17 January

Connotations and Denotations

do now

denotations: the literal meaning of something

connotations: things associated with it

Analysing Adverts

L.O. to build the skills needed to analyse and evaluate adverts 

Advert 1

queens guards connote safe/secure broadband and they are from the UK which links into the target audience, neon colours connote technology/futuristic

Advert 2

red connotes passion/love, text connotes desire, logo connotes McDonalds, red velvet bed connotes luxurious/expensive/romantic

Advert 3 

sporty, text connotes that the car is interesting (full of history), used to be a race car but has progressed into a car that drives on the roads, number 1 on side of car connotes they are the best (number1), race cars connote speed

Advert 4

green connotes hulk, hulk connotes strength, hulk wearing bandage connotes that even strong people get hurt, connotes the plasters are strong like hulk

Positive connotations: interested, inquisitive, curious, disabled, handicapped

Negative connotations: nosy, crippled, retarded

24 January

Do now

Stereotypes

males: blue, dominant, masculine, tough, intelligent, more sexually influenced than women are,

females: pink, feminine, stay at home/mothers, emotional, sensitive, creative, bossy, 

Contemporary Adverts

L.O. to understand the techniques used in contemporary adverts

1. Fiat is representing themselves as an informal, light hearted, fun brand. The adverts made for different target audiences suggests they have something for everybody. 

2. Intertextual References: The advert isn't presented as a normal advert, it looks like a fashion magazine article  The name "Sandra.P" excluding a surname is a pop culture reference to celebrities /pop stars. 

3. They have used this specific font to come across as a chilled, bubbly brand. The rounded font also links to the shape of the car. Anchorage text suggests that fiats are fun, sporty cars. Colour palette: the women's advert has a yellow car, yellow has connotations of happy and feminine. 

4. Gender is represented positively & stereotypically. The anchorage text "Sport up" on the advert with the male in it suggests that sport / sports cars are appealing to the target audience, men. This fits into stereotypes of men being the gender that is more interested in sports.  The advert with the woman in it is anchored with the text "Life's to short to wear a boring car" This paired with her posing and her stylish outfit show that style & design is something that is important to women. 

26 January

do now

main image, slogan, logo, the product, tagline

Creating Adverts

L.O. To use our understanding of advert conventions to create advertisements

31 January

Women in advertising

L.O. to evaluate how women are represented in a variety of adverts, so that we can apply this to the set text for the exam

From this data we can see that overall girls seem to be more self conscious and care more about being judged by others. However it also tells us that regardless of gender, everyone can/does enjoy playing sport in some form. It also suggests that more boys than girls seem to enjoy watching sport. 

This Girl Can: National campaign that is funded by the National Lottery therefore meaning that there is no commercial aspect. This means there was no intention of making money. The target audience is women of all shape, size, age and background. The purpose of the campaign was to try and break down the primary barrier holding women back from sport: the fear of judgement. Before the campaign, research shows there was a massive gender gap between men and women participating in sport. 13 million women said they would like to participate more 6 million of these were not active at all. The fear of being judged was the number one barrier for most women who felt they were unable to participate in physical activity. As a result of the campaign, 1.6 more women have started exercising and the number of women playing sport and being active is increasing faster than men. Soon after the launch of this girl can, nike released a more motivational campaign called 'better for it' which also portrayed a more 'real' side to fitness. 

These different mantras convey to society that women are just as able-bodied as men are when is comes to sport and fitness, and the fear of being judged shouldn't hold them back. It represents women positivley and shes them as being motivated and active.

"A kick right in the stereotypes" This mantra is really good in my opinion because its not only going against one stereotype, but multiple. It goes against stereotypes such as: women don't fight, more mature women don't do sports

"Im slow but i'm lapping everybody on the couch" - This mantra really stuck out to me because it conveys the message that you don't have to be amazing at a sport to still be proud of yourself or to take it up in the first place. I think this is really motivational and encouraging 

Advert 1: They have chosen to take a photo of her back which is quite muscly, representing women as strong. The outfit (sports bra and headband) suggest she is actively/frequently participating in sports 

Advert 2: Her facial expression makes her look determined, her positioning makes her look dominant

Advert 3: they have used direct address making her look confident, she has been positioned in the middle of the image showing her importance, anchorage text "take the crown" suggests she's gonna win the race

Both of these adverts represent women in a positive way, but using different techniques. The nike and adidas adverts show typical representations of women who are into sports. They follow stereotypes such as sporty women being slim, strong and serious, using more of a stereotypical approach. However the This Girl Can advert has been constructed to be more relatable to the target audience. They have used a play-on-words that connotes feelings of being sexy or good looking, making sports seem like an appealing thing. They have also used clothes that are far more casual, helping the viewer to relate back to the advert. This makes being sporty seem far more achievable and is very motivating to the everyday viewer.

2 February 24   

This advert targets a wider range of women than just the This Girl Can print poster because its a video that can therefore show a variety of women of all different shape, size and background.

Advertising Set Text 2 

Sweat: gross, active, smelly, exercise, perseverance   

Pig: fat, lazy, ugly, dirty, unkept

Fox: sexy, clever/cunning, sly, attractive

They have used the phrase "sweating like a pig, feeling like a fox." The positive connotations of the second phrase turns around the negativity of the first part of the mantra. It makes the negative seem not so important when paired next to the positives which is what the This Girl Campaign is all about.

The font used on this print advert is a serif font, which is traditionally looked at as more of a feminine font. It is also a much finer font so leaves plenty of room to see the image behind it, which wouldn't be the case with a sans-serif font. 

However, the typography on the logo includes a block capitols, sans serif font. While this isn't stereotypically as feminine, it stands out more and is a lot more bold which is normal for a logo.

Centred Mid Shot-They have chosen this shot because it means the main image has a clear focal point of her body.

Not A Female Celebrity - They have used a woman in her 30's with a much more average body type in comparison to female celebrities/ sports models. This helps encourage women to support the campaign as it relates to a much broader audience. 

Her Hair - This choice has been made because it the messiness of her hair shows to the audience that she does not care about the way she looks or what people think about it. This being used on a campaign advert also shows to the viewer that this is something that is okay and should be normalised. 

Sweaty, No/Minimal makeup - Again, this element of the advert helps get the message across that you don't have to fit into feminine stereotypes and shouldn't care what people think of you.

Workout/Activewear (clashing colours) - The outfit helps women relate to the advert because the clothing choice is much more casual than the choices other sporting adverts would make. The bright/ vibrant colours also stand out.

Eyes Closed With A Slight Smile - The smile connotes happiness and when women see this it makes women associate the happy feeling with the activity being advertised. She looks like she's enjoying herself making it seem as if sports is something enjoyable

Active Position - It shows her actually doing the activity/ workout and adds to the element of realism and shows the audience this is easily achievable 

Other Women In Similar Positions In The Background(Out Of Focus) - shows she isn't alone and a connectivity to other women. Shows sports can bring together a community of women. 

Additional ML

The use of the hashtag will hopefully connect women with other like-minded individuals and create a sense of social cohesion.

These print adverts both share similarities and differences. Both adverts share a similar layout, having the main image centrally framed and therefore immediately drawing your attention to it. They also both have the brand logo featured on the advert. However they do have a few differences, such as on is a commercial advert and the other is non-commercial. In the quality street advert, they are being passive, and in the This Girl Can advert they are far more active. 

7 February 24

do now

The intention of the this girl can campaign is to try and break down the primary barrier holding women back from sport: the fear of judgement. It is to help encourage them to participate in more sporting and exercising activities and make them feel confident in doing so.

Representation & Theory

L.O. to explore the representations in the set text and apply relevant theory

Dominant Ideology: the attitudes, beliefs, values and morals shared by the majority of the people in a given society. 

Challenging Agenda

The TGC Campaign challenges the dominant ideology of sports being a "mans activity" by featuring a wide range of sports in their adverts that stereotypically, women wouldn't be interested in. 

Challenging Stereotypes

Stereotypically, women have often been thought of as the 'weaker' sex and often less successful where sport is concerned. - I agree with this statement.

Developing from a mostly patriarchal society left little opportunity for women in sport, which I think definitely impacted the underrepresentation of them in modern sport. There is evidence to back up this point - for example, the average professional women athlete is paid a small fraction of her male counterpart. Examples challenging this stereotype would be gold olympic medalists Larisa Latynina & Katherine Grainger, Women now having their own football league, and Serena Williams who is ranked as No.1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association. 

Theory:

The TGC Campaign completely flips the male gaze theory on its head. This campaign is targeted towards women, and they have tried to be as relatable and real as they can to be more convincing and successful when trying to get women to sign up for sports. They have used average, everyday women in their campaign who don't always fit into the conventionally 'attractive' stereotype of todays society. The campaign has no form of sex appeal or things that would fit into the uncomfortable conventions of the 'male gaze theory'. This helps women feel like the campaign is all for them and therefore makes a more successful campaign. 

9 February

do now

positive, relatable, empowering, free.

C1 Section A PPE 

L.O. to practice how to answer exam style questions effectively

Question 1: This Girl Can 

Explore how the print ad for this girl can uses media language to create meanings 

(a) Text / Written language.

One way the print advert has used text to create a meaning is in the mantra "Sweating like a pig, feeling like a fox." The word 'pig' has very negative connotations and is often used to make people feel ugly and unattractive. This has been cleverly contrasted with the juxtaposing simile 'feeling like a fox' in the second part of the mantra; the word 'fox' has positive connotations of feeling sexy and beautiful.  This second part of the mantra completely flips the first section of the mantra on its head, making it feel unimportant. This links to the overall message of the campaign, which is to not care about what other people think as it isn't important.

Another way they have used text in this print advert is the logo. The logo says "This Girl Can", the name of the campaign. The word 'this' makes the phrase seem personal to the viewer, and helps them view themself achieving the same as the women in the campaign. It helps create a meaning that every girl is just as able as each other and shouldn't be held back. The use of the word 'Can' also creates a motivational meaning to the viewer that these things are possible. This is empowering for women as they have traditionally been underrepresented in the sporting industry, and going against these stereotypes using this specific lexis is what helps drive the whole campaign. 

(b)  Visual Codes ( for example, images, lighting, dress). 

The intention of the this girl can campaign is to try and break down the primary barrier holding women back from sport: the fear of judgement. The models facial expression in this print advert connotes feelings of empowerment and being care free. Her eyes are closed, making her appear relaxed. Pairing this with the smile on her face suggests to the audience she is very 'in the moment' and unaware of her surroundings. This tells the viewer that sport can be fun and you don't have to worry about being judged or feeling anxious, encouraging women to participate.

Another example would be the model herself. She doesn't necessarily follow the 'conventionally attractive' stereotypes that we so commonly see in the media. For example, she isn't super-skinny, she has a pretty average and more realistic body type. This suggests to the viewer that you don't have to fit into the super skinny and athletic category to enjoy exercising, creating a positive image of sporting and exercise for women. This not only helps encourage the audiences but also goes against the harsh expectations of healthy and active women, making the campaign more relatable.

The this girl can print advert has used lighting to create a positive ideology around sporting and exercise. The model in the image has a soft red/ pink glow on her skin. An example of the connotations of the colours pink/red is compassion and fun. This choice also creates a warm look, making it look like a comfortable sporting environment, going against the stereotypical ideology of women's sporting being an uncomfortable and judgemental space. The use of these pinky hues on her skin creates a visually fun atmosphere, as as the artificial lighting looks similar to the sort of thing seen in clubs and at partys. The result of this is that women will make a connection with these fun environments and exercising in their head, creating a positive ideology of women's exercise. This links to the whole campaigns message of trying to create a healthy relationship between women and sports. 

21 February 

DIRT

C1 Section A PPE 

L.O. To revise how to answer exam style questions effectively. 

PPE Q1a: 5/5
WWW: Excellent points well explained and supported
EBI - nothing!

PPE Q1b: 7/10
WWW: good focus on the meanings constructed by the visual codes
EBI: add in another fully explained point and make sure you link the points to the meaning/purpose of the campaign

DEL Structure

Describe: the meaning constructed. 

Explain: support with specific evidence-how has media language been used to construct this meaning (connotations)

Link: link back to the overall meaning/ context

Question 2A

Representation

2. (a) Explain how political contexts influence magazines. Refer to *set text* magazine to support your point