- Published: September 10, 2022
- Updated: September 10, 2022
- University / College: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Language: English
- Downloads: 10
According to Jennifer L. Pozner: “ Even though Dove’s ‘ Real Beauty’ ads play to and subtly reinforce the stereotypes they claim to be exposing, it’s impossible not to feel inspired by the sight of these attractive, healthy women smiling playfully at us from their places of billboard honor. ” The same role is played in all advertisings including perfume ads. They try their best to make you feel and express yourself by the scent you wear and the magical feeling to turn you into whomever you want to be. While enjoying the guilty pleasure of browsing through magazines, one cannot help but read the intended meaning as it associates to our own selves and even perhaps compare ourselves to the meaning presented. This paper discusses how “ Glamour” is initially given in both perfume ads by Givenchy and Dior. It discusses the “ Pure and Impure” side of women in Ange ou Demon by Givenchy and the guilty pleasure of the Midnight Poison by Dior.
Perfume ads try to grasp a customer into buying a perfume by selling dreams, promising, evoking feelings and desires. First of all, this perfume advertisement features Givenchy’s fragrance “ Ange ou Demon” which means Angel or Demon in French. The perfume bottle is in a tear drop shape and is placed at the bottom right-hand corner of the portrait advertisement. To the left of the bottle is the text and slightly left of the center of the advertisement is a woman’s side profile with her head turned front. The setting is a staircase beside a wall that seems to diminish into dark. The light source seems to be the top left-hand corner of the advertisement, falling diagonally on the woman’s body and eventually illuminating the staircase and perfume bottle, creating a crystal-like appearance of the bottle.
Other than the illuminated areas, the rest of the advertisement is dark, consisting of black and deep blue gradients. These gradients complement the dark navy blue gradient of the perfume bottle. The entire image consists of three main portions of color, the deep blue to ilvery white gradients of the bottle and dress, the beige glow of the woman’s skin and her blonde curls, and lastly the highlights of the silver eye shadow embedded in a deep black lace mask and the pale red lips on the face. Furthermore, this is a very successful advertisement because all elements of the advertisement complement the perfume bottle. The dress of the woman is a gradient of silvery white to a blue that eventually falls into a black silhouette while the perfume bottle consists of a gradient of black to blue and eventually to silvery white.
This helps to draw the viewers’ attention directly to the woman and the bottle. Moreover, the perfume bottle also seems to evoke the sensuality; elegance and mysteriousness that the woman has. Secondly, the color combination is very well suited to the name of the perfume ‘ ange ou demon’. Angels are symbols of purity, innocence and heaven. White with a tinge of silver is a perfect choice to evoke the purity that angels have.
Similarly, a deep blue to symbolize the darkness in demons is definitely an apt choice. As compared to red that might symbolize hell or devilish demons, a deep blue tends to evoke not only an ominous feel, but also a sense of elegance in the entire image. On the other hand, The Midnight Poison created by Dior is a fragance for women. The slogan “ A new Cinderella is born” would be the feeling you get when wearing this perfume. In the picture, the fragance is portrayed by actress Eva Green.
The entire picture is colored blue just as a Cinderella colored dress. Eva Green has an intense eye look and dark red lips. She’s wearing a fluffy dress as well. According to this advertisement, the feeling I perceive is a guilty- pleasure perfume, something seductive, intense and when worn, it transforms women like a Cinderella. A young and beautiful lady is wearing a fraganced- poison to seduce. From a mysterious, sensual fragance, a new Cinderella is born. The mystery begins when the clock strikes twelve, in a fairytale that only Dior could imagine.
This intense new perfume describes the magical transformation that only a Dior gown can create as well. In addition, the deep blues of the bottle recall not only past Poison bottles, but the sweep of a dramatic ball gown as well. At the stroke of midnight Dior’s Cinderella takes flight, leaving only exquisite trace of her perfume lingering in her wake. This is the power of poison. In conclusion, both advertisements are successful and express the exact feeling, dreams and promises the bottle evokes. Advertising is only successful if you let it influence you. The demonstration that I have talked about in this paper has proved that advertising can influence you in ways that you may not be aware of.
Advertising is everywhere you go regardless of if you want it to be present or not. It is designed to capture your attention. If it wasn’t for advertising you may be missing out on the opportunities to acquire certain products or learn about new products.
Even though advertisements may get on your nerves, it serves a purpose and I must admit that it does it well. As a result of some form of perfume advertising whether a magazine or television ad, you will remember a fragrance, test it and perhaps even make a purchase. Although there is a chance you may have eventually found this fragrance on your own; it is probably far more likely that the perfume ad influenced you. Every single day, we are overwhelmed by advertisements through a variety of forms of media. We may see them in magazines, newspapers, television, commercials, radio, or billboards. They penetrate our minds in a subconscious manner.
These advertisements greatly influence our likes and dislikes but does a perfume ad work to make us buy the brand? We may often find that we have an opinion on a product we have never ever tried before. This opinion is influenced by advertisements and by the thoughts of others. For example, think about the fragrance currently worn.
Of course, we liked the smell, but how did we hear about this fragrance in the first place? The answer is apt to be through perfume advertisements.