Subliminal Advertising
The main trick of the advertisement is that it persuades consumers to purchase products not even realizing that the last were persuaded. Often we buy things which we do not even need and would never think of buying. Advertisement is what influenced our decision a lot.
The main objective of my advertising article was to critically analyse
the most commonly used techniques used in the advertising of hair
colourants. To achieve my objective a series of advertisements of a
visual printed nature in addition to video clips of television
advertisements were collected and closely analysed. Repetitive
patterns quickly evolved in both visual and written language
techniques and it soon became obvious that all hair dye advertisements
were in fact directed at women, through the use of attractive and
famous women such as Nutrisses - Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex in the
City) in order to sell the product.
Once the target audience of women had been established readers were
subjected to direct address through the use of the second person
pronoun ‘you’ and it’s corresponding possessive ‘your’ in phrases such
as “it’s actually good for your hair” (Garnier, Nutrisse) and “what
ever your unique style” (Viva Colour, Wella). Personal pronouns are
employed by various colourant producers to identify with and persuade
the reader into thinking that they are alike the stunning L’Oreal
models Heather Locklear, Ande McDowell and Laetitia Casta and can have
gorgeous colour and shine - “Because I’m worth it” (L’Oreal, Paris).
Famous people are used to endorse the products to create a sense of
security; it leads the consumer to think that if ‘these’ beautiful
people use it, it must be good.
The repetition of knowledge and rank are also pre-eminant throughout
hair dye advertisements. L’Oreal, Wella, Nutrisse, Sebastian, Feria
and Swarzkoph all imply bold assertions to endorse their products. The
most common claim being that they are “experts”, which is reinforced
by Garniers repeated catch-phrase “The European Expert in home hair
colourants”. L’Oreal states in their Superior Preference, Recital
Preference and Excellence ads that they are the “World number
one in hair colour”. This technique is used to suggest importance and
status; it attempts to gain the readers trust and approval in the
product. Schwarzkopf attempts to attract customers by claiming their
product have been “Formulated and guaranteed by laboratories”.
Advertisers commonly use pre and post adjectival modifiers such as
‘Vibrant’, ‘Rich’ and ‘Radiant’, in conjunction with superlatives to
attract the reader and imply a quality that exceeds that of the
competitors. Superlatives are most frequently used in the
advertisements when referring to grey coverage and each respective
brand appears to offer greater coverage than the other. Viva colour by
Wella and Nutrisse Garnier both offer “100% grey coverage”, where as
L’Oreal’s New Excellence Creme has “New premium quality” and “Superior
grey coverage”. The use of the statistical “100%” is used to validate
the producer’s claims.
My personal research revealed that hair colourant adverts are directly
marketed towards a common target audience of women through the use of
beautiful women - with healthy, shiny hair. This is reinforced by as
Vance Packard once stated - by appealing to consumer’s ‘anxieties and
aspirations’. Hair colourant producers attempt to do this through the
use of language techniques such as the second person pronoun ‘you’ and
‘your’, bold assertions and pre and post adjectival modifiers combined
with superlatives to persuade this audience of women to buy the
particular hair colourant, whether it be on television or in
magazines.
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Tags: influence and advertising, subliminal ad