First off Blogger deleted my original version of this blog and I was unable to retrieve it so this blog is definitely going to be WAY less quality as I am trying to remember what I wrote before (oh and ya I did think it was my best blog entry... EVER). okay apologies. My rant is finished.
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This advertisement was created by Volker Schrader in Germany in July 2012.
The advertisement is of mattresses | pillows | blankets arranged to look like toast with bacon and a soft boiled egg. The writing is very minimalistic in order to not draw attention away from the image. On a shallow level the audience will think the advertisement is cool as they probably thought it was real food at first and will admire the technique of the artist.
On a deeper level the advertisement relates to two of the deadly sins: sloth | gluttony. Sloth is defined as reluctance to work or make an effort. What is a better example of sloth than lying around in bed all day? Gluttony is defined as habitual greed or excess in eating. Eating a huge breakfast that you have been thinking about since you booked your vacation seems like a very good example of gluttony.
The intended audience of the advertisement is middle class or wealthier citizens in anywhere that toast is a seemingly normal breakfast food (Europe and the U.S. to just name two). The audience is most likely middle class or wealthier because they are okay with spending money on a vacation. This advertisement is usable in a wide range of locations such as on a billboard, in a magazine, or on a website because it features not much about the B&B’s ideal guest (such as gender or ethnicity) which could narrow the market. The audience must have the cultural knowledge of acknowledging that bacon | eggs | toast are breakfast foods and thus this advertisement is hinting that the website is for a B&B. Schrader uses the layout of a large background image with very little text to make the advertisement look more like real food. He also uses colors that are close to accurate but not exactly in order to entice viewers to take a closer look. Honestly, it must have taken forever to find the exact shade of blanket and pillow to make a semi realistic breakfast food bed.
Schrader deceives the audience with the breakfast food actually being bedding but other authors and artist deceive their readers and audiences with hidden biases. Schrader uses the stereotype of bacon | eggs | toast as breakfast foods in order to achieve the effect of the audience that when they look at the advertisement they instantly think of a delicious breakfast and then a good luxurious night's sleep. Additionally as mentioned before this advertisement is appealing to a wide and more diverse audience. This can be seen in mass media through either not specifying gender | ethnicity or specifying a "unique" gender | ethnicity (ie. mixed race family in cheerios' ad, or a hallmark ad featuring a domestic partnership [now most likely marriage] between two women). This type of "hip" "morally accepting" advertising can either represent the bias of the company or what the company thinks the majority of their customers' bias is.
Here are the two other images | advertisements in this set:
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| This breakfast assortment of eggs | sausage | spinach (?) looks definitely less normal to me (a North American) |
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| Same as the previous image. Pickles | cheese | lettuce (?) on toast does not look appealing nor normal to this American. But I am sure that in the area that these advertisements was used [Germany (?)]. These two other images were of typical breakfasts. |
Source: CreativeAdAwards.com
So firstly, I really like the way you structured your analysis. It was clear, and also really easy to see the transitions from the denotative and connotative meanings to the ad's effect on the intended audience. Secondly, I totally agree that this ad accurately represents sloth and gluttony because, like you said, after eating a large, satisfying meal, it feels nice to go to sleep for 8+ hours in a luxurious hotel. I guess the awesome bread and breakfast deals is the main selling point of the hotel represented. The last two ad's don't look as appetizing as the first one, though, haha but that's just from my perspective
ReplyDeleteGreat organization! I agree with Kirami--your paragraphs are very clear in your purpose of that section. And I think it is interesting that your ad, like mine and others, make the connection between sloth and gluttony and results in the enhancement of both. Overall great job, even though you lost your original; the only thing I suggest is to explain the "hidden biases" part of your blog, because I couldn't fully grasp what you were saying in that sentence and how it directly related to your ad.
ReplyDeleteThe analysis was very clear in the purpose of what the advertisement meant and the audience that it was intended for. It also did well with mentioning "why" and "how" it appeals to such a large audience by being terse in its descriptions to make it seem more ubiquitous to an audience. However I do feel as though there is something missing with the description. While seeing how breakfast in bed is a sin of sloth, I do not quite understand why placing a vacation in that sentence is necessarily the best comparison. Vacations are typically times for people (middle class and upper class) to unwind and enjoy spending their time with their family. While it may represent laxity, it encompasses more of a peaceful and reflective time to reprogram ones mind. But really that is just about all I can complain about so just take my rant with a grain of salt. It was a really good post and your ideas definitely deserve praise for seeing deeper than someone like me would have. Kudos to you.
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