assessment 03.11

 Explore how meaning is created through the combination of media language in this advert for Gap.

The mise-en-scene of the colours in the advert - bright and saturated colours - create a friendly and inclusive atmosphere for the target audience. These bright colours are polysemic - suggesting that the advert is aimed at a broad range of age groups, as the colours are symbolic with child-like wonder, or it could suggest to the audience to embrace their inner child. The lexis used "Be you, be true, be bright" also suggests this - to embrace their more colourful and childlike side.
The advert follows the Z line rule, working downwards on the first page and then being drawn to the top of the second page. This linear layout of the advert is easy to follow and has very few words at all, making the product itself, the jeans, be the focal point of the ad. This furthers the inclusive nature of this advert, as it is easy to follow for anyone from any age group.
The sans serif font of the content of the advert is contrasted by the serif font of the logo of the designer brand. This furthers being inclusive for audiences, as this lifestyle of wearing designer brand products is presented as fun, and slightly more affordable.
The binary opposition of the two pages, showing just one model on the first page and then multiple on the second page is contrast, suggesting the individuality gained by wearing the jeans. There is also contrast made with the mise-en-scene of the outfit, the models all seemingly wearing the same white shirt, but all wearing different, bright coloured jeans. This further supports the idea of gaining individuality and uniqueness from wearing this product, and the plain nature of the other composite parts of this advert brings all the attention to the product.
The mise-en-scene of the natural makeup of the model, anchorage of her and the plain white of the lighting and background also brings the focal point to the jeans, perhaps convincing the audience that they don't need too look great, they just need to stand out.


Compare and contrast the representation of gender in the Persil Ultimate Powergems [Extraordinary Powers] TV spot advert with the representation of gender in the Tide advert you have studied.

Within the two different adverts, there are very different representations of gender in each of them. There is a contrast between only women being shown in the Tide advert, compared to multiple genders being included in the Persil advert. This shows two different hegemonic norms in the times of these different adverts; The 1950's being a very male dominated society at the time, and culturally, the ideology at the time of the Tide advert, women were seen as housewives and nothing else, never really doing anything aside from cleaning and caring after the house. This is in major contrast to the Persil advert in 2017, where the framing shot is of a man putting things in a washing machine, showing that in today's society, it is less mainly dominated by men, and that women are able to do more than just be housewives and that men can take on these jobs that women have been known to do in the past.
The type of advert is another point of contrast. The Tide advert is a print advert while the newer Persil advert is visual. This could be down to this kind of technology existing at the time, but it can also suggest that at the time, people would take their time reading the lexis in a print advert, while today, a video advert would be most effective as people are less likely to look at adverts with lots of words on. This represents the different genders and norms at the time; with the tide advert being aimed at mainly women, and the anchorage of text suggesting that women are educated enough to read through an advert in contrast to the Persil advert today, being aimed at all genders, perhaps even suggesting that people today, and the gender not advertised to before, haven't got time to look at a print advert with a lot of words on.
The ads both have two different presentations of women. In the Tide advert, the women are presented as the stereotypical woman of the time: stereotypically attractive with the mise-en-scene of the "make-up" on the illustrations, and stereotypically people who would stay at home and do work around the house. This is contrasted by the Persil advert, where a man is shown cleaning, and there being less of a focal point around the woman; the long shot that includes both a woman and a man is focused on the man putting the cleaning product in the washing machine. It is unclear if this woman is wearing any makeup, and it doesn't seem like she is a stereotypically attractive woman. This presents the change in expectations for women - not having to be bound to serving the house, and the change in that men can do jobs that were typically hegemonically jobs for women.