The Truth Behind Ads Essay, Research Paper

During the first adds of the century, the media has always tried to send hidden messages through the ads telling you to buy their product. However, as times have changed, so too have the methods of trying to manipulate the buyer to buy a certain product. The first ads were originally conservative and not as sexually explicit as they are today. However, today, many ads are very sexually explicit and show both men and women as sexual objects. There are many ads that also contain implicit messages that make the reader self conscious of their looks. One of these ads was a two page add in the October issue of Maxim. The ad is an advertisement for DKNY The Fragrance. This ad is sexually explicit and causes men to believe that women will desire them if they purchase this product.

The ad is a two-page ad with multiple colors that attract the reader’s attention. The man is fit with a tight short sleeve t-shirt and a slightly rugged face. His hair is combed fashionably and his eyes are looking at something in the distance. The woman next to him appears to look like a model whose face is very close to the man’s face. She looks as if she is just about to kiss him. The woman appears to be touching the man in an erotic manner by placing her hand gently on his chest. She is wearing a low cut sequin top that quickly catches your eye. Both are wet from what appears to be heat and sweat, if not water. Next to them is the picture of the bottles of the cologne and at the bottom of the add it simply states, “Now for Men.” The back round is simple and contains smeared colors of black, orange, blue, teal, white, and many lighter shades of those colors. After further examining the ad, I noticed that the picture of the bottles of cologne take up the same amount of space as the woman. The woman takes up one quarter of the ad and so too do the cologne bottles. The man takes up half the ad. This draws your attention directly to him and then to either the side where the woman stands or the side where the bottles of the fragrance are shown. People would most likely assume that the man is wearing this fragrance and that the woman is greatly attracted to him because of the fragrance.

After examining the composition of the ad, the first idea that occurred to me about the ad was that maybe women greatly desire this fragrance. I thought that if I were to purchase this fragrance then maybe, my girlfriend and also other women would also be greatly attracted to me. However, I know that if I were to actually purchase this product, the probability of women embracing me in a heat of passion would most likely not occur. However, the ad tries to make the viewer believe the idea of the woman desiring the man. After looking at the ad more closely, many new ideas began to occur to me about the ad. The first idea was that the ad showed a hot passion by making the people wet with water. When they were soaked in the water, they appeared to be very hot and sweating. Another thing that greatly stood out to me was the woman’s hand on the man’s chest. She had gently placed it there in a loving manner that made it seem as if she was deeply in love with him. In reality, this woman is actually this man’s wife. One of the last things that I noticed was the actual fragrance bottles and what the ad was really about. The brand name of the fragrance stood out greatly because the advertiser placed the name five times on section of the ad that took up around one quarter of the page. The ad makes it appear that if I were to purchase this product that not only would women be greatly attracted to me, but I would also seem to be a sort of sexy, suave, and even rugged man. The man also appears to be looking at something in the distance and seems to be overlooking the beautiful woman next to him. It makes him appear as if she is nothing and that he is better then she is. When relating this idea to the fragrance, it makes the reader think that when purchasing the cologne, then they will be better then anyone. Also the man is placed directly in the middle of the ad to draw your attention to the ad. However, if a man and woman were first looking at the ad, the woman would most likely see the man first and the men would most likely see the woman first. By using a man and a woman the ad appeals to both men and women and broadens the variety of buyers for this product.

The DKNY ad for their new fragrance greatly shows the medias attempt to manipulate consumers. The ad not only attempts to manipulate the viewer, but it is also very sexual explicit and is very intense. This particular manipulative ad and others like it can be seen everywhere in today’s society and are basically all that companies use to attract buyers. They are the most popular type of ads because they are very successful in manipulating the buyer. However, as time continues, the ads seem to become more and more explicit and to continue to push the boundaries of what is acceptable by the public today.