Project 2 Fall 2008

1.0October 2008

AbsolutAdvertising An advertisement is a publicpromotionof a productthat is meantto enticeconsumers to buyor usea specificproduct(Advertisement). Alcoholis a widelyadvertiseditemwith numerousbrandsand typeson the market-ln 20O6alone,the averageteenages12-20sawapproximately 550alcoholrelated ads{Schwartz). In that sameyear,roughlyevery30 minutessomeone waskilledin analcoholrelated accident(Howard).Absolutis oneof the leadingadvertisers vodka.There of alcoholandmoreprecisely havebeenover 150OAbsolutadv€rtisements run since1980,primarilyin print form.These advertisements aresimpleandall havethe samebasiccomposition with manyvariations. All of the print adsincludea pictureor silhouetteof the signatureAbsolutVodkabottleanda two to threeword captionwith the word Absolutandoftensayingsomethingcomplementary aboutthe productor its consumer.Theadvertisement Thisad that will be analyzedisthe '?bsolutTragedy."advertisement. consistsof a blackbackground, a whitecirclein the center,a largebottleof vodkain the upperleft hand sideof the ad with a lastdropof liquidcomingout of the bottlealongwith the statementwritten in largewhite lettersacrossthe bottomof the advertisement. Theoverallmeaningof thisadvertisement is to conveyto consumers that AbsolutVodkais such a goodproductthat it is a tragedythat the bottlewouldbe out. Whenfirstglancedat, the eyeis immediatelydrawnto the largebottleon the left handside,then downto the drip,andlastlythe statementon the bottomof the advertisement. Thefine print is hardlynoticedand ratherdisregarded by viewersof the advertisement.

? useto createcontrast,evokecertainfeelingsanddraw Colorsarea uniquetool that advertisers the background is madeup In the originaladvertisement, the eyeto a certainpart of the advertisement. to of a greatdealof blackanda largewhitecirclein the centerthat fadesout into the black.According andtimelessness, whilewhite is a KateSmith,a colorexpertand strategist,blackis a symbolof elegance symbolof purity(Smith).Theseunderlyingmeaningsare keyto this advertisement, because the Absolut Companyistryingto conveytheir productasa pureandelegantdrinkthat is consumedby suchtype of people.Thewhite showsthat AbsolutVodkais superiorandpurecomparedto other brands,andin general.Thefadingof the blackinto white in the background helpsto drawthe eyetowardsthe center andthe largebottleof vodkaandthe lastdropof liquid,whichis locatedin the centerof the white this is the product circle.Thebottleisthe mostprominentfigurein the ad whichmakessense,because the that is to be sold.According to absolut.com, the blueletterson the bottlewerechosenbecause of colors,but also shadeof bluerepresented waterandpurity.Thisad not only usesthe meanings Thead usesthe conceptof andcontrastof its colorchoicesasa wayof communication. brightness contrastby makingthe blackverydarkanddensewhilethe while is the total oppositeandverybright. Theonlyseparationbetweenthe two extremesis someblendingthat bringsthe two togetherto makea flowingbackground. Thiscontrastalsoexistsbetweenthe white letteringandthe darkbackground at the bottom,thereforethe eyewill noticethe wordsquicklyandtheycanbe easilyread. TheAbsolutadvertisement alsousesothertacticsto createa visuallypleasingandenticing the font FuturaExtraBlack advertisement suchasfont, balance,andalignment.In the advertisement, Condensed BTis usedfor the two word statementandthe websitenamewhileExmouthis usedon the bottleof vodka(About).TheFuturefont is boldand blockyso it drawsthe eyein andis easyto read.The Exmouthis a cursivescriptthat is usedon the bottleandgivesit a sophisticated look.Thisparticular

advertisement exhibitsonlysomebalance;the web addressin the upperrighthandsideattemptsto balanceout the bottleon the left, but thereis moreunusedspaceon the rightsidethanthe left,which Thisemptyspacemaypossiblybe to drawthe eyeon the last makesthe ad appearquiteunbalanced. is an of the ad simple.Overall,the originaladvertisement dropof the vodkaandto keepthe message to buyandconsumeAbsolutVodka. effectiveway in whichto drawin newor previouscustomers parody,the samebasicformatwasusedwith manyof Onthe otherhand,in the advertisement In the parody,the meaningwaschanged the samequalities,but it conveysa verydifferentmessage. into the total oppositemessage whileleavingthe sametwo word slogan"AbsolutTragedy."Theparody ad hasmanynewfeaturesincludinga wreckedcarin the centerandsloganin the upperrighthandof fun eveningcanturn into a the ad wherethe web addressusedto be.Thesloganis "An ABSOLUTLY Thisadvertisement TRAGEDY." advisesits audiencethat the alcoholicbeverageis no longerto be enjoyed,but that buyinganddrinkingit mayleadto realandterrifuingconsequences. the overalltone andfeelof the ad has In the parodyad,the colorschangemeaningbecause changed.Blacknow is associated morewith deathandfear,whilethe white is still mainlyusedasa focal point;it takeson a meaningof faith,because the ad impliesdeathandtragedywith the carwreck.The car beingred drawsthe eyeto it first,andstandsfor fuar,blood,and death{Smith).Whenfirst looking at the ad,the viewe/s eyesare drawnto the wreck,to the slogan,to the bottleof vodka,andlastlythe subscript. Theparodyad alsohasa largeandeye-catching sayingthat iswritten in redto drawattention and createsthe feelingof fearandanxiety(Smith).Thesloganis written in the samefont asthe saying on the bottomso that the ad wouldhaverepetitionwhichtiesthe advertisemenfs messages together (Visual).With both the carandthe sloganbeingin red,the viewerof the ad associates the slogans message with the wreckedcar.Thewordsabsolutelyandtragedyarewrittenin capsso that theystand

out to grabthe advertisements viewers'attention.Thesloganis what holdsthe true message of the advertisement andneedsto be noticedquickly.lt warnsof the conseguences that oftencomewith drinkingandbaddecisionmaking.Colorcontrastis demonstrated in this ad because the white andblack are oppositesandthe red appearsvery boldlyagainstthe blackandwhite background. Throughsmall the composerwasableto rnakean advertisement changes that hastakenon a totallynew meaning.lt is clearfrom this advertisement that its authoris warningagainstdrinkinganddrivingandthe consequences of drinking. Throughvisualand print advertising, areableto conveytheir productin such alcoholcompanies a waythat consumers thinkthe productwill makethem betterin somewayor havesomesortof good effecton them whilein realitythis is not the truth. Alcoholadsoftenconveyfalsemessages and images to the consumer. Theyareableto do this by knowingthe basicsof visualrhetoricthat creategood parodyone canseethat alcoholmessages advertisements. Throughthe advertisement canbe altered into a positivemessage that warnsof the dangersof drunkdrivingwith the sameknowledgeof visual rhetoric.

WorksCited AboutAbsolut.14 Sept20A7.G & N CreativeServices. 1 October2008 . Webster's "Advertisement." Revised Dictionory.MICRA,Inc.07 Oct.2008.. Howord,Thereso. 'Absolutegetsinto the spiritof nameplaywith newads." (16January2005). 2 October2008<www.usatoday.com/money/advertisements/2007-01-16-absolut-usatx.htm> schwartz, John."THEMEDIABUSINESS: Alcoholadson TVfindtheirwayto teenagers, ADVERTISING; a studyfinds,despiteindustryguidelines." {14September2AO7l.2October2008 Smith,Kate."Color:MeaningSymbolism, and Psychology." Sgnsationalcolor.com 2 October2O0B < http://www.sensationalcolor.com/messages-meanings/color-meaning-symbolism-andpsychology.html> VisualRhetoricGlassaryof SelectedTerms.PurdueWriting Lab.20 September20O8.

Advertisement Sources: < http://absolutad. Absofute Vodka.Advertisement, com/absolutgallery/singles /pictures/?id=1760& Write 2005. _s=singlep29 October20O8.>Copy < http://www.ca_r-accidents.comfatal-accidenls-crash.html> Car-Accidents.com. 15August2006.