In order for advertisements to succesfully
portray a product, they must be
directed to the
appropriate intended audience.
Magazines, in general, are usually
geared towards a
specific audience with distinct interests.
Therefore, the `ads' need
to be carefully
designed to attract the attentions of the magazine reader. This very
concept is well
displayed in the two selected, yet very different, magazine ads from
the software
magnate Microsoft Corporation.
The first ad is taken from Computer Games
Strategy Plus - a gaming
magazine, as one
might infer from the title. The product
`Monster Truck Madness'
is a computer
video game designed, quite obviously, for entertainment purposes.
The second ad is
from PC World, which is of a much more technical nature than its
previous
counterpart. The product in this ad is
`Microsoft Project for Windows 95',
a software used
for businesses and project development teams.
The `Monster Truck Madness' ad encaptivates
the casual browser with its bright
yellow background
with a large purple type set across the top of the page
accompanied by
the words: `Size Matters". This
leads the reader to ponder the
meaning of this rather unusual phrase and to further read
the smaller print. Here,
the reader
encounters an irregular font of different sizes to accentuate certain
words.
While this may be
annoying to many, its overall purpose is to create a lively playful
environment
through the usage of fonts. This, of
course, is an attempt to appeal to a
younger gaming
audience. On the other hand, the
`Microsoft Project' ad does not
envoke any visual
desire read further into the text. The
sections are divided into fine
print paragraphs
with a slightly larger heading above.
Everything is set plainly and
unassumingly. This can be justified to mirror an American
professional's lifestyle:
simple, neat, and
organized.
The first four lines in the `Monster
Truck' ad: "bigger tires, bigger
competition,
bigger thrills,
bigger mud-splitting" uses repetition to accentuate the fact that this
game is bigger
and better than all the other racing car games.
Microsoft then
introduces the
product in a rather blunt manner but just stating the title of the game.
The reader is
then asked to "strap yourself into a 1,500 horsepower tower of
American pig
iron, punch it when the light turns green, and you're in for the biggest
race of your
life." Having read this far, the
reader should be overwhelmed by the
forceful way the
ad delivers its message. From this, one
can derive the intent to
parallel the
`brute force and run over everything attitude' that only a monster truck
can possess, in
the text.
The `Project' ad explains very
straight-forwardly what the software is capable
of doing for the
readers and their businesses. What this
lacks in excitement is made
up for through a
very complete description of the product.
This is appropriate for
the intended
audience: no-nonsense, no-hassle
businessmen. Strangely enough, the
`Monster Truck'
ad, in sharp contrast, discusses absolutely nothing about the actual
game itself. Instead it elaborates on other parts of the
ad more important to
persuading the
intended group of people.
The pictures and images are, of course,
`everything' to an advertisement. They
retrieve
preconceptions from each individual without using words at all.
Consequently,
these pictures must express a meaning related to its intended purpose
- in this case,
to sell the product. In the `Monster
Truck' ad, the first image the
reader should
notice is the massive blue and yellow monster truck. Certainly
because it is the
largest picture, but also because it is seemingly `standing' on its
back tires. My first impression of this picture was one
of pure awe. I imagine
hearing the
powerful revving of the engine and the massive tires rumbling through
the grass. However, if the reader has no preconception
of what a monster truck is or
how large it is,
this picture may be nothing more impressive than a Micro Machine.
Nextly, two
additional pictures are taken from the computer game itself. Both, in an
attempt to
impress the viewer, are taken at an inspiring frame deserving of a
highlight
reel. The viewer can see the rich color
and high resolution details of each
individual
screenshot. The purple monster truck in
mid-air flying off a ramp is
strategically
positioned in the exact middle of the photo, bringing all attention to the
truck. The picture on the lower left shows the
interior of the vehicle, the
speedometer and
tachometer; everything a real-life monster truck would have.
Lastly, the last
corner of the rectangle holds the picture of the box of the software.
This is most
likely intended to allow the reader to recognize the box when they head
over to the
store. The quote in the picture:
"Down and Dirty Racing", goes to
emphasize the
fact that the game is not intended for the faint hearted conservative
but rather for
the hardcore gamer.
Conversely, the pictures in the `Project'
ad are very realistic to one's life
compared to the
`virtual' world of the `Monster Truck' game.
The central picture is,
of course, the
businessman who is denoted by the blue collared shirt, tie and neat
appearance. The man has a Windows 95 `Start' button on
his head possibly
symbolizing that
all ideas start within the mind. From
here, small blurbs of photos
are linked
together. One is a flowchart of
coworkers connected on a board,
signifying the need
for companies to work and communicate together in order to be
successful. The second is a building made up for wooden
blocks allowing, as the
title states,
teams to visualize where the project is going.
Next is photo is a small
boy whispering into
the ear of a girl. While this can signfy
communication among
everyone, instead
I believe it to be the man's children to show that he is a successful
business and
family man. Lastly, the final link goes
to a picture of the box
`Microsoft Project'. This relates the software to the other items
by linking the
results that your
company will receive when you buy `Microsoft Project'. Also,
this box is
Microsoft's way of allowing you to remember what it looks like at the
store. The box is simple, neat and organized
signifying the orderly fashion of a
company. One clear lacking of this ad are pictures
from the actual software itself.
It may be safe to
assume that the software is just a large array of icons and there is
nothing amazing to
look at. Once more, as stated at the
beginning of the paragraph,
a business type
is more concerned with `real world' pictures rather than one of the
`virtual' gaming
world.
Two very different advertisements from two
very different magazines selling
two very
different products, yet all from the same company. While the reader may
not be aware of
it, each ad differs from one magazine to another. This is due to the
typical
stereotype of the persons who usually buy a certain product. Am I saying
that all people
are stereotyped? Yes, of course. If this were not the case, then ads
would not be
specifically designed to attract each unique group of people and
everything would
be colorlessly drab. Ads are meant to be
directed to a particular
prototype of the
buyer, economy relies on this constant method to thrive.
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