OUGD406- Self Evaluation

American Apparel Controversial Articles

While finding the content for my newspaper I have found a lot of articles where they discuss how outrageous American Apparel are with their advertising. Here are just a few that I found partially interesting. I think American Apparel are cleaver doing this because the more people talk about it the more they get noticed even if it is for all of the wrong reasons. 

COP- Advertising Essay

‘Advertising does not sell things; all advertising does is change the way people think or feel’ (Jeremy Bullmore). Evaluate this statement with reference to selected critical theories (past and present).

Advertising is a worldwide form of art, an art of persuasion. It is very difficult to be able to define advertising as it means different things to different people. It is though a method of drawing attention to a product and an excellent way of commutation. Advertising is an inevitable part of everyone’s lives, there are many different forms of advertising and it is impossible to go through a day without seeing/ hearing some form of advert, whether that be on the radio, television, newspaper, internet and the list goes on. It is very competitive industry; the search for new and fresh ideas is always upon people.

Advertising means different things to many people Bullmore (2003) nearest definition of advertising is:

‘Any paid form communication intended to inform, and/or influence one or more people.’ Jermey Bullmore (Bullmore, 2003, pg.9)

Advertising is so influential on us without even realizing, it draws us in, persuades us, makes us want/need something and we as the consumers quite like it. It is very manipulative makes us think we need more.

‘The truth of the matter is people enjoy being persuaded, being courted, being wooed, being wanted.’ Jermey Bullmore (Bullmore, 2003, pg.14)

Persuasion is the biggest factor within advertising; we are constantly being manipulated to change our opinions. There are many different techniques of competitive persuasion that manipulate us without us even realizing. Repetition is a big factor, seeing something over and over to you feel like you are missing out or that you need something in your life, it’s a very head on form of advertising. Bandwagon, making it look like loads of other customers are on a hype ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ ‘everyone else is doing it’ persuading you to join or do something, almost like peer pressure. Innuendos, making the consumer have a negative opinion on other parties because they are ‘the one’, a negative way of persuasion with subtle hints, making the customer think they have gained negative knowledge or secret on a rival.

‘Persuasion motivates people into action through influencing beliefs and desires.’ ( O’Shaughnessy, 2004, pg.25)

I think this quote is very true; advertising does change our opinions or can make us want to do something, much like the propaganda posters in the war, making people think about themselves, what they are doing to contribute to their country.

Persuasion within advertising has been used for many years; throughout history here are just two examples of propaganda posters in the war. (see fg. 1&2) They both use the same technique; the left image is for Britain and the right for the US. The British poster (1914) First World War, uses demanding Lord Kitchener and three years later (1917) the American poster uses Uncle Sam. They both have the same intention to make young men think about themselves and what they are doing to help their country. What strikes me about this poster is that everyone knows what the posters want you to do just by the characters on them.

‘In the grip of an emotion, a person not only feels differently, but tends to think differently’ (O’Shaughnessy, 2004, pg.27)

Advertising can portray many emotions. Within these two war posters to me it makes me fearful and nervous, but others may feel pride, needed and hope. These posters defiantly make you feel differently like you are selfish by not doing anything for your country, they make you think, step back and evaluate yourself. Notice, that the ‘YOU’ stands out most on both posters, making you feel important and wanted. The red type can have many connotations, of love, blood for death in the long term and the flag colours of their country.

‘Advertising gives a new meaning to a product if it can include self-persuasion by getting the target audience to imagine using or consuming it’ (O’Shaughnessy, 2004, pg.27)

Cigarettes are often advertised as being good for you, as they do not want to advertise them negatively. Camel and Marlboro are two major brands that do this. (see fg. 3&4) Most of the time there are male models used in cigarette adverts but in fact women were the first to smoke. The Camel advert has a large focus on image, an image of a male and a female on a beach, somewhere you want to look good. The male is looking strait at the consumer with the caption ‘One of a kind’ as if he is speaking to them. Instantly you think he is talking about the Camel cigarettes, but he could also be talking about the female in the image. By having the female looking at the males face with her arm around his shoulder signifies that she looks up to this man/ admires him, therefore making smoking seem good, like you are going to become instantly more attractive and popular. The text that is too small on the image reads

‘Where others rush through life, he knows when to reflect. To enjoy. He smokes for pleasure and satisfaction. He gets both in the blend of Turkish and Domestic tobaccos in Camel Filters. Do you?’

By asking a rhetorical question at the end makes you think about yourself, it involves you personally with the advert. Smoking was done to relax and unwind, they use alliteration with the words ‘rush’ and ‘reflect’ two contrasting words, then add a short snappy sentence ‘to enjoy’ that is primarily what Camel want you to do, to buy, unwind and enjoy their cigarettes.

Marlboros’ (1945) for there branding they have always used the same cowboy theme. It depicts a sense of mystery, as you cannot see his eyes in the image. ‘Come to were the flavor is’ I can almost picture the model saying that under his breathe, or sharply. The whip in the image shows a sense of power, that they as Marlboro are better than the rest.

‘Marlboro, for example, gives off an implicit message that cigarettes are healthy, and we become partners in our self-deceit, co-conspirators in fantasy. While other cigarette advertisements might on occasion have flirted with the idea of death and the hereafter, they have done so in immensely subtle, abstracted and symbolic ways’ (O’Shaughnessy, 2004, pg.115)

Marlboro are just fooling us, but actually risking our health, to sell their product they are misleading us and putting consumers health at risk. As time has gone on people have woke up to the fact that smoking can cause serious health risks such as lung cancer. Now advertising cigarettes is banned in the UK, but is still allowed in the US. However this brings up many arguments about our health, surely we can lead our own lives and be responsible for the choices we make? The reason they have banned cigarette adverts in the UK is from false advertising, lying to the customers to get them to by a product. Alcohol is still allowed to be advertised, but they have to advertise ‘drink responsibly’ but this doesn’t warn the consumer about alcohol related illnesses. Similarly with fast food, fast food chains such as McDonalds advertise constantly but there is no health warning to this, no warning on people about obesity about eating fast food in moderate. Young people still buy cigarettes even though they are not advertised and become addicted, in a recent report by the BBC said that 570 children start smoking a day. With such shocking statistics we can start to understand why advertising them has been banned, as it would start to influence the younger audience more. Smoking packets themselves have changed a lot recently, adding bold statements on the front of them like ‘SMOKING KILLS’ and adding graphical images on the front to warn people about the cancer sticks. Within this quote from persuasion within advertising they mention the idea of some advertisements ‘flirting with the idea of death’. Here is a cigarette brand called ‘Death Cigarettes’ (see fg.5) as you can tell from the name the brand did not last very long. The concept of these cigarettes came about by a British entrepreneur B.J. Cunningham who started his tobacco company in 1991. He was almost going to take the idea too far and shape the packet like a coffin and have coffin shaped vending machines in the pubs and clubs.

‘Take out a packet of Benson and Hedges, you’re saying; I’m classy- gold packet- part of high society. If you take out a packet of Marlboro, you’re saying I’m the outdoor type, I like wearing cowboy hats and riding horses… Now, if you produce a packet of Death Cigarettes what you’re saying is…’  (O’Shaughnessy, 2004, pg115)

He wanted people to be bold and make a statement, but this was the wrong statement and not something that could last in the real world. It was a product where consumers would by once for a joke, a sick joke. It was not an on going product, as people cannot live with this product, throwing the truth in your face.  Death cigarettes were losing over £1 million a year. Even though this product was truthful and factual people did not like it. However, consumers would happily buy Marlboro, which gives off the message that cigarettes are healthy. This brand never ‘flirted with the idea of death’ they were just straight to the point.

Everything in advertising is done in purpose; everything is there for a reason. Each advert has many signs/signifiers. Ideas and feelings then become attached to certain products. Chanel is one of the biggest and classiest fashion brands in the world. They have many adverts including (see figure. 6), for their classic perfume No. 5.  A 1968 advert kept pure and simple of the iconic square bottle by Chanel. Personally I like this advert, as it is to the point, clean and effective. You get what you see, and that is a bottle of perfume, however the problem I do have with this advert is that you cant get a feel of what the product smells like, the feel and effect it is trying to create, it seems quite harsh and in your face. Chanel has a world wide status of class and elegance. Images from their 2004 comersial featuring Nicole Kidman and Rodrigo Santoro (see fg. 7), this advert cost over $42 million, and Nicole Kidman alone got paid $12 for staring in the advert. You can see why it cost that much, the filming is unreal the whole advert is candy for the eye. There is  a short version of the advert which was shown on television in prime time lasting 30 seconds, and a short film was also made which you can veiw on youtube, ‘The No.5 Film’.

‘The only way of expessing emotion in the form of art is finding an ‘objective

correlative’: in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events, which shall be the formula of that particular emotion’ (Williamson,2004,pg 30)

 The advert is a visual treat and a stunning drama performance. It depicts a fairytale like theme of romance, passion and mystery for the 90 year old brand. The images within the advert attach certain feelings to the product. The advert makes you feel different, like you’ve been transpoted into some sort of fantacy world, it makes the consumer want a slice of it, engaging them with the brand. Advertising the perfume at the end it cleaver, as the consumer gets wowed with the multi million pound advert and then at the end has a very subtle note that Nicole Kidmon wears Chanel No.5 that’s why she is so attractive and in this worldwind fairy tale. Here is the still poster from the advert again featuring Nicole Kidmon (see fg. 8), this poster is from the end shot of the moving advert, it is very classy and even though it is in colour it doesn’t feature much colour, this making her natural skin tone stand out. By having the backless dress and the model looking at the floor this signifies love and romance. Chanel are trying to sell an attidude with their perfume, one of class and romance.

There are many large companies that try and sell their product with an attitude and a celebrty status. Another good example of this is Omega, this time targeting mature men who seek strength and power. (see fg.9 &10)By having something that the audience can connect with makes our opinions change and the product sell.  Omega advertising with the James Bond characters Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan.

‘While respect is something demanded by everyone, prestige is something best owned and, being associated with those on whom it has been best owned, gives rise to various satisfaction.’ (O’Shaughnessy 2004 pg.83)

As celebrity’s has such high status and prestige they have a persuasive appeal. With such celebrity hierarchy it is proven that things sell and have an advantage. When buying products/ items of clothing, shoes, watches ect, we all want to seek approval from others but if the product already has the approval from someone who is higher up in the social scale it is more valued.

It is also shown that the effect of cute animals and pets can also have an effect on how you feel about the product. Andrex and Kleenex are two big tissue companies however Andrex out sells Kleenex by 2:1, all because of a puppy. The puppy wasn’t initially intended to be in the advert; it was suppose to be a baby. The puppy started to appear in Andrex advertising in 1972. The target audience for both companies is mothers. Andrex make it memorable with a cute puppy, which is always naughty running round with toilet roll, the audience can relate to this being their family pet. Both Andrex and Kleenex heavily use tv advertising heavily, while watching the adverts people aren’t going to remember toilet roll or tissues, they are going to remember the cute little puppy.

‘So why is Andrex so much more successful? The answer lies in the way that we implicit memory interacts with social matters’ (Heath, 2007, pg 100)

When consumers first see Andrex they see the puppy, a puppy that is soft yet strong much like their toilet tissue. Puppies have many connections to the brand for toilet tissue, they are about growing up, young families toilet training, whereas Kleenex done have any of these concepts, they just go for the quilted tissue.

In conclusion, I have looked into many types of advertising scenarios, they are all very persuasive, some in a way you don’t initially realize. Personally I think the most persuasive posters are the propaganda war posters, very straightforward and in your face posters, they have a good technique and are straight to the point.  The cigarette posters were an obvious choice to look into, as they are very persuasive in the wrong way, fooling us all into thinking cigarettes are a healthy choice. I found it particularly interesting reading about death cigarettes in ‘Persuasion in advertising O’Shaughnessy 2004’ I previously didn’t know they existed, and when I read about them I thought they were a complete joke, however I love the fact that they aren’t covering up the truth, you get what you see, and now the death cigarettes packets are a collectable item. Looking into celebrity hierarchy was also mind opening, thinking about all the adverts that have actually used celebrities to get their status’ up. With celebrities I have found that the celebrities advertise the product, but they also like to advertise themselves. With adverts such as Andrex they have more of a family feel, connecting with the audience and making products memorable with something as simple as a puppy. I now completely agree with Bullmores statement that ‘Advertising doesn’t sell things; all adverting does is change the way people think or feel’ I don’t think advertising does initially sell the product first, I think it manipulates the way you feel and then hits you with a products that you think you want/need, I think I have proved this by looking into a variety of sources and adverts for different ages and from different eras.

References

BULLMORE. J (2003) More Bullmore, Behind the Scences in Advertising. 3^rd Ed. Henley-on Thames Oxfordshire United Kingdom: World Advertising Research Centre. 

HEATH.R (2007). The Hidden Power of Advertising . 5th ed. Oxfordshire: Admap Publications.

O'SHAUGHNESSY. J & O'SHAUGHNESSY. NJ (2004). Persuasion in advertising. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

WILLIAMSON.J (1978). Decoding Advertisements. Lacy Road, London: Marion Boyars Publishers Inc.

Websites 

Wikipedia . (2013). How to identify persuasive techniques in advertising. Available: http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Persuasive-Techniques-in-Advertising. Last accessed 31st Dec 2013.

Robert Klara. (2012). Perspective: Heart of Glass Chanel No. 5's distinctive, timeless bottle . Available: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/perspective-heart-glass-141150. Last accessed 31st Dec 2013.

Independent . (2013). 'Your country needs you': The myth of the most iconic World War I emblem. Available: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/your-country-needs-you-the-myth-of-the-most-iconic-world-war-i-emblem-8744853.html. Last accessed 31st Dec 2013.

Matt Kelly . (2009). Misleading Man. Available: http://compositionsection51.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/misleading-man-2/. Last accessed 31st Dec 2013.

BBC News. (2013). '570 children a day' start smoking. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21874979. Last accessed 12th Jan 2014 .

Speaking from Experience- Crit and Plan

The crit went a lot better than I thought, I got some opinions and some useful feedback, I asked for peoples opinions on the first designs of the front cover, which is: 

I asked people whether they felt the colours were too girly, I then got the feedback that the whole organiser seemed to be something aimed at girls and people couldn't see boys using an organiser and sticking stickers on it. I feel this is a valid point, however I wanted the organiser to be aimed at both genders, so i may still change the colours on the front cover, but still keep it fun. 

Another question I had for the crit is what design websites people use for inspiration here are a few of the answers: 

typeverything

design taxi 

design milk

tumblr

instagram

front shop

designspration

type & eye

I need a few more to add to my calander, but this is a good start. 

Plan for the next week is:

Tuesday-

Test Print, test whether the pages actually match up and see how large the final produced outcome would be.

Make sleeve, work out how to design it. 

Wednesday- 

Finish and finalise designs, of stickers and pages. 

Thursday- 

Do another test print to make sure it all looks okay.

Digital print- 4pm

Visual Responce- Printing Format Ideas

Here is the newspaper 'the city talking'. This was quite inspiring for this brief, I really like the typeface used through their body copy and headlines. It was good looking at this as it has shown me just how big my content would be printed is I decided to go for a newspaper format. 

This was a small book/publication I got recently with my lomography camera, I really like the format of it, it is just a small picture book with perfect binding, what I found partially interesting about it is that its split in half and you unfold it and it kind of looks like a concertina fold. I think it works really well to go with the camera as it shows all the types of images you can take with the camera. For my content though I don't this will work, but I like the idea and it will be something I will remember in the future. 

This is a small Thomas Sabo zine I found with all the Thomas Sabo charms in it, a concertina fold was a great option for them and the consumer can view all of the charms at once like a shop window. Again I don't think this will be a great format to choose for my American Apparel theme, but I think it works well for this brand. 

This is another small magazine/ zine I found on my shelf. I like the format of this being perfect binding, its neat and formal, which I think could work well for my american apparel magazine. I really like the page layout within this, the colours and type used make it look really profesional. If I was to do something like this it would all be in white and in helvetica to match the brand American Apparel. 

Visual Response- Format

I ordered a sample from the newspaper club as I have noticed in a lot of high street brands they actually have newspapers displaying the products rather than glossy magazines in places like Office and Topshop. I think a newspaper will suit my designs better, I don't want it to be glossy and clean cut publication. The test paper they sent me was actually really useful, it showed me some publications that they have done recently, which was quite inspiring as I think the minimal designs look the best. There are guidelines I need to follow when designing, I have found the dimensions of the publication online, I think I am either going to go for a 16 or 20 page newspaper depending on the amount of content and how it fits on each page. I think it is also interesting seeing how the colours print, I need to remember to set my publication to CMYK ready for print. 

Developing my own American Apparel adverts

Over the past couple of weeks I have been doing various photo shoots to make my own American Apparel ads, it has been a lot of fun. I want to make my own ads to show how well American Apparel actually advertise, I haven't took this too seriously as I want it to have a humorous tone. I have looked a various American Apparel ads for inspiration and have found their archive of all their ads (link below)

http://www.americanapparel.net/presscenter/adarchive/

The point of my publication is to show how controversial American Apparel are with their advertising as many of us don't realise as a lot of their adverts are banned in the UK.

This is one of the first shoots I did on my friend Anne, with this I was trying to replicate the ad below. 

Here is the end result, I have left a few of the photos with the original model and some with Anne, this to show a contrast and make people look twice. 

Another AA advert that I have tried to replicate is the 'Fluffy time' one, an advert that isn't controversial but I like how different it is for their other ads. I took various photos of my scruffy dog Barney to replicate this, I also looked a the different type settings and layouts the AA use, everything that they design is very clean and crisp. What I find funny about this advert is that AA state where the dog is from and how old she is and the fact she is a 'massive fan' of American Apparel, I have added the same detail into my advert. 

This is an advert from 2001 that I have replicated of my friend Ryan, I kept many of the features the same, but just added a weird face, personally I find the original advert very dull and boring and it wouldn't make me want to buy the tee. 

I really like this advert by AA I love the use of colour and it looks like it has been done on a film camera. It is very simple ad and doesnt advertise any of AA products however I think it still works and suits their brand. 

I replicated this ad using my dad, again keeping it simple, this is not serious. I have kept the small details in including the website, and the title from the original advert, just so it looks more in context. 

Here is another photo shoot I did of my friend Anne and put it in an American Apparel advert.

At this moment I don't have a photo to put on the front of the publication, I know I want it to be something back and white and one of my own photos so people automatically know that there will be re-makes within the publication. 

For this advert I have combined a number of AA adverts together, I used my Friend Hollie, again going to the humous tone, as AA usually go for the 'sex sells' advertising approach I have done the complete opposite. 

Another advert with my friend Hollie that I have remade in AA style. Looking though their archive they introduce a lot of their models, I have done this on this advert.  

I will continue making more adverts for my publication as I am really enjoying this process.

Other things that I will include in my publication:

-advertising in different countries and the restrictions

-why are AA so controversial? is this a good or bad thing?

-American Apparels photographers

-How well AA advertise

-Why the use of Helvetica? 

Speaking from Experience- Primary Research

I had a quick look in paper chase today at some diary and organiser designs, this was more useful than I thought and it has made me think of how I want mine to look. There are many different types of calendar that I can opt for one the that you can write on, ones with plenty of writing space and ones with space for notes. I have also deceded that I want to have a space for you to write your name to make it feel like an old school book, and a space to make it more personal to yourself. I think I am going to go for a simple design, with space to write notes in on what is happening day by day, also I may make some stickers to record the last time you blogged and did your type journal ect. I want to make it fun, something people will enjoy filling in.