The sex appeal in this particular image is not hard to spot. First of all the ad consists of an attractive woman sitting on a chair in a swimsuit, which by itself can attract the eye of any male. On top of that the model is sitting with her legs spread apart, which is quite suggestive if you ask any guy. The bright color of the swimsuit draws your eye to the model and away from what little background there is. The background, chair, and table in the picture are almost the same color as the models skin, so the swimsuit is the only contrasting color in the photo. The model does look somewhat pissed off though. I think she might have been going for something else, but it just comes off as grumpy. I think this ad is focused mostly on the pathos argument. It is trying to get the viewer of the ad into a particular frame of mind, while at the same time appealing to one of the most basic human wants and needs. I think they also try to appeal to women in this ad too, because the model looks very confident. She seems like she would definitely take control of any situation thrown her way. This also uses the pathos argument, trying to say that a woman will be more confident if they are wearing Calvin Klein’s swimwear. Although I think sex appeal is overused in the advertising industry, it usually does its job. It will attract the attention of the intended audience, even if they aren’t interested or looking for that particular product.
3 comments:
I think you were right on with this analysis. Her eyes did make her look more angry than probably what she was aiming for. I also want to say that at least the product they were adversing was actually in the photo. Since a swimsuit is usually sexy anyway, they didn't have to focus on anything else. The bright blue gets you to look at the swimsuit.
Good job on your analysis of this particular ad. I agree with you that sex appeal does tend to be overused in advertising these days – but “sex sells”. Nice observation that while the intended audience will be interested, the rest of us will still look at the ad whether we want to buy the product or not.
It amazes me how many ads Calvin Klein has with the models sitting with their legs open. Our culture has become desensitized and many people wouldn't think twice that that may be not the most poised position for a girl. I think we all think of ourselves as not the type of person who would get caught up in "branding" but obviously there is a large audience out that there that sees these ads and doesn't think, "wow- could they be anymore blunt" but instead say- "I gotta have it."
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