COACH is Like a Fairytale

 

These three ads are all promoting one name: COACH. This is a brand of luxury. Coach sells high fashion bags/wallets, shoes, scarves, the occasional coat, jewelry, shoes, key chains, perfume and a variety of other accessory items. Their ads are typical to the ones above. They have a white clean background with models and products in vivid, bright colors. Their logo has a vintage look and is placed in various places in advertising, but is always clearly visible on their products. 

These three ads in particular bring the audience to a different world. They are metaphorical in the sense that the Coach wants you to believe that it is their products that will give you this fairytale world. Clearly stated Coach is like a fairytale. Coach is like a dream come true. From looking at these advertisements from a metaphorical criticism method I want to ask: Do Coach's fairytale metaphors seek to target the inner child-like desires of their targeted market of women business professionals?

 Looking at the ad on the top right, it resembles the witch from the Wizard of Oz. The witch is a negative character in the story, Coach is presenting us with the idea that the witch was not negative, but serious and bold. The seriousness comes from the black shoes and the bold pattern of the socks. Besides the color and pattern in the image, they are using a story metaphor and making a fairytale livable by buying those shoes and socks. The buisness professional who is typically seen as harsh might wear those shoes, but underneath her black slacks are these funky socks that show what she really desires to be like. Or it could be marketed to the complete opposite; A woman who is timid and meek but secretly desires to take control and be the boss one day. By purchasing what is in this ad both of those stories can serve as an outlet for those desires.

The ad in the bottom middle also supports their consistent theme of fairytale. This fantasy takes place in a historical setting of being the wealthy class and living in a life of bliss where fashion and flowers are all that matters. The smile on her face and poise of walking towards the camera bouncily gives the audience the sense that although it is only an ad, with the purchase of those products, the fairytale she is living in can come true. I can not help but think of the target market for this ad being the women who comes off as a feminist who firmly believes that she is called to work full time while her kids are in day care. This ad could target that women's inward desires and by purchasing that coat and scarf she can pretend that she lives in a world where nothing matters but her fashion and those flowers and she can laugh and smile all day long with out a worry in the world.

The ad on the top left gives a combination of the right and middle ads. It is a serious, yet playful fairytale. This model lives in a world with fancy designer dresses and where objects that are small in real life are huge. The perfume bottle is so big that they are suggesting your scent is largely what defines you and if you purchase their perfume you will then be define similarly as a serious yet playful person. This ad more than putting you in a secret place of desire, gives a firm statement of reality compared to the other ads. It brings contrast in saying  you don't have to fantasize about being blissful or serious, you can be who ever you want to be, but allow your scent to define you. 

The consistency amongst Coach's ads is useful when critiquing because I am able to use multiple ads to research my question: Do Coach's fairytale metaphors seek to target the inner child-like desires of their targeted market of women business professionals? Based on the findings in my analysis, I believe their advertisements are actually seeking to satisfy those inner child-like desires in a class of women who are under a unique pressure in this world and in need of a fairytale world as an outlet.

Ideological Criticism of Barnardo's

Barnardo's is a charity that is located and works in the UK. They are focused on children and alleviating their poverty. Back in 2003 they started a marketing campaign that had a series of images with newborn babies in grotesque situations. This image in particular was striking.

A discussion of the elements of the photo:

The image colors are soft and calming. The main focus is on the babies face with a cockroach in its mouth. 

The baby is covered in "mucus" and is crying. It still has its hospital band on.

On the top in bigger letters is says THERE ARE NO SILVER SPOONS FOR CHILDREN BORN INTO POVERTY. After that there is smaller font that talks about the situation. 

The baby is not cleaned and is alone in the picture crying. Then the cockroach that is crawling into its mouth. This is where the words there are no sliver spoons for children  born into poverty is visually shown.

The elements are suggesting that babies born into poverty are left for dead. The image seems hopeless. The large text and word choice seems that they are boldly gearing this toward the rich in the UK. It is almost like they are crying out to the rich to see them and they resorted to an act of showing utter desperation.

The problem is that this image is offensive to many. It is a dramatized posed photo. It is not showing reality. If advertisements could be rated, this could be considered a Rated R poster. People did not have the choice to look or not.

Was the disturbance and harsh reaction from their audience what they wanted? 

Showing a newly born baby forces people to stop and take a second look. This image is effective, it is servicing its purpose. Looking at Bernardo's other past marketing campaigns this is a typical method used;bold photos to get others to join their cause. Looking at the photo, it seems that Barnardo's did this to raise awareness and to do the opposite of acting like everything is okay. The poverty situation in the UK is bad and they wanted others to feel disturbed because those living in it feel that way everyday.

http://www.barnardos.org.uk/index.htm

Ideological Criticism of AT&T

The commercial begins with a luscious orange silk material scrolling down a monument and a song playing. It then progresses to cover the Hollywood sign in the mountains, to inside a sky rise and switches to looking at the sky rise from the outside. It shows people looking at the skyrises being covered from the sidewalks. It then goes to giant archways where people are on top scrolling down the fabric to cover it.

From there a car is shown driving in through the mountains and the terrain is being covered by orange and it shows the Las Vegas sign and then pans out to the city. It ends with a bunch of people running down the beach holding the orange fabric and covering the sand and then as they get to the water it cuts out to a picture of America from an outer space view. American is covered in orange and then text appears along with a voice over stating, “97% of Americans use AT&T.” Then, the word switches to say Rethink possible and the music quiets. All of the people in the ads look amazed and calm. The music being played throughout this commercial is acoustic and calming also. It is very easy to watch and brings a sense of calmness as you take the commercial all in.

There are many elements within this commercial that can be critiqued. A few of these elements come off stronger than the others and its effect is interesting also.

• Before they even tell you the statistic, this commercial makes you feel like everyone in the country uses AT&T. This alludes to the fact that they are the best. AT&T manages to do this in a non-arrogant way. They make it seem like everyone is really happy about how they are taking over the world. They do not come off as arrogant because it is not like their slogan or company is directly telling us, we actually told them they are the best.
• Covering everything in orange and having actual Americans do it makes you feel as if you are a part of something bigger than yourself and also that it was our choice.
• The silk like material and beautiful scenes suggest luxury; as though if you use it you are in a high class who those things service if you use AT&T.
• At the end of the commercial after they state their statistic of covering 97% of Americans, and then, Rethink possible is written on the screen. Rethink possible is written in a small humble font on top of the world that is covered in orange. This is suggestive of their being on top of the world and the most trusted.

  Their worldview suggests that we are a materialistic world desiring the best and rewarding the best. We are also a society that seeks to be a part of something bigger than one’s self. Because 97% of people use this service we are all connected and can talk for free. We have somehow made the world brighter by using this service, but it was not AT&T who did this, it was us; by choosing them to be the most used service in America.

I do not know if I picked the right ism and honestly I looked at over a hundred different isms and I couldn’t put one on this, if you have a suggestion then please let me know and I will consider adding it into this critique, but for now, I am not able to pin point which ism it is.