More Than Meets the Eye
“Advertising is a cultural form which is integrally linked to capitalism, and constitutes part of the system of production and consumption” (Ramamurthy 603). Advertisements have one main purpose, to persuade an audience to buy their product. There is more than meets the eye when first glancing at an advertisement. There are many sub-layers of styles and techniques that make up an advertisement that an audience can relate too. There are books that have been written to try to help and explain the advertisements. One such book is “Reading Context” by Gail Stygall, which features an article on advertisement called: “Constructions of Illusion: Photography and Commodity Culture,” by Anandi Ramamurthy. In Ramamurthy’s article she discusses many strong techniques used in advertisement. The most important techniques I think are gender representation, sign and signifier, and denoted and connoted messages. Also, Leo Groarke and David S. Birdsell’s “Outlines of a Theory of Visual Argument” expresses why visual arguments, metaphors, and symbols are important in advertisements. I have selected an advertisement to decipher using the techniques and styles of Ramamurthy, Groarke, and Birdsell. Interpreting this advertisement will help me and others understand all that goes on behind scenes when writing an advertisement.
The advertisement is trying to sell whiskey. The picture is of two girls, with a bottle of whiskey between them. The first girl’s picture is what appears to be an older photo, considering it is in black and white, she is wearing old thick glasses, and old school clothes. Above her picture it says: ‘Before Aging’. The second girl seems to be a little bit older, she is dressed a little less conservatively, and looks more mature. Above her picture it says: ‘After Aging’. The bottle in between them is a bottle of whiskey, and it says: ‘The longer you wait, the better it gets’. I think with this picture gender representation is...