I decided to do some background research to see what made a successful ad, or ad campaign and so my teacher recommended this book, "20 Ads that Shook the World" by James B. Twitchell, the book analyses 20 of this centuries most groundbreaking adverts and advertising campaigns and how they've had such an impact that society itself as been altered.
The ad i found most interesting and relevant to my project was the Marlboro Man.
The factor of my project that I would consider to be the most 'post-modern' would be that the people i plan to feature both in my ad and magazine are not in the position of fame or popularity, they are perfectly unknown and unrecognisable, and that is what i hope to be their appeal alike the characters on YouTube. This is a new idea that has only recently cropped up in ads such as confused.com, and the general public only generally make television appearances on the news and game-shows which also aren't as common as they once were, as people are more keen to see 'Celebrities' compete for charity etc. 
What the 'Marlboro Man' is, is exactly what my advert is going against.
He is fabricated and fictional, a corporate image representing a product in a way that the company feels will be most effective and profitable to reel in the consumer, who subconsciously aspire to be the clean-cut, strong-jawed and handsome (heroic figure that is a cowboy) representative that the 'Marlboro Man' is.
MARLBORO, went from selling less than one-quarter of a percent of the American market in the early 50's, to being the most popular worldwide in just 25 years, EVERY FOURTH CIGARETTE SMOKED IS A MARLBORO.
The beauty of the Marlboro Man is that he is just that fictional, he plays on the expectations and fantasies of the American public.
After failing to alter the product ("beauty tip" of the cigarette) to attract the female consumer, they focused on finding the most masculine representative they could manage, Cowboy was a fitting image.
"But these admen were not thinking of the real cowboy, not some dirty, spitting, toothless, smelly wrangler. They were city boys who knew cowboys in bronzes and oils by Frederic Remington, or in oils and watercolours by Charles Russell..
.. Marlboro Man was not always a 'real' cowboy, just don't remind them that almost half of real cowpunchers were black or Mexican."
The cowboy image has been hollywood-ised, the Marlboro Man, he is a white American, but tanned, clean cut in his Levi jeans, cleanly-shaven, he 'doesn't speak' because 'he doesn't need to..", he is an enviable image, as he stands strong with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, a heroic figure the Americans would relate to the likes of Clint Eastwood.
What i can gather from this ad, is that generally the public want to be spoon-fed fiction. They will buy and consume whatever visually appeals to them, this therefore technically makes my project all the more difficult. What i plan to give the audience/consumer is the real deal, although i know that the likes of YouTube broadcasters, people like myself, have become is much more popular in the past decade as younger people have been given access to the Internet - what i see everyday in local newsagents etc is magazines pushing stories and photos of celebrities, rumour and scandal is what sells..
but i must also consider, that now with access to the Internet growing and access to the same content is available online, people are less willing to made the distance to the shop to buy paper editorial, this is find would be in favour to my magazine (being web-based once it has become established, apart from the mailed subscriptions).
No comments:
Post a Comment