Givenchy Perfume Advertisement Analysis
Advertisements are a huge part of our everyday lives. It seems like the whole world is being flooded by advertisements. We see different types of ads everywhere we look; while watching television, listening to the radio, riding on the bus and reading a magazine. I was flipping through the pages of the August issue of British Vogue and came across this perfume advertisement featuring Givenchy’s “Ange ou Demon”. This ad tries to attract customers, mostly women, who hope that their deep-lying desires would be satisfied, by picturing conditions of being that these customers personally yearns for. After discerning the few most direct and obvious appeals used in the ad, I further analyzed the ad and decoded it to figure out the appeals used and found out that there is more to this ad than what meets the eye.
“Ange ou Demon” means “Angel or Demon” in French. The perfume bottle is in a teardrop 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 centre 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 the 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 colour – the deep blue to silvery 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 eyeshadow embedded in a deep black lace mask and the pale red lips on the face.
In my opinion, this is a very successful advertisement. Firstly, elements of the advertisement complement the perfume bottle. The dress of the woman is a gradient of 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. Notice that these two gradients are exactly inverted, creating a stark contrast between the two centres of attention (the bottle and woman) and the background. This helps to draw the viewers’ attention directly to the woman and the bottle. The similar gradient of the bottle and dress also gives us an impression that the woman is donned in the perfume bottle. By doing so, the perfume bottle also seems to evoke the sensuality, elegance and mysteriousness that the woman has. This will attract the viewers to buy the product.
Secondly, the colour 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.
Thirdly, the styling of the woman is very appropriate. Other than the point mentioned above about the colour of the dress, a low bareback dress brings across the impression that this fragrance is seductive, attracting even more viewers to buy the fragrance. Furthermore, the demon in the woman can be seen through this bareback dress and the sheer laced mask across her face whereas the angel in her is expressed through the silver eyeshadow on her eyelid, the soft red on her lips and the simple yet glamorous makeup. The coiffure of the woman also displays both an angelic and demonic feel. Her curls are a soft blonde shade, but given a rather intense texture by the strong lighting.
Fourthly, the background setting of a spiral staircase is very appropriate because it exhibits the imagery of heaven and hell. The two opposite elements can be linked by what seems to be a never ending stairway.
Lastly, the position of the woman fits the composition perfectly and conveys the message successfully across to the audience. The woman is placed in such a way that she looks as if she is in the middle of the stairway, thus representing a powerful imagery of ‘angel or demon’. Next, her side profile accompanied by her had turned to face the camera entirely and her hand lightly touching the wall demonstrates a rather seductive pose. Her facial expression further gives a flirtatious look that seems to be the feel that the producers wish to put forth through the advertisement.
The advertisement is very successful. It has, in terms of imagery, composition and lighting, evoked the feminine and sleek touch that might not be visible in the fragrance bottle alone.
I found this ad in Vogue magazine, implying that the ad’s targeted audience are people who are interested in fashion and style, especially women. Indeed, women who want to be refined and elegant, regardless the age, are the primary target audience of the ad. Nevertheless, men are also the target audience – the women’s boyfriend, husband as well as men who are chasing after the women – I regard them as the potential target audience. They are not so obvious like primary target audience, but the amount of them is considerable and should not be ignored. They want their wives or girlfriends to be chic and sophisticated like the model and thus, they want to purchase the perfume.
How do these appeals lure the targeted audience into buying the product? How do these appeals communicate with people to attract them? In his article “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals”, Jib Fowles recognize the two parts of the human mind and how these distinct parts are affected differently by the fads of advertising. Fowles states, “Human beings, it is presumed, walk around with a variety of unfulfilled urges and motives swirling in the bottom half of their minds.” Advertisers want to elude the top half of their conscious minds, and take advantage of their unconscious minds, which is filled with their irrational needs and impulses to buy things to satisfy their subliminal desires. This perfume ad tries to entice customers into buying this perfume by selling dreams, promising, challenging, evoking feelings and desires. The phrase “sex sells” has become increasingly popular when considering effective marketing and advertising techniques. Although sex itself does not literally sell these products, any sexuality in an advertisement will lure consumers to the product. This is because when viewing the advertisement, many people will see the seductiveness in the ad and subconsciously equate that with the idea that by using the product in the ad, she will in turn become that sexual figure.
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