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| Photography done by Carlos Serrao, Published in Sports Illustrated, February 12 2013 |
This is an advertisement for the all-new 2014 Lexus that was published in Sports Illustrated in February. The car has a sleek whitish-silver color that contrasts with its windshield and its front logo portion. There is woman modeling beside the car, and is dressed to almost entirely show off her skin. Her skin blends into the background because she is very pale compared to her clothes and shoes which are black and white. The background is mainly plain, dirty and grayish. There is some text under the picture talking about the people who buy Lexus. The message is written in the same color as the car with a black background. The structure of the text itself is informal, and comments and refers to people about blending in or out. Then off to the side, the logo Lexus occupies a great amount of the space and is written in all uppercase letters. Similarly the message underneath the logo is formatted the same way except for the size of the letters.
This advertisement uses the sin of lust to attract its customers into buying the Lexus. Firstly, the sin of lust is communicated through the portrayal of the half-naked model beside the Lexus. The model's complexion and color of clothes are almost synonymous with the color of the the Lexus, which makes both of the items seem like one entity. The seductive model not only attracts attentions of specifically male viewers, but also enhances the beauty and the appearance of the car. Male viewers are especially targeted in this advertisement because it appeals directly to the lust of men. This persuades men to buy the Lexus because desirable models like the one shown admire and follow the Lexus, furthermore emphasizing the seductiveness of the car and the value of the car to the potential owner. Put plainly, buy this Lexus and attractive women will vie for you.
The advertisement uses the contrast of two elements to emphasize one of the two. For example, the dirty-gray wall in comparison to the sparkling clean silver car. This focuses the viewer's attention on the car. The text provided with the image stands out due to the black background. The message encourages the buyer, through the personal usage of "you", to make a statement and to not "blend in", in other words, to make himself unique. For instance, beautiful women look for unique men. Since this car makes a statement, the man stand out and does not "blend in". Women will be tempted by the car and drawn to the owner of the car. Similarly, the words underneath the logo ("the pursuit of perfection") refine the message of the ad by adding the connotation of a perfect life with a perfect car.
The intended audience is upper-middle class, male viewers. This advertisement is targeting men with money to buy this sports car (mentioned at the bottom of advertisement) and their lust for women. The layout of this text is simple with an emphasis placed on the image itself. Since the focal point of the ad is the image, this ad appeals to the viewer's sense of sight. Another text demonstrates that eyes "see how it sounds, see how it smells, see how it tastes, and see how hard it is," all of which shows the importance of the eyes compared to the other senses. This shows that ads appealing to our sight possibly have a stronger effect on consumers. Women in general are itemized throughout the ad showing gender stereotypes. The woman is minimally dressed to entice men. This ad does not use rich or vibrant colors instead it uses the contrast of setting to drawn in the viewer such as the dirty background versus the shiny-spotless car. Overall, the ad attracts men with extra money to buy the car so women like the one above will follow the owner because he is unique.
