Adam Mohammed M00439009 MED3020 MARK: 3 CRITICAL REFLECTION OF A CAMPAIGN ADAM MOHAMMED STUDENT NUMBER: M00439009 MED 3020: ISSUES IN PROMOTIONAL CULTURE DR ALEJANDRO ABRAHAM-HAMANOIELAdam Mohammed M00439009 MED3020 1 Critical reflection of a Campaign In this critical reflection I have chosen to analyse the advertising campaign “Live your fantasy” (2009) designed for the Indian apparel company, Redtape. The advertising campaign, which was designed by the advertising agency Makani Creatives, India, included four posters which apparently promoted Redtape’s brand ideology of symbolising “the ultimate male psyche, naughty, playful and obsessed about women” (Advertolog.com, 2009). I will analyse these four posters, to show what they connote and then relate them to a wider context of meanings and issues that would surround them in this present day and age. Advert 1: Vending Machine (2009) The first advert in this campaign depicts a man (presumably Indian) standing by a vending machine ready to choose one of four women who are behind the glass. Each woman is positioned and dressed provocatively, almost as if they are trying to compete to be bought by the man who has the power in deciding which ‘object’ to spend his money on. The statement ‘Served Chilled’ appearsAdam Mohammed M00439009 MED3020 2 above the girls further perpetuating them to be objects that can be consumed. The tag line for this campaign ‘Live your fantasy’ appears to tie the narrative together, suggesting that by buying REDTAPE apparel, you are doing something luxurious, as in something you cannot usually do and is an indulging moment. Advert 2: Poledance (2009) The second advert in the ‘Live your fantasy’ campaign, this one still has the theme of “desire” (Advertolog, 2009) and objectification running through it. It depicts the same man, however this time he is in an office with three pole dancers. Again, he is seen as in control, being the most prominent in the advert (he is almost 3D, edging out of the screen, maybe to connect the viewer with the voyeuristic moment). However, he is presented as a working man, which suggests that they are using this advert to connect more with a target audience of working men who have fantasies of their own.Adam Mohammed M00439009 MED3020 3 Advert 3: Fishtank The third advert in this campaign, even though featuring more of what the brand sells (shoes, clothes, etc) still manages to represent women negatively. The average looking man (who happens to have a guitar in this advert, now extending its reach to more of an audience) is watching women swim around in a fish tank as if they are aquatic creatures. One of the women even has her hands up against the tank, almost suggesting that she is there to be seen and not heard. This advert serves two metaphors, one which is ‘live your fantasy’ which relates to what the brand is trying to market its apparel as, and two, showing that women cannot speak, but rather have to be watched as if they are part of a collection.Adam Mohammed M00439009 MED3020 4 Advert 4: Wardrobe (2009) The final advert in this campaign is the most stereotypical of all of them. In it, we can see magazines of scantily clad women, as well as a crushed drinking can on the floor. This advert is truly showing the male psyche “in its simplest form” (Advertolog.com, 2009) because it is truly stereotypical of the idea that men, as well as being dirty, are also womanisers. The man who has been in all of these adverts has finally claimed his prize, from picking her out of a wardrobe as If she is from a selection of clothes. Again, there are comparisons here to the idea of the brand, which is to select clothes from a large selection of apparel however; it uses this idea of women being part of this consumption practice to tie it all together. This campaign’s main aim is to promote the brand and what it stands for, however the way it approaches this is very derogatory as they have tied in sexualisation with the idea of their goods being something deluxe. The target audience for this campaign is clearly a straight male demographic, as seen by the use of provocative women and a fairly average looking man, as theirAdam Mohammed M00439009 MED3020 5 target audience would be expected to not be looking at him but more so at what can be gained via participating in the consumption of the brand’s goods. There are many issues with this campaign; the standout being the use of gender and stereotypes, which has been used in a negative fashion. The hypersexualised, objectified way in which the women have been portrayed in this advert does not just have an impact on the men, whom this was aimed at, but also women and girls who see this campaign. These “Pornographic-like advertisements… produce the desire to purchase” (Egan, 2013, p. 21) for the male audience, who hope to achieve similar effects shown in the advert, but for girls that see and consume the advert, it “promotes a longing to look like and, even more disturbing for many, the impulse in girls to emulate the women in the pornographically inspired images” (ibid, p. 22). This is telling them that “their desirability relies on being desired” (Papadopoulos, as cited in Egan, 2013, p. 19), whilst telling the men that it is ok to view and treat women this way. There are also stereotypes here about beauty, as in the advert, the people featured are all light skinned “which is widely associated with beauty and success in India” (Sharp, 2009). The brand’s claims of symbolising “the ultimate male psyche” (Advertolog.com, 2009) combined with these adverts also reinforces negative stereotypes about men and how they should act. These myths deployed in the advert “(re)essentialise power differentials between men and women, homogenise and universalise ‘women’s experience’, and reductively ‘[define] the problem as well as the solution’” (Cornwall et al, in Switzer, 2013, p. 350) and even though this advert is 7 years old, the behaviour that is encouraged can still be seen as emulated within India, as there have been increases in cases of sexual misconduct which have come to light (BBC, 2013), something in which these adverts and their display of women promotes. It is interesting that these adverts reproduce “the ideological hegemony” into “the commodity form” (Davis, 2013, p. 28) by fetishizing the idea of brand providing goods which have “unparalleled Comfort, International styles” (as seen by the style of clothing on the scantily clad women) and “Finesse” (Redtape, 2016). Through these adverts, people are encouraged to fetishize the apparelAdam Mohammed M00439009 MED3020 6 “imbuing them with artificial but desirable meanings and qualities” (Davis, 2013, p. 28) replacing their “Socially generated values” with “market-generated ones” (ibid, p. 28). They are also using this design for the adverts to possibly try and associate what they sell with the idea that what you see in the advert will be the result, presenting to the consumers “false images of themselves and everyday social relations” (ibid). It is not known whether these adverts were meant to promote or encourage discussion however, in more recently produced (but significantly less provocative) adverts by Redtape, we still have this theme of men having a more dominant power over women in order to promote the ideology of the brand (vimity.com – the creative network, 2016). If this advert was produced today, and within the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority would most likely have something to say about it as under section 4.1 ‘Harm and Offence’, in their CAP code, it states “Marketing communications must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence” (Cap.org.uk, 2016). There would have to be complaints for it to be assessed, however with the rise of social media, there is no doubt that this advert would have more of a reach if it was launched in this day and age. Overall, this campaign can be seen as problematic, with multiple issues to promote a singular message. This campaign was carried out in 2009, so it is possible that it might not have been created within the present day, as the issues within this campaign have become even more relevant and topics of discussion. That being said, many adverts follow this way of advertising, and whilst I can see the intent of trying to brilliantly associate a type of lifestyle with what the brand values are, it falls completely flat as it is more of a piece on gender hierarchy than a cutting edge advert to promote apparel.Adam Mohammed M00439009 MED3020 7 References Advertolog.com. (2009). Vending Machine - Red Tape Print Ad. [online] Available at: http://www.advertolog.com/red-tape/print-outdoor/vending-machine-13545605/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2016]. BBC News. (2013). The rapes that India forgot - BBC News. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20907755 [Accessed 6 Apr. 2016]. Cap.org.uk. (2016). 04 Harm and offence - Committee of Advertising Practice. [online] Available at: https://www.cap.org.uk/Advertising-Codes/NonBroadcast/CodeItem.aspx?cscid={9850dc70-0ca5-4ef1-a38f-b638ed990014}#.VwVCcTbmrIU [Accessed 6 Apr. 2016]. Davis, A. (2013). Promotional Cultures : The Rise and Spread of Advertising, Public Relations, Marketing and Branding. Hoboken: Wiley. Egan, R. (2013). Becoming sexual : a critical appraisal of the sexualization of girls. Redtape. (2016). Redtape.com. [online] Available at: https://redtape.com/about-us/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2016]. Sharp, G. (2009). Redtape Shoes “Live Your Fantasy” Campaign - Sociological Images. [online] Thesocietypages.org. Available at: https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/12/26/redtape-shoes-live-your-fantasycampaign/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2016]. Switzer, H. (2013). (Post)Feminist development fables: The Girl Effect and the production of sexual subjects. Feminist Theory, 14(3), pp.345-360.Adam Mohammed M00439009 MED3020 8 Vending Machine, Poledance, Fishtank and Wardrobe. (2009). [image] Available at: http://www.adeevee.com/2010/08/redtape-shoes-and-apparels-poledance-vendingmachine-fishtank-wardrobe-print/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2016]. vimity.com - the creative network. (2016). Red Tape - Advertising Campaign by Amit Dey on vimity.com. [online] Available at: http://vimity.com/vip/amit-dey/portfolio/red-tapeadvertising-campaign/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2016].